Flat White

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

It’s time for teachers to be given back control

31 July 2024 1:00 am

It doesn’t take a university degree in education to recognise a connection between a dismal classroom environment and poor academic results,…

Peter Dutton lands in Israel

30 July 2024 11:50 am

The Hon Peter Dutton has announced his arrival in Israel, where he will meet with senior members of the Israeli…

Australia slowly retreats from vaccine mandates

30 July 2024 1:20 am

The retreat from Covid hysteria in Australia has been painfully slow and uneven. In one dispatch from the virus overreaction…

Would tinkering with the banking system help first home buyers?

30 July 2024 1:00 am

There is a simple and free way to observe a fascinating yet little-known aspect of Australia’s banking system. By browsing…

The Gold Coast’s unAustralian ‘view tax’

29 July 2024 2:47 pm

Labor’s cost of living crisis and expanding black hole in the Treasury has led many to believe that they’ll soon…

Albanese’s game of Cabinet charades

29 July 2024 10:32 am

The colour of authoritarianism is grey. I learned this the first time I sat in a wonderful old town square…

Democracy is better off with policy think tanks

29 July 2024 3:00 am

In case you missed it, media attention recently focused on a US think tank and its worked-up policy plans for…

Time for tough love or Australia will go to the dogs

29 July 2024 2:00 am

From Thimphu, Bhutan: To ‘go to the dogs’ is an idiom that means an organisation or a country is ‘deteriorating…

An Anzac story

29 July 2024 1:20 am

In an obscure cove, on an unknown beach, in a foreign land far-far away, on the morning of the April…

The Olympics have gone to s**t

29 July 2024 1:11 am

There was a time, not so long ago, when poodles shitting on the streets of Paris were considered to be…

The science of twins: why are we so fascinated by doubles?

29 July 2024 1:00 am

Fascination with twins and what twin studies tell us about human nature is universal. There is no question that behavioural…

Labor, the CFMEU, and the war on small business

28 July 2024 11:33 am

Labor governments across the country have expressed their astonishment at the revelation their mates and financiers in the CFMEU might,…

Is radical anti-feminism really the most prevalent extremism?

28 July 2024 12:53 am

A new report from the University of Melbourne indicates that radical anti-feminism could be the most prevalent form of violent…

Don’t kowtow to useful idiots, and say no to a republic

27 July 2024 6:17 pm

So, our young people are increasingly in favour of a republic? Help them pack for the Democratic Republic of Korea,…

Tilting at windmills

27 July 2024 5:46 pm

Chris Bowen’s renewable energy plans are falling into disarray. Environmental legislation, introduced to block new mining developments, is proving to…

eSafety Commissioner no longer pretending to hide political bias

25 July 2024 11:54 pm

Much has been made of Julie Inman Grant’s totalitarian tendencies to crackdown on Australians’ free speech under the guise of…

Is Kamala Harris’ future burdened by her past?

25 July 2024 10:06 pm

Integrity goes to character. Does Kamala Harris pass this test? It is a key question now she is the Democrats’…

Yellow cake road – why Dutton’s nuclear plan is an ‘okay’ idea

25 July 2024 2:52 am

‘The future of our country is incredibly important, we need to have a plan…’ Peter Dutton, June 19, 2024 And…

Minor parties can save the West

25 July 2024 2:17 am

‘Blame Farage for the Tory wipe-out!’ Or so went the rather limp voices in the UK, grasping for excuses following…

Come on boys, be flexible

25 July 2024 2:00 am

To be a working parent with pre-schoolers is a challenge. I write this as the mother of two girls –…

Can Elon Musk solve world hunger?

24 July 2024 2:00 am

When Elon Musk made his multi-billion dollar bid for Twitter (now known as ‘X’), some rather silly things were said.…

How Australia began democracy

23 July 2024 11:38 pm

Nothing bad happened before Australian colonisation in 1788, or good after it. Apart from a modern first-world economy and democracy,…

Restoring the presumption of innocence

23 July 2024 8:58 pm

For a nation that used to pride itself on hosting festivals of ‘dangerous ideas’, there has certainly been a ridiculous…

A pilot plant for Net Zero

23 July 2024 4:06 pm

Let’s use Canberra as the test case for green insanity

Green feels chop over Labor deals

23 July 2024 10:46 am

For New South Wales Labor, green morality trumps forestry