Flat White

In-depth analysis of the day’s news, plus stories and gossip from Australian politics.

Do not go quietly, George Christensen

15 December 2021 9:00 am

The gas-lighting of retiring MP George Christensen by senior Coalition figures in Canberra is a disgrace. It is also very,…

The case against the unions

15 December 2021 4:00 am

The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed trade unions as impotent and inflexible, a lethal combination for any organisation seeking growth and…

The ‘Voices’ network seeks to unseat the Liberals

14 December 2021 4:00 pm

The ‘Voices for’ network is standing self-declared ‘Independent’ candidates in affluent Liberal Party seats in the coming federal election. It…

Let’s not copy New Zealand’s mistake with ciggies

14 December 2021 12:00 pm

New Zealand this week banned smoking for the next generation. Those under 14 will never be allowed to legally smoke…

Erasing mothers’ violence towards their children

14 December 2021 4:00 am

When the Howard government introduced family law reforms encouraging shared parenting, Australia led the world in supporting children’s rights to…

Sex sells – or does it?

13 December 2021 6:33 pm

Everyone knows that ‘sex sells’. Forget woke advertising campaigns full of gender-creative pronouns, complex quota-ticking spreadsheets, and the latest ‘the-world-is-melting’…

New Zealand embraces gender ghosts as the national religion

13 December 2021 2:04 pm

From where I sit from across the ditch it appears ‘the land of the long white cloud’ is encased in…

There will be a reckoning for renewables

13 December 2021 12:00 pm

With COP26 a recent memory, the looming federal election has again pushed renewable electricity into the limelight. Despite the campaign…

Welcome to the post-post-racial world

jussie smollett

13 December 2021 4:00 am

There’s something sinister about the fake hate crime that Jussie Smollett perpetrated in 2019. Last week he was found guilty,…

Covid-free and painfully satirical

12 December 2021 2:00 pm

In 1951, British futurist Arthur C Clarke wrote a short story envisaging a journey into space which evolved into the…

The Liberal party never learns

12 December 2021 7:51 am

‘Never make the same mistake twice.’ It is a mantra that applies to everyday life, but even more so to…

Are companies sack-happy over vaccination status?

11 December 2021 12:00 pm

The Australian HR Institute is not an organisation we hear much from, and it certainly isn’t offering any competition to…

Sydney Drive host Richard Glover enrages listeners

11 December 2021 7:00 am

ABC radio host Richard Glover has enraged listeners by committing the unforgivable sin – taking Christianity seriously. The host of…

A tale of two rallies: freedom vs teachers

10 December 2021 12:00 pm

I’m not a person who has ever attended rallies or protests. Over the years, the most interest I could muster…

Will the US welcome a new president in 2022?

10 December 2021 9:00 am

Over a year ago, I wrote that no Democrat voted ‘for Biden’ – they voted ‘for anyone but Trump’. Only…

Major parties 2: Democracy 0

10 December 2021 4:00 am

The Liberal Party has won a ruling from the Australian Electoral Commission to force the increasingly popular minor party, the…

What about faith? A Christmas letter to the Prime Minister

9 December 2021 4:00 pm

It is encouraging to hear that our Prime Minister has resolved to protect the expression of honestly held religious beliefs…

Comparing Pearl Harbor and the Darwin Raids 80 years on

9 December 2021 12:00 pm

Pearl Harbor is often compared to the Darwin attack but the similarities are very few. Although both were ‘surprise’ initial…

Josh Frydenberg: the man who would be king

9 December 2021 4:00 am

He’s the man who would be king, but Josh Frydenberg originally wanted to be a tennis pro rather than a…

'Not an organ donor anymore' trends after vaccine mandate

8 December 2021 4:36 pm

#NotAnOrganDonorAnymore has been trending on social media for the last few days after Australians began taking themselves off the organ…

The electric highway – a ‘fuelish’ policy

8 December 2021 12:00 pm

Scott Morrison has had another green brainwave – spend a zillion dollars to build Australia’s electric/hydrogen highway. Naturally, this ‘Fuelish…

Inside Canberra they’re riding the Greens Machine

8 December 2021 9:00 am

It was Labor’s Shadow Defence Minister, Kimberley Kitching, who spilled the beans by forcefully declaring that Labor should not do…

Canberra's cultural change and the Jenkins looking glass

8 December 2021 4:00 am

The 2021 federal parliamentary sitting year has been plagued and book-ended by allegations of poor behaviour. It started with Brittney…

Defending Australia from itself

7 December 2021 3:51 pm

World War I saw a significant tactical blunder by the Commonwealth countries in regards to Gallipoli where 480,000 allied forces…

Religious Discrimination Bill unleashes hell in the ABC

7 December 2021 10:13 am

It’s only a matter of time before journalists at the ABC claim religious freedom is a threat to koalas. The…