Flat White

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

The problem with ‘hate speech’ laws

21 February 2019 3:27 pm

When Facebook posts lead to Federal Court proceedings, a parliamentary inquiry, and a bankruptcy, something has gone seriously wrong with…

ISIS MILFs* want back in

21 February 2019 12:13 pm

In ages past, traitors who chose the other side and fought with the enemy against their country could expect a…

How Cuba pulls Venezuela’s strings

21 February 2019 7:31 am

Last month, when the Venezuelan opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, was briefly detained by Maduro’s intelligence agents less than 48 hours…

Brexit: a distortion of democracy

20 February 2019 6:49 pm

The Brits have been left out to dry in a lousy Brexit process. Last week, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called…

A plaintive twilight swansong

20 February 2019 2:01 pm

The retiring member for Lilley didn’t actually whistle The Red Flag during his parliamentary swansong, though there were dog whistles…

What’s woke this week?

20 February 2019 11:59 am

The wokerati are always against something. It’s their raison d’être after all. From the pointy-fingered moral high ground of their…

Socialism: a Millennial religion?

20 February 2019 7:35 am

Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it, as George Santayana once said. Slightly before him, Karl Marx claimed…

Identity politics devours its own

19 February 2019 6:56 pm

Former tennis legend, Martina Navratilova, now understands just how ‘nasty’ those who champion identity politics can actually be. The whole…

The Paladin contract non-conspiracy

19 February 2019 3:37 pm

Government tenders are fraught with risks that most citizens fail to grasp. On the face of it there are aspects…

Why won’t we admit it: women commit domestic violence too

19 February 2019 11:49 am

Males are generally the perpetrators of domestic and sexual violence and women are generally the victims of domestic and sexual…

Put company tax cuts back on the table

19 February 2019 7:25 am

If Scott Morrison wants any chance at re-election, he can’t simply stay on the backfoot, opposing Labor’s shameless tax hikes…

The queer case of Jussie Smollett and postmodern victimhood

18 February 2019 6:38 pm

Remember when Bill Shorten was caught out lying on national television about having personally witnessed the homophobic posters, “Stop the…

They say it as if debate was a bad thing

18 February 2019 3:44 pm

Sorry. More Jordan Peterson — but we know you love him like those middle-aged, professional St Kilda dads who still…

Sub snafus and other technical traumas

18 February 2019 12:51 pm

Sometimes you feel like screaming when hit with that sinking feeling that our politician’s obligation to their voters is often…

Take responsibility for your life

18 February 2019 7:28 am

Prominent intellectual and speaker Jordan Peterson’s current Australian tour could well be the first time many millennials have heard a…

The myths of the Murray

17 February 2019 9:41 am

Over the past century, the Murray Darling river’s naturally highly irregular flows have been transformed to convert it into the…

Married at First Sight and the unkindness of strangers

16 February 2019 2:21 pm

Critics ask, ‘why MAFS’ – and it is certainly a polarising topic. This take, for example: ‘Fucking hard hitting journalism…

The green-left war on God becomes a poll fight

15 February 2019 1:19 pm

One of the things that the Left hates the most is religion. And unfortunately, New South Wales Labor contains a…

Doctors are doctors, not philosopher kings

15 February 2019 7:47 am

Doctors swear on the Hippocratic Oath that they will “first do no harm”, yet they pay little attention to the…

Switching off a nation: no-coal Germany

14 February 2019 6:42 pm

In 19 years’ time, Germany will have no more coal mines and coal power plants, bringing to an end hundreds…

Reconciliation requires greater free speech

14 February 2019 12:57 pm

The Victorian government, having passed legislation to authorise negotiation with Aboriginal Victorians, is advancing towards a formal treaty. Despite the…

Ignore Hayne and deregulate the banking sector

14 February 2019 7:31 am

It may seem paradoxical – even insane in polite society. But with a surge of new technologies emerging, which could…

Cubbie Station is a scapegoat

13 February 2019 5:57 pm

Cubbie Station cops the blame for all of the problems of the Darling River, particularly by green journalists, politicians, and…

What’s woke this week?

13 February 2019 1:58 pm

Super Bowl has been the biggest woke show in town, with a number of performers declining to perform at the…

Man-hating and fashion(able) victims

13 February 2019 7:32 am

If you have the audacity to get yourself murdered, I have some suggestions on how to keep your name in…