Flat White

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

Many happy returns of the day, Your Majesty

7 June 2020 3:13 pm

Queen Elizabeth II became the longest-reigning British monarch on September 9, 2015, when she surpassed the reign of her great-great-grandmother…

Defund the police? Whatever could go wrong?

7 June 2020 12:04 pm

“Off the pigs!” OK, I confess: back in my wild youth, this was an oft-heard phrase rolling off my lips.…

The ABC of protesting

6 June 2020 2:26 pm

Come along, it will be a riot. Here is the story that proves once and for all that the Staff…

Time to call a terrorist a terrorist and ban Hezbollah in full

6 June 2020 5:00 am

Last month, the German government took the principled decision to ban the entire Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah and designate it…

White opportunism matters

5 June 2020 7:28 pm

Well, well, well. Look at what we have here. Gatecrashers. Extinction Rebellion gatecrashers. Look at the latest email from Mother…

“They’re everywhere, those Hi-Vis Guys, polishing up to stay alive.” 

5 June 2020 4:25 pm

Somewhere in a Melbourne suburban street near you, someone in an orange Hi-Vis vest is polishing a lamppost with disinfectant…

After too many wasted weeks, our schools need a focus on literacy and numeracy

5 June 2020 1:55 pm

School students are now almost entirely back to regular classes, but the battle isn’t yet won. What should students be doing once they return to…

The race rhetoric that causes more harm than harmony

5 June 2020 5:00 am

George Floyd’s cruel murder is sparking much-needed discussion about justice and racial harmony in America and beyond. The ripple effect…

Where is the left on the Drew Pavlou outrage?

4 June 2020 6:17 pm

The West was built on doubt. When it fails us, when we slip into the blinkered certainty of ideology and…

Cut red tape, green tape and taxes – as only the private sector can get us out of recession

4 June 2020 4:33 pm

All eyes were on the headline economic growth figure in the national accounts released on Wednesday, which shows the first…

Are protesters now essential workers?

4 June 2020 1:06 pm

One minute the media are telling us coronavirus is so lethal that we dare not leave our homes. The next…

Welcome to recession – with a ticking personal debt bomb

4 June 2020 5:00 am

My family migrated to Australia in the 1950s with barely enough cash to bless themselves. Such is the story of…

America or Australia: #AllLivesMatter

3 June 2020 7:15 pm

To anyone who thinks that the recent race riots in the US is about racial justice and not police brutality…

Anti-police protesters don’t have a clue

3 June 2020 3:57 pm

Recently I returned to the coast after spending almost a year reporting the news in Mount Isa. The Aboriginal and…

ScoMo’s renovation rescue needs a rethink

3 June 2020 1:57 pm

When the Morrison Government’s home renovation cash grants were announced on Monday, one couldn’t help but think about the wealthy…

This is not America, so don’t play at riots here

3 June 2020 11:00 am

Australian eyes are turned across the Pacific, gazing in dismay as the United States once again engages in destructive domestic…

It’s not just Canberra. The states face a corona budget belting too

3 June 2020 5:00 am

The coronavirus pandemic has drawn state government policies into the response to a national crisis like rarely before — a…

Drew Pavlou: “We know what we are doing. We learned from Tiananmen.”

2 June 2020 7:40 pm

The suspension of University of Queensland student, Drew Pavlou, was announced late last week following the decision of a disciplinary tribunal set up by the University’s…

He don’t need no education

2 June 2020 4:33 pm

The Greens are not known for their originality. When the Coalition accepts Labor amendments to any measure that they approve…

The new National Cabinet: great for big government, not so good for liberty

2 June 2020 2:16 pm

Last week Prime Minister announced “a completely new system” of intergovernmental relations institutions, processes and agendas that will replace the…

Coronavirus: cover for a fresh attack on free speech in Victoria

2 June 2020 12:03 pm

Victorians have experienced an unprecedented trashing of their rights and liberties in response to the coronavirus pandemic, but now the…

End the Antifa terror now

2 June 2020 10:06 am

President Trump’s decision to designate Antifa as a terrorist organisation is long overdue. Whether you call them a terrorist organisation…

If we want to rebuild manufacturing post coronavirus, we need to cut the cost of energy

2 June 2020 5:00 am

In one of the most challenging commentaries by a senior politician, former resources minister Matt Canavan, advocates leaving the Paris…

Free childcare: it sounds great, but your kids will pay for it from their taxes later

1 June 2020 6:11 pm

There is not one Australian industry sector that wouldn’t want a $60 billion handout. Not one.  But the “free childcare for all kids” plea…

This is the IR reform we need now, Prime Minister

1 June 2020 3:29 pm

The Federal Court’s decision to order Workpac to pay a casual employee leave and public holiday entitlements despite the employee…