Flat White

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

Sister Olive, 1921: the last filly to win the Melbourne Cup

2 November 2021 3:57 pm

What better time than Cup Day to mark a little piece of racing history?  A century ago, in 1921, a…

Why the NSW Liberals must give the Modern Slavery Act effect

2 November 2021 2:51 pm

In June 2018, then-Premier Gladys Berejiklian told parliament there was “an undeniable moral imperative to take action in relation to all forms of…

Can Canberra be held accountable internationally for human rights abuses from state lockdown laws?

2 November 2021 1:00 pm

The Western Australia Premier has recently ordered 75 per cent of WA’s workforce to get vaccinated or face job losses or a…

Dateline Glasgow: the real costs of renewable energy

2 November 2021 4:00 am

Australia has an embarrassment of riches. It possesses vast resources of high quality coal, both coking coal (for iron ore…

We now have a bipartisan blueprint to make the tax office fairer. Over to you, Josh

1 November 2021 6:00 pm

The key Parliamentary Committee overseeing the Australian Taxation Office last week released a report calling for major reforms to the way the…

Leunig – yawn – has done his dash

1 November 2021 4:06 pm

The Melbourne Age’s declining band of readers are being deprived of the principal reason many of them buy the paper, its veteran…

Net zero: a monument to delusion

1 November 2021 2:05 pm

World politicians are assembling at Glasgow to worship, with varying degrees of faith, the new religion symbolised by net zero.…

Milligan’s Island

1 November 2021 1:30 pm

Just sit right back and hear a tale  A tale of a fateful trip That started from this tropic port…

Medical discrimination is not segregation. It’s worse

1 November 2021 12:01 pm

I’ve argued before that Australia has entered an era of segregation comparable to the racial segregation of America’s past. However, that was inaccurate.…

It’s madness for half our firefighters to be female

1 November 2021 11:20 am

We are currently witnessing a ludicrous campaign aiming for fifty per cent female firefighters. Prominent male bosses have taken this on as a personal crusade,…

Trying to duck the climate fight has made the next election harder for the Coalition

1 November 2021 4:00 am

Last week I received an email from federal Liberal director Andrew Hirst soliciting a donation because renewable energy lobbyist and…

The Greens: calling occupants of interplanetary craft

31 October 2021 6:00 pm

No one, but no one, will ever forget Bob Brown and his “fellow Earthians” speech. “Why aren’t the intergalactic phones…

Prime Minister, just how reliable are 30 year climate models?

31 October 2021 3:59 pm

I am not sure that there are many people over the age of 30 who are wildly rejoicing at the…

Will we all have to take the knee?

31 October 2021 2:00 pm

If test cricketers such as Quinton de Kok can be compelled to ‘take the knee’ by their employer in order…

Envy: the deadly sin of radical politics

31 October 2021 11:38 am

I’m not so sure about money. Since the start of the twentieth century envy has been the source of all…

Remembering the Hungarian Uprising, 65 years on

30 October 2021 11:20 am

The world gasped 65 years ago this week as Hungarian protesters were mowed down by the secret police, starting a revolution that…

EXCLUSIVE Assistant Attorney General: Daniel Andrews pandemic bill must not pass

29 October 2021 12:00 pm

The end of the pandemic is in sight. After two years of lockdowns, border closures, curfews and mask mandates, Australians…

Daniel Andrews, all-powerful Zeus?

29 October 2021 4:00 am

When justifying the most recent hard Victorian lockdown that started on August 6, 2021, Premier Dan Andrews told the enquiring media pack…

How Canberra can open the borders of the corona crazed states

28 October 2021 5:03 pm

It seems as if the latest in-house polls have told Daniel Andrews that he is going to lose. With losing…

Woke corporates divide us

28 October 2021 3:24 pm

Last week, as our papers filled with greenwash and Scott Morrison worked on the betrayal of his “quiet Australians” ahead…

Farewell ScoMo, hello crippling costs of climate fantasy

28 October 2021 12:02 pm

Scott Morrison is heading off to lead Australia’s team at the Glasgow climate change meeting. He goes with a formula…

In digital ID we trust?

28 October 2021 4:00 am

Earlier this month, the Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business, Stuart Robert, released an exposure draft of…

The faux feminism of the orgasm gap

27 October 2021 5:40 pm

Feminists use ‘The Orgasm Gap’ as an excuse to dump on men. For those of you who may not know…

Climate and Covid: the fact checks we had to have

27 October 2021 2:56 pm

There is no relationship between lockdowns and virus control (eg, 35 studies reported in December 2020, in American Institute for Economic…

Now it really is Dictator Dan

27 October 2021 12:00 pm

Let’s be clear. Daniel Andrews needs more power. If the Victorian dictator had only been given proper dictatorial powers —…