CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | Contact
After somehow surviving one political burial earlier this year, followed by a fully baked exit from politics for pretty much the same thing several months later, Senator Sam Dastyari has today sat down with some old mates from Young Labor to debrief on what was quite a big year for the ambitious halal snack pack enthusiast.
Only slightly avoiding a terrorist attack on the London bridge was not even the biggest headline for the inner-west political icon in 2017 – either was being verbally assaulted by skinheads in a Melbourne pub a few months back.
The biggest news for the 34-year-old of course came after his announcement to not return to the Senate next year, amid questions over his links to China.
“Today, after much reflection, I’ve decided that the best service I can render to the federal parliamentary Labor Party is to not return to the Senate in 2018,” he told reporters, after finally being being unable to continue brushing his naughty relationships with the Chinese.
Sitting in a prominent Haymarket restuarant today in Sydney’s CBD, the Labor party renegade reminisced over the year that was, between shouts of ice cold Tsingtao.
“Fuck me what a year” he says.
“Jeez these beers go alright, though. Glad I’ve found a spot that has them in Sydney”
Tsingtao beer, commonly know as 青岛啤酒厂 in simplified Chinese: 青岛啤酒厂 is China’s second largest brewery. It was founded in 1903 by German settlers and now claims about 15% of domestic market share in Mainland China.
In Australia the beer has become popular with travelling Australian businessman and vaguely corrupt politicians who spend a lot of time dealing with corporations and government officials from the people’s republic.
It is not yet known what Dastyari will do with himself for work following the indefinite departure from politics, with the current heat being aimed at GetUp also making life harder for him to land himself in another generic Labor-related role.
