Why Mark Latham is likely to remain in NSW parliament
It follows media reports he allegedly took photos of female colleagues speaking in parliament and made disparaging comments about them in private messages and participated in a consensual sex video in his office.
Mr Latham has denied any wrongdoing.
In posts on X, Mr Latham said the media had used his messages out of context, cherry-picking and missing in-jokes.
Of the alleged sex video, Mr Latham has repeatedly said no media claimed to have seen the alleged tape and there was "no suggestion of any law or rule broken".
NSW Premier Chris Minns said on Thursday if proved true, Mr Latham's alleged behaviour in the parliamentary chamber "almost certainly" broke standing orders.
Mr Minns said the privileges committee should investigate the allegations and "make a decision about sanctioning him".
in an interview with 2SM, Mr Latham said he had not breached any standing order of NSW parliament.
The leader of government in the upper house, Penny Sharpe, has also said she would move a motion to refer Mr Latham to the privileges committee for allegedly "disclosing authorised information" after he used parliamentary privilege to allegedly reveal confidential information from a psychologist's report prepared for civil proceedings brought by MP Alex Greenwich.
Mr Latham said his remarks were not based on confidential information.
He asked for a fair go from voters who said he should leave parliament.
"They've got a rigorous process there about behaviour inside the parliament, a complaints officer, a committee of woke people who monitor what you do in the building," he said.
"I've never received notification of any complaint through that process.
"So for any of you listeners saying kick him off, what happened to the principle of innocent and innocent until proven guilty?"
Mr Latham's parliamentary term expires in 2031.
University of Sydney professor of constitutional law Anne Twomey said NSW parliament had the power to expel MPs — unlike in federal parliament after such powers were abolished in 1987.
But she added that in NSW it was "very, very hard to expel" an MP.
Professor Twomey said an MP could face expulsion if they committed criminal offences or engaged in conduct that brings the house into disrepute; however, this has very rarely happened since the 1800s.
"As a general principle, it only gets used when the person has had findings made against them," she said.
Mr Latham is not accused of any criminal offences, and no inappropriate conduct has been proven.
While Mr Minns said if the allegations against Mr Latham were proven "in a typical workplace, he'd be gone tomorrow", he acknowledged it was voters who elected him to parliament.
Professor Twomey said the threshold for expulsion was very high, and there were many historic examples of MPs who had avoided expulsion threats.
In 1997, NSW Labor MP Franca Arena faced a motion calling for her suspension until she apologised after using parliamentary privilege to allege a criminal conspiracy by certain politicians to cover up paedophilia, which a special commission concluded was false.
She refused to apologise but read a statement of regret, which attracted enough support from enough Coalition and crossbench MPs to avoid suspension.
Another ground for expulsion is bankruptcy.
In Victoria, former state Liberal leader John Pesutto narrowly avoided bankruptcy and possible expulsion from parliament after he was able to secure a loan from the party to help cover a $2.3 million legal payout he owes MP Moira Deeming from a defamation case.
Mr Latham was last year ordered to pay $140,000 in a defamation suit after making graphic, homophobic comments in a tweet about Mr Greenwich and has appealed.
The extent of Mr Latham's financial resources and ability to pay is not clear.
The NSW parliament also has powers to temporarily suspend MPs and in 2022 the then-Coalition government suspended two of its MPs.
Professor Twomey said the power to expel or suspend MPs was problematic, as it could be used for political purposes.
"I think the better answer would be maybe shorter terms for the Legislative Council so that the people in the end get to decide."
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