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The Man Who Couldn't Wait: The true story of Australia's first political assassination
Could the conviction of Vietnamese refugee Phuong Ngo for the 1994 assassination of Cabramatta MP John Newman be one of Australia's greatest miscarriages of justice?
'I think that every now and again our wonderful system cocks up and this was one of those times.' Former ALP Senator Graham Richardson
Cabramatta was embroiled in a heroin epidemic, gang wars and demands to deport Vietnamese gangsters when local member John Newman was gunned down in the driveway of his home.
Newman's murder was billed as Australia's first political assassination and the killer was identified within hours as the politically ambitious Vietnamese refugee and Deputy Mayor, Phuong Ngo.
Ngo was accused of killing Newman to take his seat in parliament and sentenced to die in gaol. But there have always been questions about his conviction.
Why did it take seven years and three trials to find Phuong Ngo guilty? Why was so much evidence and the names of so many witnesses kept secret? How could Ngo be the murder mastermind when both of the men accused of shooting Newman were acquitted? Why is the killer still at large? And why do some of the day's most senior politicians say they never believed Phuong Ngo was guilty?
For the first time, Phuong Ngo tells his story and unpicks one of the country's longest and most secretive investigations in The Man Who Couldn't Wait.
'I think that every now and again our wonderful system cocks up and this was one of those times.' Former ALP Senator Graham Richardson
Cabramatta was embroiled in a heroin epidemic, gang wars and demands to deport Vietnamese gangsters when local member John Newman was gunned down in the driveway of his home.
Newman's murder was billed as Australia's first political assassination and the killer was identified within hours as the politically ambitious Vietnamese refugee and Deputy Mayor, Phuong Ngo.
Ngo was accused of killing Newman to take his seat in parliament and sentenced to die in gaol. But there have always been questions about his conviction.
Why did it take seven years and three trials to find Phuong Ngo guilty? Why was so much evidence and the names of so many witnesses kept secret? How could Ngo be the murder mastermind when both of the men accused of shooting Newman were acquitted? Why is the killer still at large? And why do some of the day's most senior politicians say they never believed Phuong Ngo was guilty?
For the first time, Phuong Ngo tells his story and unpicks one of the country's longest and most secretive investigations in The Man Who Couldn't Wait.
448 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 28, 2026
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