{{Short description|Internal erosion of a foundation}} {{Refimprove|date=July 2007}} '''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 says the verb "to white-ant" means "to subvert or undermine from within".{{cn|date=August 2020}}
The term is derived from the action of termites (white ants) eating the inside of wooden building foundations, often leaving no outward evidence, until the structure crumbles.
== Usage ==
In 1938, Gordon Childe used the term in a letter to Rajani Palme Dutt, 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 and using Marxist terms, thus eroding the institution of bourgeois scholarship.<ref>Childe to Dutt, 14 October 1938, Palme Dutt Papers in Communist Party of Great Britain Archives, Labour History Archive and Study Centre, People's History Museum, Manchester</ref> In 2012, the ''Illawarra Mercury'' newspaper also used the term, when it reported that then-government minister Greg Combet wanted his colleagues to stop white-anting the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Coorey |first1=Phillip |date=2 Feb 2012 |title=Combet attacks colleagues for white-anting Gillard |url=http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/944990/combet-attacks-colleagues-for-white-anting-gillard/ |accessdate=4 May 2017 |work=Illawarra Mercury |archive-date=14 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170914103850/http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/944990/combet-attacks-colleagues-for-white-anting-gillard/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
It was used on the soap opera Neighbours several times including in 2006.<ref>{{cite web |title=Episode 4898 |url=http://www.neighboursepisodes.com/index.php?year=2006&episode=4898 |accessdate=4 May 2017 |publisher=.neighboursepisodes.com |archive-date=12 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170612044257/http://www.neighboursepisodes.com/index.php?year=2006&episode=4898 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref name="1116 SEN - Melbournes Home of Sport 2019">{{cite web |date=December 3, 2019 |title=Steve Smith addresses Chappell 'white-anting' accusations |url=https://www.sen.com.au/news/2019/12/03/steve-smith-addresses-chappell-white-anting-accusations/ |access-date=August 15, 2020 |website=1116 SEN - Melbourne's Home of Sport |archive-date=December 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205011558/https://www.sen.com.au/news/2019/12/03/steve-smith-addresses-chappell-white-anting-accusations/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{wiktionary}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20090226170352/http://www.abc.net.au/newsradio/txt/s1749419.htm ABC NewsRadio Definition]
Category:Australian slang