From the Crikey grapevine, the latest tips and rumours …

The Australian vs Sheikh. Readers of The Australian have no doubt been transfixed by the torrent of articles claiming ACT Greens Senate candidate Simon Sheikh was a financial member of the Labor Party for four years, from 2004 to 2008, and this makes him a “turncoat”. Here’s today’s effort:

Sheikh hasn’t disputed he was a financial member of the ALP, but he maintains it was for a shorter period of time than four years (the reason for the interest in exactly when he stopped being a financial member of the ALP is that he went to work at GetUp in September 2008). The Australian can’t be accused of burying this story — it’s written on “Sheikhy Truth” and the “flaky Sheikh”, and there’s this opinion piece.

In Tips last week, Crikey dared to question whether The Australian had it right that Sheikh was a financial member of the ALP for four years. This earned us the full coverage in Cut and Paste the next day.

Just in case you’re interested in the truth of the story, Crikey has been unable to find evidence that Sheikh was a financial member of the ALP from 2004 to 2008. It’s known that he signed up in 2004 and renewed in late 2005; the issue is whether he renewed in 2005 for one year (as Sheikh claims) or three years (as The Australian reports). The records are contained on an old and not-very-complete ALP database, which does not show whether he signed up for one year or three. The entry says in December 2005 there was a credit card rejection from Sheikh’s bank, and subsequently a “resubmission letter sent”. That’s the final entry until Sheikh’s resignation was processed in November 2008.

The Labor figures who want to prove Sheikh wrong are saying he “must have” signed up for three years, but they are yet to provide Crikey with evidence that he actually did so.

Sheikh contacted the NSW ALP, which confirmed in writing his last payment was for $20 in late 2005, so his financial membership lapsed in late 2006 (we’ve seen the emails). Sam Dastyari, general secretary of the NSW ALP, maintains Sheikh contacted the wrong person and the response was unverified.

Perhaps the take-home message in this not-terribly-interesting story is: don’t join the ALP, because someone in the party might leak your membership details.

Speaking of turncoats … intrigued by The Australian’s view that someone switching political parties is shocking (see The Oz‘s first story on Sheikh here), Crikey decided to refresh our list of political turncoats with the help of readers. Close to 30 new names were added overnight to take the total to 97. Additions overnight included a whole bunch of WA Labor MPs who turned independent in the 1990s, historical figures like John “happy Jack” Scaddan and state Labor premiers William Kidston and William Holman. Let’s get it over a ton — send us your turncoats and defectors and we’ll keep the list updated.

Literary MPs. Yesterday we mused over Chris Bowen’s upcoming job application book on how modern Labor should govern. We can update that; economics whiz and fellow Labor MP Andrew Leigh has a “short book” on income inequality coming out in July, through Black Inc. Battlers and Billionaires: The Story of Inequality in Australia “will cover the long-run data on inequality (going back to the late-18th century), at the lifestyles of the rich and poor today, and at the extent of social mobility. It’ll also look at what drives inequality, and why inequality might be good or bad,” Leigh wrote on his blog. Tips was wondering which politicians you’d like to read a book by; here’s one reader’s suggestion:

“I’d love to read something by Greg Combet about his thoughts on the future of trade unionism in Australia. Also, Mike Kelly strikes me as a straight talker who would have some excellent perspective on Australia’s place in the world.”

Are there any other pollies (or ex-pollies) who are writing books? Send us a line if you know something …

Film sinks? Much was made of the federal government’s $21.6 million present to Walt Disney Studios to shoot the movie 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea in Australia. The deal was announced earlier this month. There’s a rumour going around that the deal is off and the film won’t be made here. We put that to Arts Minister Tony Burke’s office, which said it hadn’t heard anything about it. Looks like the rumour is wrong. Know more?

*Heard anything that might interest Crikey? Send your tips to boss@crikey.com.au or use our guaranteed anonymous form