Flat White

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

And in news just in from the inner-city…

22 September 2016 3:54 pm

From the latest e-mail missive from Melbourne Farmers Markets: Keep your veggies and leftovers fresh with BeeKeep. Beeswax coated cloth provides…

Muslim immigration: we are all very guilty, very guilty indeed

22 September 2016 7:44 am

So, we now know why Essential Research has found that 49 per cent of the people it polled support a…

Hinch’s s*** on the liver

21 September 2016 12:50 pm

Revelations reported yesterday about Human Headline turned crucial Senate vote Derryn Hinch’s fondness for a tipple caused a bit of…

Why Donald Trump is Reagan’s heir

21 September 2016 7:33 am

For the first time in more than 25 years the Republican Party has a legitimate heir to the blue collar…

Unleash Aboriginal business potential

20 September 2016 7:35 am

The August 2016 decision of the Federal Court to award $3.3 million under the Native Title Act to traditional owners…

Further Syrian notes

19 September 2016 5:52 pm

My article in this week’s Speccie took a look at important developments in the Syrian civil war: the US-led coalition’s decision to put regime…

A sugar tax: insanity is catching

19 September 2016 11:17 am

Here we go again. The UK Government unveiled its plans for a sugar tax in March this year. Closer to…

John Howard prompts a go slow at the Spencer Street Soviet

19 September 2016 10:27 am

“When John Howard took to the stage at the National Press Club some days ago …” The Age’s editorial begins…

Cause offence? Go directly to jail

19 September 2016 7:32 am

Bertrand Russell said, “Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do the opinions will…

The dangers of underestimating coal

18 September 2016 6:10 pm

According to research commissioned by The Australia Institute if we ban all new coalmines, allowing coal production to fall from…

Stephen Conroy: the last of the Mohicans

16 September 2016 2:05 pm

Writing the first draft of history, as journalists and columnists are conceited enough to imagine that we do, is a…

Journos for censorship: the curious, confused Age

16 September 2016 7:58 am

About the same time as I was finalising the leading article for last week’s Spectator Australia, a boffin at the Age was doing a…

Bans on political donations threaten our democracy

15 September 2016 1:09 pm

Imagine for a moment that you’re the managing director of a mining company. You have a project that has met…

Kevin Andrews and the challenges for Australian conservatism after Hanson

15 September 2016 7:35 am

Constructing a viable conservative governing coalition with a coherent plan of action for the problems of today is fundamentally complicated…

The Ides of Malcolm

14 September 2016 11:34 am

So here we are, marking the Ides of Malcolm.  One year ago today Malcolm Turnbull reached for his dagger and…

WA Labor’s uranium ban sells the state short

14 September 2016 7:41 am

According to WA Labor’s Plan for Jobs, ‘a McGowan Labor Government will free business from the burden of poor regulations’.…

Same-sex marriage? A plebiscite? Old hat!

13 September 2016 2:28 pm

A plebiscite? Yawn. Here’s a far more exciting dispatch from the frontlines of the War on Marriage. Polygamists are on…

So how accurate was the rest of Hinch’s speech?

13 September 2016 11:02 am

Forget about Hillary Clinton’s health. What about Derryn Hinch’s? “Reportedly, I am in the record books as being the oldest…

Hacks or proper politicians: a crib sheet for electors

13 September 2016 7:33 am

Let me take a moment to clarify the difference between a hack and a politician. I get the sense that…

Shorten’s stereotyping of homosexuality is offensive and demeaning

12 September 2016 5:13 pm

In the latest example of gross stereotyping and intolerance opposition leader Bill Shorten’s comments that the marriage plebiscite could cause…

Whatever you do, don’t mention the holy war

12 September 2016 1:26 pm

There appears to be a lot of mental illness about. It must have something to do with all those Coalition…

The chosen yuan: from Baghdad Bill to Beijing Bob

12 September 2016 7:19 am

You’ve got to feel for poor old Sam Dastaryi, dragged through the stocks last week for a spot of unusual…

Why the political gender debate is boring (but matters)

10 September 2016 7:26 pm

You already have my sincere apologies; I recognise that there is no commentary so tiresome these days as that on…

A year of resolute leadership

10 September 2016 6:06 pm

Michelle Grattan, The Conversation, Friday: A year next Wednesday since the coup that installed Malcolm Turnbull, many Liberals are disappointed…

Fairfax verbals John Howard as the desperation shows

7 September 2016 6:44 pm

The death throes of the Fairfax mastheads make for gruesome viewing, yet are strangely captivating. One never knows what will…