White-anting is an Australian term for the process of internal erosion of a foundation. It is often used in reference to groups such as political parties or organisations where information from group insiders is 'leaked' or used to undermine the goals of the group. The

Macquarie Dictionary The ''Macquarie Dictionary'' () is a dictionary of Australian English. It is considered by many to be the standard reference on Australian English. It also pays considerable attention to New Zealand English. Originally it was a publishing proje ...

says the verb "to white-ant" means "to subvert or undermine from within". The term is derived from the action of

termites Termites are a group of detritophagous eusocial cockroaches which consume a variety of decaying plant material, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, and soil humus. They are distinguished by their moniliform antennae and the sof ...

(white ants) eating the inside of wooden building foundations, often leaving no outward evidence, until the structure crumbles.

Usage

In 1938,

Gordon Childe Vere Gordon Childe (14 April 189219 October 1957) was an Australian archaeologist who specialised in the study of European prehistory. He spent most of his life in the United Kingdom, working as an academic for the University of Edinburgh and ...

used the term in a letter to

Rajani Palme Dutt Rajani may refer to: * Rajani (name), people named Rajani * Rajani (actress) (born 1965), Indian film actress * Rajanikanth (born 1950), Indian actor * ''Rajani'' (TV series), a 1980s Indian TV series * ''Rajani'' (film), a 2009 Indian Kannada rom ...

, explaining how in his books he used the method of 'white-anting' to get his Marxist message to the masses rather than labeling himself as a

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

and using Marxist terms, thus eroding the institution of bourgeois scholarship. In 2012, the ''

Illawarra Mercury The ''Illawarra Mercury'' is a daily newspaper serving the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It has been published since 1855, making it one of Australia's oldest newspapers and the second-oldest regional newspaper in New South Wa ...

'' newspaper also used the term, when it reported that then-government minister

Greg Combet Gregory Ivan Combet (; born 28 April 1958) is the chairman of Australia's sovereign wealth fund, the Future Fund. Prior to this he served as chair of the Australian Government Net Zero Economy Agency, establishing a government authority to over ...

wanted his colleagues to stop white-anting the Australian Prime Minister

Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard (born 29 September 1961) is an Australian former politician who served as the 27th prime minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013. She held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously served as the ...

. It was used on the

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...

several times including in 2006. In July 2019, Season 3 Episode 10 of the Australian TV show 'Sea Patrol', Buffer opines that Charge's ex-wife white-anted him by turning his kids against him. In 2019, Steve Smith, the returned former captain of the Australian cricket team, was accused of white-anting the new captain

Tim Paine Timothy David Paine (born 8 December 1984) is an Australian former cricketer and a former captain of the Australia national cricket team in Test cricket. A right-handed batsman and a wicket-keeper, he played for the Tasmanian Tigers in Austra ...

References

External links

{{wiktionary
ABC NewsRadio Definition
Australian slang