Tips and rumours

From the Crikey grapevine, the latest tips and rumours …

The radicalisation of Wyatt Roy. A 26-year-old Queensland man has lost his job, grown a beard, and turned up in Iraq, where he says he was visiting a friend. Wyatt Roy, former Liberal member for the seat of Longman, says he travelled to Iraq to see the conflict with Islamic State for himself, but Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull have slammed the young former MP. Shadow assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh tweeted this excerpt from Hansard, as last year Roy spoke in favour of the government’s changes to national security laws to make it illegal to travel to “declared areas”, including areas or Syria and Iraq. At the time Roy said:

“The coalition government will do what it can to stop people from leaving to fight with the Daesh death cult. If you do leave, we will stop you from coming back in. If you manage to come back, we will do everything humanly possible to put you in jail. Our message to people who leave Australia to fight for terrorist armies in the Middle East is a simple one: we do not want you back.

“The first duty of government is to keep our country safe, and the last thing any of us want to see is terrorists in our community. If you go and fight with a terrorist organisation against Australian forces and you are a dual national, we will strip you of your citizenship because you have made a decision to no longer uphold the privileges that come with being an Australian citizen. We are simply stamping your removal of that citizenship.”

The government’s guide to figuring out whether someone you know who might have become radicalised lists the following behaviours as signs for early intervention:

Sound familiar to you?

Thanks for nothing. New Labor MP for the seat of Herbert Cathy O’Toole has put her signature to a card addressed to former MP Ewen Jones, which appears to be a thank-you card in which someone has written “… for nothing”. The card, tweeted by former president of the youth branch of the Queensland Liberal National Party Ben Riley, features a number of signatures and messages including “thanks for fuck all”. What appears to be O’Toole’s signature is on the bottom right of the card, but it is not attached to any particular message. There are at least two other signatories to the card with O’Toole as a surname. The messages, which Riley tweeted with the hashtag “poorwinners”, include “good riddance”, “Enjoy your retirement, you won’t be missed!”, “Don’t let the door smack you in the butt on the way out” and “Let’s see how you like it when you loose (sic) your job!! Which I hope is very soon.” It is unclear whether O’Toole signed the card before the messages were written.

O’Toole won the Queensland seat in the July 2 election by just 37 votes, after the first count had Jones ahead by eight votes. Jones replied to Riley’s tweet, saying “First time I have seen that one. Got a lot worse in the office. It was a very bitter and dirty campaign by Unions. Such is life.” Crikey has contacted O’Toole’s office to ask about the card, but we have not heard back.

Pollies show their true colours. As we approach the final weekend of both of Australia’s major football codes for the year, it’s important to recap just where our pollies sit when it comes to the clashes between the Western Bulldogs and the Sydney Swans in the AFL, and the Cronulla Sharks and the Melbourne Storm in the NRL. There are a few passionate supporters decked out in their teams’ colours, and a few others who appear to be jumping on the bandwagon at just the right moment. Treasurer Scott Morrison is well-known for his love of the Shire and the Cronulla Sharks, wearing the black, white and sky blue as much as possible this week:

His boss Malcolm Turnbull also says he will be cheering on the Sharks on Sunday, as well as Sydney in the AFL grand final. Victorian Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is also sticking with local teams, saying that he will be supporting the Western Bulldogs and the Melbourne Storm. Shorten’s electorate of Maribyrnong is in Melbourne’s west, and his family includes a few Doggies supporters:

While member for Gellibrand Tim Watts seems to have been eating, sleeping and breathing red, white and blue this week, the Bulldogs’ most famous political fan, former prime minister Julia Gillard, won’t be in Australia for the game. Ms Tips can’t go past an underdog (or is it an undershark?) and will be supporting the Western Bulldogs and the Cronulla Sharks this weekend.

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