Flat White

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

The empire – sorry, EU – strikes back

31 January 2019 5:06 pm

While it is always interesting to be a fly on the wall, it is also interesting to try to understand…

Smoking policy: all about revenue, not health

31 January 2019 11:38 am

Despite a number of high-profile convictions in recent years, the black market for tobacco in this country is flourishing, as…

Does the Morrison government have the strength to slash red tape?

31 January 2019 7:45 am

The future of freedom in Australia was dealt a blow at the start of the year with Senator David Leyonhjelm’s…

The Ramsay Centre: knowledge or nihilism

30 January 2019 4:43 pm

Everyone must surely be aware that the Ramsay Centre has held discussions with a number of Australian universities as it…

Gansta crap

30 January 2019 12:00 pm

The recent hullabaloo provoked by the United Patriots Front’s rally on St Kilda beach, ostensibly occasioned by the “thug life”…

Keep the lights working, not the spin doctors

30 January 2019 7:59 am

Australian Energy Market Operator supremo Audrey Zibelman likes saying load shedding – rolling blackouts to you and me – is…

Pill testing: an indulgence for the elites

29 January 2019 12:46 pm

Total and unwavering prohibition. That is the future of sensible drugs policy. No one could claim that the pill testing…

How to go from train wreck to back on track

29 January 2019 7:50 am

With the next election now at most four and a bit months away, the reality faced by the Coalition can…

Green energy vandals

28 January 2019 7:17 pm

Just as we have recharged this long weekend, our energy networks have had the opportunity to recover from the demands…

When the JJJ Hottest 100 is even too much for millennials

28 January 2019 4:02 pm

Triple J’s annual Hottest 100 prides itself as the world’s largest music democracy, attracting more than a million votes with…

What’s woke this week?

28 January 2019 1:01 pm

This week’s woke epistle includes some Australia Day trashing in the guise of ABC investigative journalism, some good old-fashioned white…

The Wintour of our discontent

27 January 2019 7:06 pm

When it comes to fashion, one minute you’re talking about something and then next thing they’re talking about something else.…

How that roast leg of lamb celebrates the unsung heroes of the First Fleet

27 January 2019 1:06 pm

In Australia, the January 26 acknowledges the disembarkation of the First Fleet’s arrival, in 1788, at Port Jackson under the…

Why I celebrate Australia Day

27 January 2019 11:00 am

I celebrate Australia Day because it’s who I am. I am Australian. My wife and kids are Australian. My neighbours,…

January 26: the least worst day for Indigenous Australians?

26 January 2019 2:00 pm

There is no doubt that Stone Age hunter and gatherer societies, having ruled the roost for hundreds of thousands of…

Three thoughts to guarantee a guilt-free Australia Day

26 January 2019 6:00 am

A recent poll by the Institute of Public Affairs has shown that a mere 11 per cent of Australians want…

Let January 26 remain a day for all Australians

25 January 2019 1:00 pm

January 26, Australia Day, is a day for all Australians. It’s a day for being with friends, family and loved…

Shorten’s sop to the Left: a bung for the bureaucrats of the UN

25 January 2019 8:39 am

You may have missed it in the Christmas rush, but opposition leader Bill Shorten proposes to quadruple taxpayer handouts to the United…

The Gospel according to Lady Gaga

24 January 2019 4:32 pm

Theologians come in all sorts of strange packages nowadays. No more bearded old guys in stuffy booklined offices it seems.…

Cricket needs a counter-reformation

24 January 2019 1:07 pm

The recent scandals and poor performance of Australia’s national team will quicken the quest for practical solutions. But the deeper…

The Aboriginal industry: a new religion?

24 January 2019 7:54 am

Religion is an inescapable concept – everybody has a religion. Everybody has a basic set of assumptions about metaphysics, epistemology…

Wait a day, then comment

23 January 2019 7:27 pm

The mainstream media – let alone social media – are so good at generating instant outrage that I now have…

Sorry kids, but no socialism for you

23 January 2019 4:11 pm

Views that Australia will turn into a utopia under socialism are wildly uninformed, and John Quiggin’s already infamous Guardian piece…

Time to legalise mother’s other little helpers

23 January 2019 1:36 pm

One really must wonder what they smoke up there in New South Wales. The State Government, fresh off wondering whether…

Time to take a second look at that Gillette ad?

23 January 2019 7:46 am

If the purpose of advertising is to get as much publicity as possible, then Gillette hit on a winner last…