WHO ISN’T A DUAL CITIZEN?

Justice Minister Michael Keenan could be yet another dual citizen sitting in federal Parliament. Fairfax’s Adam Gartrell, Amy Remeikis and Sean Nicholls report that experts believe Keenan could be a citizen by descent, because his father was born in the UK, and Keenan would have received the status of a citizen of “UK and colonies” at birth. Keenan’s office would not confirm to Fairfax whether he or his father had gone through the formal renunciation process. Fairfax is also reporting that Labor has a hit list of eight potential dual citizens in the government it will use if the government, as threatened, starts referring Labor MPs to the High Court over citizenship doubts. The Australian Financial Review reports the whole debacle has been demoralising for Liberal MPs.

Labor is also hanging out for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to head overseas so they can put more pressure on his deputy, former Kiwi Barnaby Joyce, The Australian reports. Turnbull is due to attend the Pacific Islands Forum in Samoa during the next sitting week, in September.

SHARROUF KILLED (AGAIN)

A US airstrike is believed to have killed Australian terrorist Khaled Sharrouf and his two sons in Syria. Australian intelligence agencies played a key role in pinpointing his location, The Australian reports. Khaled, a convicted terrorist, sneaked out of the country in 2013 on his brother’s passport. His two sons, aged 11 and 12, are also believed to have been killed in the attack near Raqqa last week. Sharrouf was also been reported dead in 2015, but it later emerged he had only been injured in an attack.

ONE NATION ABC CONDITIONS DOOMED

The government is edging towards a deal on its media reforms with the Nick Xenophon Team as it looks unlikely One Nation’s ABC demands will get through. Conditions for One Nation’s support for the bill included changes to the ABC charter and publishing ABC salaries over $200,000, which would both require legislative change and would fail if Labor, the Greens and the Nick Xenophon Team rejected them in the Senate, Fairfax reports. But The Australian reports the reforms could go through as early as today, with Nick Xenophon saying he is ready for a “breakthrough” after months of negotiations. His proposals include a 40% tax break for smaller publishers.

ABS STAFFER DOUBTS OVER MARRIAGE SURVEY

Staffers at the Australian Bureau of Statistics have “grave doubts” that the same-sex marriage postal survey can be done properly in its rushed timeframe, The Canberra Times reports. The Community and Public Sector Union, which represents public servants, says some workers are worried the “rush job” could repeat last year’s census debacle, and others are worried it won’t be an accurate measure of Australians’ opinions on same-sex marriage.

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Treasurer confident of shock Medicare levy deal

Gay activist did bomb ‘research’ before ACL attack

Bill Shorten donated union funds to his own campaign

New analysis pinpoints MH370 location

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Brisbane: Two-day trial begins between general purpose liquidators and Clive Palmer over the ownership and related costs of a plane

Sydney: Opposition frontbencher Joel Fitzgibbon‘s Federal Court appeal over a freedom of information request from the government will be heard

Canberra: Former UK shadow chancellor of the exchequer Ed Balls and former Australian treasurer Wayne Swan to speak at the Australian Press Club

THE COMMENTARIAT

I was in Charlottesville. Trump was wrong about violence on the left — Jason Wilson (The Guardian): “They carried the colours of openly fascist organisations, which promote white supremacy, antisemitism, misogyny and the idea of a white ethno-state. Many wore helmets and carried shields. Many carried clubs and chemical sprays. All of these were used on counter-protesters. “

Morrison gets reform going, but the agenda’s thin — David Uren (The Australian $): “There has been no return to the tax debate since it was decided early last year that company tax cuts and a modest increase to one personal income tax threshold were as much as the government could do. Tackling the overlapping roles of the state and federal government in health, education and human services, which were part of an Abbott government agenda, has been abandoned.”

What One Nation’s plans for the ABC charter would mean for fair reporting — Jonathan Holmes (The Age): “Ah, ‘fair and balanced’. One Nation wants those three words to be inserted into the ABC’s charter. And that’s its most dangerous demand.”

Media in a merge or fail moment — Simon Cowan (Australian Financial Review $): “Common sense suggests removing ownership and reach protections can only be a priority for media companies if they want to expand their ownership and reach. The problem with Labor’s opposition is that consolidation is probably necessary – not necessarily because consolidation is always beneficial, but because the alternatives are much worse.”

TODAY IN TRUMP

White supremacist and neo-Nazi terror in Charlottesville continues to dominate US politics, with Donald Trump disbanding two top business advisory councils after members started resigning in protest, upset by Trump’s equivocal response to the events of the weekend. Trump tweeted today that he had decided to disband the Manufacturing Council and Strategy & Policy Forum. The New York Times reported executives from the latter had agreed in a conference call to abandon the group earlier today.

THE WORLD

Grace Mugabe, the politically influential wife of Zimbabwe’s leader Robert Mugabe, has sparked a diplomatic stoush after allegedly assaulting a model in South Africa. After confusion about whether Grace Mugabe was still in South Africa, Zimbabwe has now requested diplomatic immunity for the first lady. Model Gabriella Engels has accused Mugabe of attacking her with an electric power cable. — The Guardian

Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war in the Philippines has had its deadliest night, with police killing 32 people and arresting more than 100. “Let’s kill another 32 every day,” Duterte said. “Maybe we can reduce what ails this country.” — Reuters

Tensions between North Korea and the US have eased, at least for now, with North Korean state media reporting the regime has decided to hold off a test firing of missiles towards Guam. On Twitter, US President Donald Trump praised the decision as “wise”. — Reuters

WHAT WE’RE READING

America’s far right stole the spotlight. Now comes the backlash (LA Times): “Attention is a double-edged sword for white nationalists and neo-Nazis, a tool of further empowerment and an implement of their ruin.”

Political correctness doesn’t kill people (The Outline): “While America’s milquetoast centrists may have had their judgement clouded by a debate-club mentality, commentators on the right were well aware what might result from a media frenzy against young left-wing demonstrators. Earlier this year, dozens of conservative publications trotted out Ronald Reagan’s decision to use deadly force at UC Berkeley as something to aspire to”

The story behind the greatest eclipse video of all time (Atlas Obscura): “About a year before it was scheduled to occur, Kentrianakis’s friend Joe Rao, himself a meteorologist and umbraphile, figured out that there was an Alaska Airlines flight leaving Anchorage on its way to Honolulu that would come very close to the eclipse’s path of totality over the Pacific. They just had to convince the airline to change the departure time of the flight.”

Inside the country where Down syndrome is disappearing (CBS): “Since prenatal screening tests were introduced in Iceland in the early 2000s, the vast majority of women — close to 100 percent — who received a positive test for Down syndrome terminated their pregnancy.”

The truth about inconvenient truths: ‘big issue’ documentaries don’t always change our behaviour (The Conversation): “While more people intended to reduce greenhouse gases after watching An Inconvenient Truth, a survey a month later showed few had followed through.”

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