Flat White

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

Will we follow the EU’s attacks on web freedom?

20 September 2018 11:19 am

The European Parliament’s decision to approve two articles in the name of copyright protection sets a worrying precedent for our…

Boys won’t be boys

20 September 2018 7:41 am

In the Oxford dictionary, the word ‘erasure’ is defined as: The act of removing or destroying something. (Synonyms of erasure…

Sorry Yassmin, but the market for Muslim moaners just got more crowded

19 September 2018 8:41 pm

It seems that the “young Muslim refugee woman with head covered who bags her adopted country and gets lionised for…

Do you feel triggered, snowflake?

19 September 2018 2:45 pm

The 2018 university environment is held hostage by political correctness and an Orwellian sense of authoritarianism and censorship. The long-purported…

Hunt finally sees sense on vaping

19 September 2018 11:01 am

It took a while, but yesterday there was a strange burst of rationality from the ship of fools also known…

Red shoes, chat groups and #MeToo blinkers

19 September 2018 7:23 am

Apparently at some point while many of us were expecting politicians to be running the country they were busying themselves…

Aussie breasts spoil Deutsche fest

18 September 2018 1:11 pm

Is it still cultural appropriation when we do it to the people responsible for World Wars I and II? Whatever: Oktoberfest,…

Are multinationals now more powerful than the nation state?

18 September 2018 7:55 am

If you look outside your window, the world is telling us that neoliberal globalisation has transferred too much power from…

Media botch: The Guardian, The Wiggles — and The Age relies on London to report Melbourne news

17 September 2018 9:23 pm

Another week in the death of Australian media is off to a strong start. Indeed, it could barely be better.…

When education is a waste of time and money

17 September 2018 12:07 pm

Think back to university or high school. Were you or your classmates ever left bored or wondering whether one of…

Tinker, tailor, Downer, spy?

17 September 2018 7:14 am

It is a great pity that the Australian Senate does not have the same sort of inquisitorial role that the…

Bullying a child isn’t political debate

16 September 2018 3:45 pm

My great-grandfather, Hugh de Largie was a Labor senator in Australia’s first parliament.  He followed Prime Minister Billy Hughes out…

It’s all over for Tony Abbott. Allegedly all over…

16 September 2018 1:59 pm

Updated: 7:30 pm, September 17 It’s all over for Tony Abbott — or so they claim. Fairfax boy wonder Bevan…

In praise of Peter King

16 September 2018 11:53 am

When the news broke that Peter King would seek preselection for his old seat, there was a brief prospect of…

The camera never lies, but Fairfax does

15 September 2018 5:06 pm

For once, the idiot children at The Age appeared to have a pretty good story this week. They didn’t even…

The non-spy who didn’t shag me

14 September 2018 8:33 pm

Oh, not to be young and Russian in Washington DC. Politico reports: Nothing prepared the young Russians of Washington for the wintry…

Listen: The full recording of The Anglo-Australian Forum

14 September 2018 7:38 pm

In a day full of laughs and vibrant, honest debate, a stellar panel explored the trade, political and cultural bonds…

Tiberius on Twitter

14 September 2018 3:37 pm

So now we know what really motivates Malcolm Turnbull. His tweets from far away New York make it very clear:…

Abortion and the Deep South

14 September 2018 8:51 am

In one of the many forgotten decisive moments in the history of the United States of America, the question of…

No basis in bias science

13 September 2018 12:34 pm

News that the Australian Taxation Office has been running unconscious bias training courses raises the question: why are taxpayers footing the bill…

A Christian’s advice to Christians about our Christian PM

13 September 2018 6:23 am

I received an email with suggestions from Scott Morrison’s former pastor to all Australian Christians. I don’t know their name…

Watch: the fun and highlights of Andrew Neil with Nigel Farage, Tony Abbott and John Howard in Sydney

12 September 2018 9:50 pm

It was a sparkling Sydney harbour that greeted guests at the second Spectator Anglo-Australian Forum. A wonderful crowd of Speccie…

Deep State Downer?

12 September 2018 8:13 pm

“Russiagate” has its genesis in a strange meeting in London in May 2016 between the then junior policy adviser on…

What religious protections?

12 September 2018 5:38 pm

When Senator Matt Canavan addressed a conference hosted by the Australian Christian Lobby following the same-sex marriage plebiscite in 2017,…

The inequality storm in a teacup

12 September 2018 2:50 pm

The idea that economic inequality is a problem — and an increasing one — demanding public policy remedies has taken…