Flat White

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

Treason, Leaks, and Julian Assange: a misguided hero?

28 June 2024 1:22 pm

Thomas Jefferson once shot a man on the White House Lawn for treason. The Western world has come a long…

Australians should celebrate the return of Assange

28 June 2024 3:27 am

The return of Julian Assange to Australia has undoubtedly been the dominant news item during the last couple of days.…

It’s time for a reckoning on race and gender

28 June 2024 3:11 am

The Western world is facing a reckoning on race and gender. The rise of discriminatory hiring practices is usually the…

Liturgy Wars

27 June 2024 3:46 am

The battle for the future of the Roman Catholic Church is coming to a head

Julian Assange is not the hero many want him to be

27 June 2024 3:35 am

Some are celebrating the release of Julian Assange while others beg to differ. Were his actions those of a whistleblower…

Why are Australians dying?

27 June 2024 3:29 am

Since the very first day that I was elected as a Senator for Victoria I have been seeking answers as…

The Australian Education Union is miffed about phonics

27 June 2024 12:47 am

One of my earliest memories is sitting on the front verandah of my parents’ farmhouse. My two younger brothers and…

Wind turbines? Not in my backyard

26 June 2024 2:45 am

It appears that wind turbines are the best thing since people started tilting at windmills. Have you ever wondered how…

The right to f*#kng protest!

26 June 2024 2:30 am

Lucky, I speak fluent CFMEU… The construction union’s boss, John Setka, has had a lot to say in the media…

Letter from Budapest

26 June 2024 2:00 am

The last few years it has been my great pleasure, and privilege, to spend a few weeks of June at…

Julian Assange’s Release: a victory for press freedom or a perilous precedent?

25 June 2024 7:29 pm

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has been released after a plea bargain, a development that has sent ripples through…

Julian Assange is free and headed to Australia

25 June 2024 11:27 am

Julian Assange is free. They are words the media never thought would be printed, and yet footage of Assange boarding…

Nuclear, and Labor’s lying lips

25 June 2024 9:58 am

The old cliche about how you can tell a politician is lying – their lips are moving – has never…

Disney, are you listening? Blaming fans is a bad idea

25 June 2024 2:30 am

If I told a Collingwood supporter in the AFL, or a Manly fan in the NRL, or a supporter of…

(More) power to the people

25 June 2024 2:00 am

‘If you were Prime Minister for a day, what would you do?’ It is one question that makes my skin…

The ‘silent slaughter’ of Nigerian Christians by Islam

24 June 2024 3:17 pm

Islamic Fulani militants attacked a Christian church last week, burning it to the ground resulting in the deaths of five…

The case for a government-owned nuclear reactor fleet

24 June 2024 3:00 am

Peter Dutton’s announcement that the Coalition will build seven nuclear reactors on the sites of existing coal-fired power stations is…

The West is waste-deep in self-made treacle

24 June 2024 2:30 am

Unkind critics used to say I had to visit Scotland for re-training after reportedly buying two beers in the same…

The fight for nuclear is going to be rough

24 June 2024 2:00 am

No debate. Just rhetorical fortressing. That seems to be the mode of responding to the nuclear debate from those on…

Bowen and the three-eyed fish

23 June 2024 10:55 pm

When it comes to the nuclear energy debate, Chris Bowen has grown a third eye. Like the orange fish from…

Palestinian pipe dream

23 June 2024 9:49 pm

The idea of a Palestinian State has gripped the West with such force that even the most well-known defenders of…

Are Palestinians destined for eternal misery?

22 June 2024 2:30 pm

It was a sad, depressing sight; a Gazan man was leading a donkey-drawn cart along a dusty, broken Gazan street,…

Bird Flu, fear, and perverse incentives

22 June 2024 1:25 pm

A 59-year-old man unfortunately died in Mexico in late April. Having been bed-bound for weeks and suffering from type-2 diabetes…

We would’ve won with Boris

22 June 2024 12:53 pm

There is one thing that all Conservative activists and candidates are thinking when we go out knocking on doors and…

US must stay the course on Aukus

21 June 2024 8:56 am

There’s more in common between Australia and the United States than you may think. Apart from a love of big…