NY ATTACKER RADICALISED IN US
The driver who killed eight people when he sped onto a cycling path in New York City was radicalised in America, according to police. Sayfullo Saipov, who migrated to the Unites States from Uzbekistan in 2010, hired a ute one hour before the attack, which he is believed to have been preparing for weeks.
Saipov entered the country after winning a green card lottery, which randomly assigns work permits to a small number of applicants from around the world. In tweets, US President Donald Trump blamed the Democratic Party for the scheme, specifically naming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Asked by a reporter whether Saipov should be sent to Guantanamo Bay, Trump responded: “Send him to Gitmo. I would certainly consider it.”
Saipov was questioned in hospital after the incident, which ended when his vehicle rammed into a school bus in lower Manhattan and he was shot by police. At the scene of the attack, investigators discovered a note in Arabic stating, “that the Islamic State would endure forever”. The incident has been broadly described by New York officials as a terror attack, the most deadly in the city since 9/11.
STEPHEN PARRY QUITS
Senate President and Liberal MP Stephen Parry will forfeit his position in parliament after the British Home Office confirmed he is a dual citizen. Parry’s father was born in the UK, but it was only on Monday — after the High Court’s ruling on section 44 of the constitution — that Parry raised the matter with senior members of the government.
A frantic search is now on to uncover the next dual-citizen MP. According to Fairfax, Labor’s Justine Keay and Susan Lamb are under the spotlight with both refusing to release proof of the date their dual citizenship was annulled. Likewise, Labor Senator Deborah O’Neill, who assured The Australian that she had “handed in [her] passport to the Irish embassy” before nominating for preselection.
Three Liberal MPs are now backing an audit of the status of all MPs. One can only guess where the Citizenship Wheel will land next.
CASSIE SAINSBURY SENTENCED
Australian woman Cassandra Sainsbury will serve up to six years in jail for smuggling cocaine. The 22-year-old was caught with almost 6kg of cocaine at Bogota airport in April.
The sentence is the result of a plea deal and could allow Sainsbury to be released in as little as two and a half years’ time. The court accepted she had been pressured to smuggle the drugs.
Outside of the proceedings, Sainsbury’s lawyer Orlando Herran said his client had been “lucky” and described her as a “small fish”.
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Malcolm Roberts adviser Sean Black charged with rape
Uluru climbs banned from October 2019 after unanimous board decision to ‘close the playground’
Unions seek dramatic pay increases to ensure minimum ‘living wage’
Tony Abbott says SSM debate sparks new wave of conservative activism
WHAT’S ON TODAY
Around Australia: Commemorations marking the 75th anniversary of the end of the Kokoda campaign.
Sydney: Fairfax holds its AGM, with Domain spin-off to be voted on.
Canberra: High Court due to give directions to AEC on special counts to replace the four senators ruled ineligible over citizenship status.
Canberra: Wesfarmers managing director and AFL chairman Richard Goyder speaking at the National Press Club.
Brisbane: Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen speaking at the Queensland Media Club.
Sydney: Co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movement accept the Sydney Peace Prize.
THE COMMENTARIAT
Thanks to dopey Stephen Parry, an audit of all MPs is now a necessity — Laura Tingle (Australian Financial Review $): “Parry’s profoundly ill-judged decision to just stay quiet about his citizenship has now opened the door once again on the question of an audit. It has also further contributed to the sense of chaos and instability around a government that has lost its deputy prime minister, and a coalition partner that has lost its leadership team.”
It’s time (to take Labor seriously) — Peter Martin (Sydney Morning Herald): “The policies are not all to everyone’s liking, but at least they are set down on paper. Unless things change, this time next year we will be faced with a choice between a government that makes things up as it goes along and a government in waiting that knows what it wants to do.”
CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY
The war against Julian Disney — Emily Watkins: “The Holy War against Disney was tied up in another Oz campaign — one against media reforms that would strengthen the Australian Press Council.”
The moral case for illegal counteraction on Manus — Guy Rundle: “The trick of it has always been to argue that Papua New Guinea — having courts to hand down decisions closing the camp, etc — is a thoroughly modernised society, and civil authorities will guarantee the refugees public safety. Of course it isn’t; it is a hybrid society, in which there is no neutral public space.”
Should the Sydney Theatre Company keep Ian Narev on its board? — Ben Eltham: “The questions is, now that Narev is on the way out at CommBank, is the reputational risk he poses atop STC’s governing body worth the donations he either makes, or pulls in?”
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