Flat White

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

You don’t protect people by destroying their livelihoods

25 February 2021 6:42 pm

You may have seen reports that the UK’s top court has decided that Uber drivers are not independent contractors.  Australian unions are excited…

No Mickey Mouse business. Here’s the Celebrity Climate Change Club

25 February 2021 5:04 pm

Trigger warning: the following article may contain satire.  Before he boarded a private jet to make the journey from Sydney to Byron Bay last…

Victory? We’ve been outmanoeuvred by Facebook and Google

25 February 2021 3:16 pm

The federal parliament has passed the so-called ‘News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code’. Despite the name, and the…

#ScottyFromMarketing – and Ant from Ant’s Used Cars?

25 February 2021 2:30 pm

For what ever reason, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been colloquially named “Scotty from Marketing”. No doubt it is a…

In defence of Linda Reynolds

25 February 2021 12:01 pm

Defence minister Linda Reynolds is a decent person. She is honourable and compassionate, as well as someone whose talents and…

Want cultural change in politics? Rescue politics from the political class

25 February 2021 4:00 am

The entrenchment of the political class in parliaments across the nation is a rising issue in Australian politics.  It is…

Redefining the ABC

24 February 2021 6:40 pm

Question: What do you call a discussion between people who have no idea what they are talking about but are…

The sophisticated security of Parliament House

24 February 2021 4:38 pm

It’s constantly forgotten, but in Walter Burley Griffin’s plans for Canberra Capital Hill was supposed to be crowned with a…

Craig Kelly: cancel culture has now come to the government’s backbenches

24 February 2021 2:42 pm

That Craig Kelly does not believe he can speak “frankly” and “fearlessly” on important public policy matters such as the…

The Battle of the Bergs boosts Josh’s leadership ambitions

24 February 2021 12:02 pm

In the words of Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, Facebook has re-friended Australia. Yesterday, Mark Zuckerberg agreed to Facebook once again enabling…

Why everything ScoMo does is wrong in the left’s weird world

24 February 2021 4:00 am

The political and cultural Left claim that when it comes to the big issues they are not-playing-politics. They say it all the time. But they are currently…

Is this the real cultural problem in politics?

23 February 2021 6:37 pm

The Brittany Higgins matter keeps moving on. The allegations are very disturbing. But there seems a more fundamental question not being…

Madonna: over the borderline

23 February 2021 3:05 pm

Madonna, terrified of dying from the plague, has taken the vaccine. And no, we are not talking about Covid-19.  The…

Craig Kelly goes to the crossbench

23 February 2021 12:17 pm

The Liberal Party and its forebears have always given their members the right to speak out, particularly backbenchers. South Australian…

Can incumbents lose in the age of Covid-19?

23 February 2021 11:31 am

Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan is about smash the opposition in the March 6 state election. A thoroughly iffy, whiffy…

We’ve got the vaccine, but what will fix our sense of nationhood?

23 February 2021 4:00 am

With Covid jabs now beginning to roll out, my sense is that we’ll soon declare victory over the pandemic and…

Obama’s coup

barack obama

22 February 2021 7:35 pm

In his riveting but deeply disturbing new book, The Permanent Coup: How Enemies Foreign and Domestic Targeted the American President, investigative journalist…

Our staffer brats are just part of a deeper political malaise

22 February 2021 5:17 pm

It’s a pleasant surprise to read “The rise of the staffer brat” and see that at least someone agrees with…

The Australian Open booing: Daniel Andrews’ Ceausescu moment?

22 February 2021 1:31 pm

That barrage of boos echoing around Rod Laver Arena last night was the sound of propaganda meeting reality. Tennis Australia…

You what, Tanya?

22 February 2021 11:32 am

For the Twitterati, it’s just a given. Either Tanya Plibersek or Penny Wong is the righful prime minister. The Twitterati…

WA stink?

22 February 2021 4:00 am

The 1980s in Western Australia were heady days. Riding off the success of winning the rights to host the America’s…

An infectious history of Australia

21 February 2021 4:28 pm

Epidemics and pandemics of infectious disease have always played an important part in Australia’s history. Even so, until the advent…

Danandrewstan: where journalists now get arrested

21 February 2021 2:18 pm

The nation has had enough time over the past 12 months to form a clear impression of Victorian Premier Daniel…

India caged by China’s belts and roads

21 February 2021 7:00 am

Joe Biden’s decision to consider lifting sanctions on terrorist-operated Iran has lifted plenty of eyebrows.  The Iran nuclear deal never…

From the archive: The rise of the staffer brat

20 February 2021 7:23 pm

This article on the conduct of ministerial advisers first appeared in October 2016. It made such a mark that it…