ASIA SUMMIT WRAPS

US President Donald Trump has skipped out on the East Asia Summit, opting to return home after a scheduling delay. Trump had been expected to participate but after a 12-day absence from the US he is now on the way home.

Human rights groups are disappointed that Trump and other world leaders have not pushed the summit’s host, President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte, on the mass killings of alleged drug users by police in the country. As the summit wrapped up, Duterte hit out at Canadian leader Justin Trudeau for raising the issue.

“I only answer to the Filipino. I will not answer to any other bullshit, especially foreigners,” Duterte said. “Lay off.”

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull used the summit to raise the contentious issue of the South China Sea with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Turnbull argued that any codes of conduct developed to stop states clashing in the waterway should have legally binding power.

Turnbull also used his time at the summit to encourage all regional players to help enforce the latest round of UN Security Council sanctions on North Korea.

QUESTIONS OVER LAMBIE REPLACEMENT

Jacqui Lambie has been confirmed as the eighth MP forced out of parliament by dual-citizen status. “There’s so much more I wanted to do,” the Tasmanian Senator said yesterday.

The former Palmer United Party member may have the last laugh in the ongoing citizenship saga, telling Tasmanian local radio she will consider running in a byelection if Labor MP Justine Keay is forced to give up the seat of Braddon over her own citizenship doubts.

Lambie is set to be replaced in the Senate by fellow Lambie Network candidate and current Devonport Mayor Steve Martin who, needless to say, is also under a constitutional cloud. Martin could fall foul of the provision barring those who hold an “office of profit under the Crown”, though Lambie and Martin say advice provided to them by the Senate clerk in 2016 indicated he was eligible to run.

It’s the same provision that is causing headaches for Liberal Hollie Hughes, who will have the High Court examine her case today. If the court signs off on her eligibility she will be cleared to take Fiona Nash Senate spot.

The battle for the vacated seat of Bennelong is drawing losers from both sides of the political aisle. Former PM John Howard, who was turfed from the seat in 2007, says he is expecting to get involved with the campaign, which will pit John Alexander against former New South Wales Labor premier Kristina Keneally. Now at Sky News, Keneally led NSW Labor to a historic election defeat in 2011.

KEATING RIPS BUSINESS COUNCIL

Former Labor prime minister Paul Keating has laid into the Business Council in a speech delivered last night.

“Today the Business Council of Australia tells us we need to go back to the Keating reform era. When we were actually in the Keating reform era, the Business Council was of no help,” he said.

Attacking the group for its “laziness and backwardness”, Keating mocked the council’s support for cutting corporate taxes and attacking the penalty rates of low-income workers.

He also hit out at The Australian Financial Review and said technological and digital advancements offered great opportunities, if only leaders could imagine them. 

THEY REALLY SAID THAT

“We need more like you in here,” Labor Senator Doug Cameron remarked yesterday, as he farewelled dual-citizenship-holding Senator Jacqui Lambie. “Less lawyers, more Lambies.”

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Euthanasia may be restricted to life expectancy of six months or less

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Around Australia: The results of the marriage equality postal survey will be revealed at 10am Australian Eastern Daylight Time.

Sydney: The Socceroos take on Honduras. A win will send them through to the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia.

Canberra: The High Court will consider whether Hollie Hughes should be declared duly elected as the replacement for ex-Nationals senator Fiona Nash.

Canberra: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull returns to the country.

THE COMMENTARIAT 

Parliament, not a postal vote, should be used to decide issues — Nick O’Malley (Sydney Morning Herald): “Essential Research found that 27 per cent of Australian voters thought the postal ballot ‘was a good process that should be used for informing governments on other contentious issues in future,’ while 64 per cent thought it should not be used again.”

Dual citizenship crisis a lesson in how not to govern — Jeff Kennett (Herald Sun $): “While the minor parties have been blamed for the disruption to the governments programs, I believe that is a cop out. The blame lies more with personality politics and the tactics of oppositions. Started by Tony Abbott and now embraced by Bill Shorten, the aim is to simply oppose, at any cost.”

CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY

Don’t turn your back. Don’t look away. And don’t blink. You’ll miss another crisis. — Bernard Keane: “At what point does the 45th parliament become a write-off? Eight senators have gone because of citizenship and another three have departed. That’s around 15% of the entire Senate.”

Poll Bludger: One Nation slows as the Battler Bus loses a tyre — William Bowe: “A One Nation vote in the low 20s would reel in a seat total in double figures, just as it did when 22.7% converted into 11 seats for the party in 1998. However, as the vote share fall into the teens, the number of seats diminishes rapidly – to the extent that even the 18% attributed to the party by Galaxy Research could net as few as four seats.”

Trump’s new shock doctrine is many kinds of stupid — Ruby Hamad: “Trump’s vow is classic shock therapy in that it exploits a tragic event as a pretext for a policy that, in actuality, has little to do with the event itself.”

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