After failed Rosehill deal, a battle for control of the Australian Turf Club
That night, Upper House MP Mark Latham, one of the fiercest opponents of the sale, ended his relationship with then partner Nathalie Matthews. Matthews has since accused Latham of a sustained pattern of emotional, physical and financial abuse and pressuring her into degrading sexual acts in an application for a private apprehended violence order. Latham denies the allegations.
Right before Latham became the unwelcome centre of attention, ATC chair Peter McGauran, a former Nationals minister in the Howard government and one of the architects of the Rosehill sale, resigned. On Monday afternoon, the board will vote for McGauran's successor, a formality which has devolved into a messy proxy battle between supporters and opponents of the scuppered deal.
On one side is McGuaran's protegee Ben Bayot, another champion of the deal, who has the presumed backing of Racing NSW and its mercurial chief executive Peter V'landys.
But the failed sale, which enjoyed the joint support of V'landys and Premier Chris Minns, showed that not even the double-team of Sydney's most powerful person and the state premier can always get their way, particularly when faced with a wall of Boomer recalcitrance.
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Standing against Bayot is Sydney silk Tim Hale SC, who ascended to the board four years ago with the backing of trainer extraordinaire Gai Waterhouse and former International Olympic Committee vice-president John Coates.
ATC sources say the vote will go down to the wire, with each camp having three definite votes each. So far, ATC board member Caroline Searcy is the swing vote, and both camps have offered her the vice-chair position in return for support.
But one of Bayot's three votes is that of McGauran himself. Hale's supporters have legal advice, prepared by barrister Steven Finch SC, showing that McGauran has already resigned his board position and is ineligible to vote. Team McGauran has its own advice to the contrary.
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West Australian
17 hours ago
- West Australian
Latham hears of tweet fallout via video link
Mark Latham had to beam into a courtroom via videolink because of a knee injury as a tribunal was told fellow MP Alex Greenwich's office received a 'barrage' of hateful and threatening messages in the wake of a graphic tweet by the ex-Labor leader. The former Labor leader has faced days of controversy following allegations he abused his former partner, Nathalie Matthews, and sent her sexual messages from the parliament chamber. The member of the NSW upper house has strenuously denied Ms Matthews' allegations, which are untested and contained in an application for an apprehended violence order (AVO) filed in the local court. He not been charged with any criminal offence. Mr Latham's injury was revealed in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal on Tuesday. Greenwich, an independent Sydney MP, has brought NCAT proceedings against the maverick MP, alleging he was subjected to homosexual vilification and workplace sexual harassment over a graphic tweet by Mr Latham. Mr Latham, through his solicitor Zali Burrows, is contesting the case. Mr Latham did not appear before the tribunal in Sydney on Tuesday, with Ms Burrows telling the court that he had a fractured knee and could not travel. Instead he beamed into the courtroom via video link. The NCAT case is centred on a tweet by Latham, as well as comments made by the former One Nation MP in newspaper and radio interviews. The same tweet was the subject of Federal Court defamation proceedings in which Latham was ordered to pay $140,000 to Greenwich. Federal Court Justice David O'Callaghan ruled in favour of Greenwich during the defamation proceedings, finding that the tweet conveyed the meaning that Greenwich 'engaged in disgusting sexual activities' and that it was defamatory. He also rejected Latham's defence of honest opinion and qualified common law privilege. Greenwich has now launched NCAT proceedings against Latham and his counsel has argued that each of the statements amounted to unlawful homosexual vilification and sexual harassment and that Latham breached the Anti-Discrimination Act. Alexander Graham, who works in Mr Greenwich's office as an electorate officer, told the tribunal the office was inundated with messages in the wake of the Latham tweet. Under cross examination from Ms Burrows, he was asked if Greenwich's office received negative communications at other times, including during the anti-abortion bill debate. Mr Graham said while Greenwich's office did receive letters and emails from people disagreeing with the amendments there wasn't anything 'directly disparaging of Alex'. He told the court the only time he could recall police being called was as a result of the fallout from the Latham tweet. The tribunal heard that some of the abusive calls came from private numbers. 'The abusive phone calls from private numbers, you cannot ascertain they were from genuine haters,' Ms Burrows asked. Greenwich's barrister Prue Bindon objected to the question. Mr Graham later told the tribunal the office received a 'barrage' of hateful letters, emails and phone calls. He said some were written with letters which had been cut from magazines and newspapers. 'There were ones that directly threatened Alex … talking about throwing homosexuals off the bluff,' Mr Graham said. He described some of the communications as 'bizarre' and 'threatening' and that Greenwich's staff began using gloves to open mail. Ms Bindon previously told the tribunal the elements of homophobic vilification alleged in the case hinge on the public act, claiming Latham's comments had incited hatred, contempt or severe ridicule. She said the sexual harassment allegations were in relation to unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature in circumstances where a reasonable person would've anticipated it to cause humiliation or intimidation. Ms Bindon also previously said she anticipated the defence would claim Greenwich's reputation was to some extent not damaged. The matter will return to court next month. The hearing followed Labor deciding to keep his portrait in the Labor's Parliament House party room with a note saying he was 'banned for life' from the party in 2017.
Perth Now
17 hours ago
- Perth Now
Fresh pain for Latham after sexting scandal
Mark Latham had to beam into a courtroom via videolink because of a knee injury as a tribunal was told fellow MP Alex Greenwich's office received a 'barrage' of hateful and threatening messages in the wake of a graphic tweet by the ex-Labor leader. The former Labor leader has faced days of controversy following allegations he abused his former partner, Nathalie Matthews, and sent her sexual messages from the parliament chamber. The member of the NSW upper house has strenuously denied Ms Matthews' allegations, which are untested and contained in an application for an apprehended violence order (AVO) filed in the local court. He not been charged with any criminal offence. Mr Latham's injury was revealed in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal on Tuesday. Greenwich, an independent Sydney MP, has brought NCAT proceedings against the maverick MP, alleging he was subjected to homosexual vilification and workplace sexual harassment over a graphic tweet by Mr Latham. Mr Latham, through his solicitor Zali Burrows, is contesting the case. Mr Latham did not appear before the tribunal in Sydney on Tuesday, with Ms Burrows telling the court that he had a fractured knee and could not travel. Instead he beamed into the courtroom via video link. Mark Latham. NewsWire/Monique Harmer. Credit: News Corp Australia Alex Greenwich. NewsWire/Christian Gilles. Credit: News Corp Australia The NCAT case is centred on a tweet by Latham, as well as comments made by the former One Nation MP in newspaper and radio interviews. The same tweet was the subject of Federal Court defamation proceedings in which Latham was ordered to pay $140,000 to Greenwich. Federal Court Justice David O'Callaghan ruled in favour of Greenwich during the defamation proceedings, finding that the tweet conveyed the meaning that Greenwich 'engaged in disgusting sexual activities' and that it was defamatory. He also rejected Latham's defence of honest opinion and qualified common law privilege. Greenwich has now launched NCAT proceedings against Latham and his counsel has argued that each of the statements amounted to unlawful homosexual vilification and sexual harassment and that Latham breached the Anti-Discrimination Act. Alexander Graham, who works in Mr Greenwich's office as an electorate officer, told the tribunal the office was inundated with messages in the wake of the Latham tweet. Under cross examination from Ms Burrows, he was asked if Greenwich's office received negative communications at other times, including during the anti-abortion bill debate. Mr Graham said while Greenwich's office did receive letters and emails from people disagreeing with the amendments there wasn't anything 'directly disparaging of Alex'. Mark Latham. NewsWire/ Jeremy Piper. Credit: News Corp Australia He told the court the only time he could recall police being called was as a result of the fallout from the Latham tweet. The tribunal heard that some of the abusive calls came from private numbers. 'The abusive phone calls from private numbers, you cannot ascertain they were from genuine haters,' Ms Burrows asked. Greenwich's barrister Prue Bindon objected to the question. Mr Graham later told the tribunal the office received a 'barrage' of hateful letters, emails and phone calls. He said some were written with letters which had been cut from magazines and newspapers. 'There were ones that directly threatened Alex … talking about throwing homosexuals off the bluff,' Mr Graham said. He described some of the communications as 'bizarre' and 'threatening' and that Greenwich's staff began using gloves to open mail. Ms Bindon previously told the tribunal the elements of homophobic vilification alleged in the case hinge on the public act, claiming Latham's comments had incited hatred, contempt or severe ridicule. She said the sexual harassment allegations were in relation to unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature in circumstances where a reasonable person would've anticipated it to cause humiliation or intimidation. Ms Bindon also previously said she anticipated the defence would claim Greenwich's reputation was to some extent not damaged. The matter will return to court next month. The hearing followed Labor deciding to keep his portrait in the Labor's Parliament House party room with a note saying he was 'banned for life' from the party in 2017.
7NEWS
a day ago
- 7NEWS
Major call on Mark Latham portrait after public allegations levelled at him by ex-partner Nathalie Matthews
Embattled politician Mark Latham's portrait will remain on the wall of past Labor leaders at Parliament House but a plaque will be adding saying he was 'banned for life' from the party. Latham made headlines last week when his former partner, Nathalie Matthews, alleged a 'sustained pattern' of abuse by him including claims he once defecated on her before sex. Latham has denied any wrongdoing. He has not been charged with any crime. Amid the controversy, several people including Sydney MP Tanya Plibersek, have called for his portrait to be removed from Parliament House. Latham was banned from the ALP nearly a decade ago, after he joined the Liberal Democratic Party in May 2017. He went on to join Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party. Now, a note will hang below the portrait saying: 'In 2017 Mark Latham was expelled from the Australian Labor Party and banned for life. His actions do not accord with Labor values and failed to meet the standards we expect and demand.' On Tuesday, The Daily Telegraph's James Willis and Western Sydney Women CEO Amanda Rose joined Monique Wright on Sunrise, speaking about the decision. 'I think we have to be careful about removing history. There's been some poor examples of that in Australia, where statues have been removed unfairly,' Willis said. 'In this case, Mark Latham was the leader of the Labor Party ... so, to remove him altogether would have been silly. 'I think the censorship is a bit of a shot at him. 'But ultimately, the bigger question here is that given what has been revealed about Mark Latham in the last week, and not just the allegations by his ex-partner, but the explicit texts in Parliament, and the other behaviour that's been reported, in any other workplace, whether it was in media, whether he was the CEO of a company, he would have been suspended or gone by now. 'Instead, he's still Parliament and we can't do anything about him for years to come.' Rose advocated a level of fairness, saying if Latham's portrait was to be removed then everyone's history would need to be re-examined. 'I think the reality is if you're going to remove his portrait for things he's done now, or doing now, then you are going to have to go through every single portrait on that wall and say 'What have they done that we don't agree with?' And then (potentially) remove it,' Rose said. 'I'm sure there's plenty on there that have been great and plenty that have done some dodgy things as well. 'James is right. You don't want to remove history. 'His role ... was back then, and I think just removing someone's entire past because of something that they're going through right now, if you apply that ... you would have to apply that to everyone. Both sides of politics..' Rose agreed with a plaque. 'That's information (because he was expelled),' Rose said. 'I think just now, everyone is kind of focusing on getting rid of everything with him ... If we did that in a lot of circumstance, a lot of people would have to get removed.' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese outraged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese weighed in for the first time since the allegations emerged, saying he never wanted Latham to be the party's leader. 'Mark Latham has views which I find repulsive across a range of areas,' Albanese told ABC's 7.30. 'He's someone who I regret being ever being elected leader of the Labor Party.' Albanese said his feelings were not in 'retrospect' and he had been doing the numbers for Kim Beazley during the 2003 leadership challenge which Latham narrowly won. 'History has proven that judgment to be correct. Mark Latham since ... has gone further and further and further away from any values that represent mainstream Australia,' he said.
