Flat White

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

A royal commission into coronavirus? Be careful what you wish for

30 September 2021 4:00 am

Some former politicians and commentators are suggesting there be an ‘independent’ review in the form of a royal commission to…

Big Tech has placed its bet – on the Genghis Khan of our time

29 September 2021 6:49 pm

The nineteenth-century Russian writer Alexander Herzen’s greatest fear when thinking about the future has come true. He said “What I’m…

Daniel Andrews gets the wooden spoon

29 September 2021 4:50 pm

It’s been a big week for Daniel Andrews. He has revealed that his “roadmap” out of lockdown is as reliable…

Charges laid over hotel quarantine: a win for transparency, a win for the SpecOz

29 September 2021 3:26 pm

Victoria’s workplace safety authority has charged the state health department with 58 breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act…

Want to save the planet? Go nuclear

29 September 2021 12:17 pm

Amidst general gloom and doom, there’s been a small ray of light, showing that sometimes scare campaigns and endless demonisation…

China’s sandcastles in the sea

29 September 2021 4:00 am

Afghanistan sits in the middle of everyone’s infrastructure projects like a pigeon shitting on a chessboard. The world has two options: it…

Can a minor consent to losing their sexuality?

28 September 2021 6:37 pm

The court of review in Britian last week set aside the 2020 Bell Vs Tavistock Divisional Court decision that persons…

Covid: an alternative interpretation

28 September 2021 5:02 pm

I recently saw this acronym for COVID.  C = Censor   O = Oppress  V = Victimise  I = Isolate  D = Divide  In a country that…

New polling: Australians say fire up the nukes

28 September 2021 3:47 pm

This is one of those bonus weeks for poll wonks when we get a Newspoll on Monday and the fortnightly…

Why is Labor still at war with JobKeeper?

28 September 2021 1:04 pm

JobKeeper saved Australia from a deep recession.  Labor knows this is true. They know that for the 3.8 million Australians…

The new provocateurs of Covid

28 September 2021 11:15 am

The extraordinary 1988 John Hillcoat/Nick Cave film Ghosts … of the Civil Dead is set in a slightly futuristic high-tech…

Does Daniel Andrews really have a plan to exit his ‘vaccination economy’?

28 September 2021 4:00 am

Does Victoria actually have a virus roadmap? When you compare Daniel Andrews’ remarks with Gladys Berejiklian’s, a stark divide emerges.…

Their ABC and the school that tried to end racism (by being racist)

27 September 2021 6:22 pm

Last week, the ABC aired its latest British borrowing, the first episode of a documentary program called ‘The school that…

Fifty years of lies about domestic violence

27 September 2021 4:08 pm

Exactly fifty years ago, the world’s first refuge for women fleeing domestic violence opened in London. After her small Chiswick terrace quickly filled to…

The really worrying news in Newspoll for Scott Morrison

27 September 2021 2:05 pm

Reporting on today’s Newspoll has focussed on seat outcomes, a bit of a mug’s game as it assumes equal swings…

Time for ADF chief Angus Campbell to go before he’s pushed

27 September 2021 12:02 pm

Defence Minister Peter Dutton has never shirked from hard decisions, and for the first time in some years a minister…

What triggered Melbourne’s union protests – from on the ground

27 September 2021 4:00 am

What actually triggered the mass civil disobedience by construction workers last week in Melbourne? The following is a record of…

What did we tell you about Chairman Dan’s ‘roadmap’?

26 September 2021 5:21 pm

The Spectator Australia, Sunday 19 September 2021: Daniel Andrews has this afternoon delivered his roadmap for freedom for Victorians…We can…

Beware Stumbling Joe’s mumbling, Scotty

26 September 2021 4:11 pm

When they were talking the other day in Washington the other day, did Joe Biden tell Scott Morrison his recipe…

Indefinite detention is the Australian way, Mr Littleproud?

26 September 2021 1:39 pm

And the Julia Gillard Award for Hyperbole (pronounced hyperbowl) goes to Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud. He believes the Melbourne…

No, New Zealand is not Aotearoa

26 September 2021 12:00 pm

“Create your own pepeha to celebrate te wiki o te reo movement.” Given that estimates range between about 4% and…

Why is Victoria heading down a dead end street with prostitution law reform?

24 September 2021 3:33 pm

New South Wales model of decriminalisation and deregulation of prostitution has failed to protect workers in the sex industry while empowering…

Keating, Turnbull and Rudd: the new Three Stooges

24 September 2021 1:18 pm

Three questions in today’s quiz: Who couldn’t care less about party or national loyalties once the prime ministerial pension kicks…

We salute the Trotskyite press (sorta)

24 September 2021 12:10 pm

First The Age called the Melbourne protests correctly. Now, even the Trotskyites have made points worth noting. Red Flag, their…

Australia’s vaccine mandates: a violation of international law?

24 September 2021 4:00 am

The Covid-19 Directions adopted by Australia’s governments have the effect of violating the rule of law when they excessively interfere…