But now to a story that is almost as stupid. Here's the promo for Friday night's Today Tonight in Adelaide:

ANNOUNCER: Having to apologise for being white. GRAEME HAYCROFT: I think it's a disgrace. ANNOUNCER: Nurses told to say sorry before treating Aborigines. GRAEME HAYCROFT: You have real consequences. ANNOUNCER: Politically correct or risk dismissal. — Channel Seven, Today Tonight promo, 22 March, 2018

And those crazy claims weren't just on Seven. The trusty Daily Mail had them the day before:

Racist to its core. Outrage as nurses are subject to a new code where they must announce their 'white privilege' before treating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients — Daily Mail, 21 March, 2018

Is it April Fool's Day, I hear you ask? No, that's still a week away.

So where did it come from?

Take a bow Peta Credlin, Tony Abbott's former chief of staff, who told her Sky News viewers on Wednesday it was a story she "almost can't believe".

At least she got that bit right. She then went on to ask her guest:

PETA CREDLIN: Please tell me I'm wrong. As I understand it, this new code of conduct for nurses in Queensland requires obviously white nurses to announce they've got white privilege before they can look after patients of an Indigenous or Torres Strait Islander background. Am I right there? — Sky News, Credlin, 21 March, 2018

And back came the answer from Graeme Haycroft of Queensland nurses' association the NPAQ:

GRAEME HAYCROFT: Yes, you are, except that it's not just Queensland, Peta, it's all of Australia, there's 350,000 nurses and midwives Australia-wide and they're all now subject to this new code. — Sky News, Credlin, 21 March, 2018

So, is the story true? Well no. Although there is some basis to it.

There IS a new code for nurses and midwives, which came into effect this month, and it does talk about Indigenous patients, and the glossary does say this about white privilege:

GRAEME HAYCROFT: In relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, cultural safety provides a decolonising model of practice based on dialogue, communication, power sharing and negotiation, and the acknowledgement of white privilege. — Sky News, Credlin, 21 March, 2018

Now you might think that is pretty barmy stuff. But, the glossary is not the code that nurses must adhere to.

And nurses are not required, forced or even encouraged to announce their white privilege to patients before treating them, or indeed at all.

Yet that crazy claim has been gathering strength for weeks. Ever since Cory Bernardi first made it in January in his, quote, "Weekly Dose of Common Sense", where he dubbed it "medical Marxism" and claimed the code says:

Nurses must acknowledge white privilege and voice this acknowledgment if asked ... — Senator Cory Bernardi's Weekly Dose of Common Sense, 31 January, 2018

True to form, The Daily Telegraph was first to seize on the story. Then, a few weeks later the Cairns Post cranked it up.

And last week the Daily Mail and News.com.au followed the Credlin interview by revving it up again.

At which point Andrew Bolt and Chris Smith joined the fun:

ANDREW BOLT: What about if they're just within seconds of dying and the nurse has to fling themselves into action, but they have to stop, before, while they just announce their white privilege, oh too late. CHRIS SMITH: Yeah. ANDREW BOLT: Gone. CHRIS SMITH : Please keep your heart beating for one more beat, because sir I need to talk to you about my white privilege. — 2GB, The Chris Smith Show, 22 March, 2018

Hilarious, eh?

So, who is driving all this outrage?

Answer: Credlin's interviewee, Graeme Haycroft, founder of the breakaway union, the Nurses Professional Association of Queensland, which represents around 2500 - yes, 2500 - of Australia's 390,000 nurses and midwives.

Now Haycroft is not a nurse but a labour hire millionaire, who's made his fortune busting unions. He's also a former bigwig in the LNP, and a member of the fiercely anti-union HR Nicholls Society.

And he's been spreading fear about the code to anyone who'll listen, like the inimitable John Mackenzie, or Macca, on Cairns' 4CA:

JOHN MACKENZIE: ... When this issue emerged, everyone thought it was a practical joke. But it's far from a practical joke, isn't it? GRAEME HAYCROFT: Well, yes, it's worse than that. It's an insidious form of racism and ... it's going to end up with a form of apartheid in the health system. — Classic Hits 4CA, Mornings with John MacKenzie, 7 March, 2018

And a couple of weeks before that, Graeme Haycroft was getting 2GB's Michael McLaren in Sydney equally riled up:

MICHAEL MCLAREN: This all sounds ridiculous to me. What the hell is cultural safety? No one's ever heard of it. — 2GB, Overnight with Michael McLaren, 13 March, 2018

So, what is cultural safety? Well, according to that new code from the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia:

Rather than saying 'I provide the same care to everyone regardless of difference,' cultural safety means providing care that takes into account Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples' needs. — Nursing & Midwifery Board of Australia code of conduct for nurses and code of conduct for midwives, March, 2018

Doesn't sound too bad, you might think. But Haycroft - who's using the issue to rally support for his union - claims the code will see nurses lose their jobs. And here is how:

GRAEME HAYCROFT: If you've got an Aboriginal or Indigenous patient and they don't like the bedside manner of the nurse because the nurse is not acknowledging her white privilege, if she happens to be white, then a complaint can be lodged and there's no defence. — 2GB, Overnight with Michael McLaren, 13 March, 2018

So, is that true? Well, no again, at least according to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, who drew up the code:

MEDIA WATCH: Are nurses encouraged to announce their 'white privilege' before treating indigenous patients? NMBA: No. MEDIA WATCH: Is there any requirement to acknowledge or announce 'white privilege' before treating a patient? NMBA: No. MEDIA WATCH: Can a nurse be sacked for NOT declaring or addressing their 'white privilege' to a patient? NMBA: No. The recent criticisms from Mr Haycroft are based on completely untrue statements. — Nursing & Midwifery Board of Australia, 23 March, 2018

Graeme Haycroft told Media Watch he stands by his claims, and no doubt he'll be encouraged to keep on repeating them by conservative commentators who'd love to believe they're true.

But they are not. And he should not be allowed to make the claims unchallenged.

Read a statement from the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia

Read a response to Media Watch from the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia