Flat White

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

The ABC: answerable to no one

18 December 2023 11:50 pm

Ad nauseam! That’s the constancy of calls for the ABC to be shut down, privatised, or restructured. The first two…

‘Awaiting the tsunami’: the danger of coercive control laws

18 December 2023 2:04 am

A few weeks ago, thousands took to the streets of Madrid to march on behalf of children’s rights, holding banners…

Walking the walk: what happened to the good old days?

18 December 2023 12:20 am

As an ‘Old Bushy’ who has a patriotic and passionate love of our country, its environment, its history, and the…

Postcard from Buenos Aires

18 December 2023 12:01 am

Wide awake at 3 am, in submission to the gods of jet lag, seemed an apt moment to jot down…

Rejecting the Queensland Climate Transition Bill

17 December 2023 8:54 pm

In March, Greens MP Michael Berkman introduced a Private Member’s Bill, the Queensland Climate Transition Bill 2023. The proposed legislation…

Shards of truth: the compatibility of farming and renewables projects

16 December 2023 11:20 pm

Up to one-third of Australia’s prime agricultural farmland could be destroyed by the industrial-scale solar panels and wind turbines

We’re back in the USSR

16 December 2023 11:00 pm

We have been handed a load of lies for many decades. I cannot tell which of them is the biggest,…

When the ice returns

16 December 2023 1:57 am

Earth is living in the latter days of the Holocene Warm Era. This is the latest short, fertile, warm interlude…

Yes, they profiled citizens according to compliance

15 December 2023 4:00 am

There has been an unexpected validation of the title of Our Enemy, the Government (Brownstone, 2023). In a stunning indictment…

Turning students into barely literate social justice warriors

14 December 2023 5:00 am

The recently released results of the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) confirm yet again the significant and systemic…

Not exactly a ‘safe pair of hands’

14 December 2023 4:30 am

I’m not the first to point out the incredible disconnect of Team Albanese when it comes to our top judges,…

Single-sex schools – are they a thing of the past?

14 December 2023 4:00 am

Regensburg Cathedral School in Bavaria was founded in 975. For a thousand years, it only admitted male pupils. In 2022,…

After the Thalidomide apology, where is the Covid vaccine apology?

13 December 2023 4:00 am

What a difference 61 years makes. In November 1962, thalidomide was withdrawn from use in Australia but only now has…

Don’t welcome me to my country

13 December 2023 3:18 am

Shockingly, Australia Day festivities have been cancelled in London due to ‘sensitivities’! As a proud Australian, I believe that politicians…

Tammy Peterson: awareness of the transcendent

13 December 2023 3:09 am

Tammy Peterson is the wife of celebrated psychologist and co-founder of the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC), Jordan Peterson. Tammy…

The L Word – do no harm, take no shit

13 December 2023 2:49 am

Libertarian: noun –  ‘An advocate or supporter of a political philosophy that advocates only minimal state intervention in the free market…

Is the RBA’s 2-3 per cent inflation target still being taken seriously?

12 December 2023 1:24 am

Promises need timeframes, otherwise they are just empty words. If your friend tells you they are doing a diet, you…

To survive, Europe must change

12 December 2023 1:10 am

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s wonderful novel The Leopard tells the story of a Sicilian prince and how his aristocratic life faced…

My granddaughter may have saved my life

12 December 2023 12:29 am

I was visiting my daughter in Canberra in early November when she asked if I could do her a favour…

Carter’s presidency: Albanese’s fate?

11 December 2023 4:30 am

The recent passing of Eleanor Rosalynn Carter at age 96 provides a poignant opportunity to reflect on her husband Jimmy…

Has Airbus Albo become Albatross Albo for Labor?

11 December 2023 4:00 am

‘Oh, how the mighty have fallen!’ is an old saying that comes to mind when one reflects on the fortunes…

Palestine: founded in terror

11 December 2023 3:00 am

For 75 years Palestinians have refused to accept the existence of Israel and have refused all opportunities to have and…

Annastacia Palaszczuk: an unflattering legacy

11 December 2023 2:36 am

For many, the lasting image of Annastacia Palaszczuk won’t be of a Premier basking in the glory of an Olympics…

Isn’t it ironic?

10 December 2023 11:10 pm

Last Thursday on Music Band T-shirt Day, the Prime Minister chose to wear a T-shirt from the Australian band Radio Birdman.…

A very merry interruption

10 December 2023 7:27 pm

Christmas is the season of interruptions. Who isn’t relieved, at year’s end, for the interruption of a week or two…