From potential PM to abuse claims: Who is Mark Latham?
The former federal Labor leader-turned-One Nation firebrand is facing mounting political pressure following media reports he took photos of female colleagues speaking in parliament and made disparaging comments about them in private messages.
He strongly denies the abuse allegations, which are yet to be tested in a civil court apprehended violence order (AVO) application by his former partner Nathalie Matthews.
It marks a dramatic new chapter in the story of a man from the western suburbs of Sydney who was once a protégé of Gough Whitlam, had a shot at becoming prime minister, and has long courted controversy.
Mr Latham first entered elected office in 1987 as a councillor on Liverpool Council before being elected mayor in 1991.
Mr Latham had received an early boost in his political aspirations with the backing of Gough Whitlam, having worked as a research assistant for the former prime minister and eventually being elected in his former electorate of Werriwa.
He was included in Labor's shadow cabinet in 1996 but resigned from the frontbench in 1998 following a dispute with then-leader Kim Beazley.
In 2001 he was accused of an altercation in which he allegedly broke a Sydney taxi driver's arm.
However, that incident did not affect his political ambitions.
In 2003, Mr Latham narrowly won a leadership battle with Mr Beazley 47 votes to 45 votes and he went on to lead Labor to the 2004 election.
While riding high in the polls early in his leadership, Mr Latham's approval ratings steadily declined throughout 2004.
And it was an aggressive handshake on election eve with then-PM John Howard outside an ABC radio studio that many — including his supporters — blame for his electoral defeat, delivering the Howard government a historic fourth term.
Michael Byrne has known Mr Latham for decades — a longtime community campaigner in Liverpool, he helped get Mr Latham elected to local government in the 1980s and attended his wedding, sitting alongside Mr Whitlam and his wife, Margaret.
Mr Byrne told the ABC while he would have made a "tremendous" prime minister, the handshake "showed a side of Mark that was there".
"He's got the larrikin about him, a tremendous mind on public matters. I think he would have been tremendous (but) he played the game tough."
Mr Latham quit politics a few months after his defeat and published his political memoir, The Latham Diaries, in 2005, which savaged his former Labor colleagues and attracted widespread criticism from party figures.
In 2006, the Daily Telegraph newspaper accused him of injuring one of its photographers and smashing his camera.
Mr Latham responded at the time, alleging stalking and harassment by the newspaper.
His time after federal politics also saw him become a regular media commentator, penning newspaper columns and co-hosting programs on Sky News and often critiquing Labor policies and figures.
In 2015, he resigned as a regular columnist for the Australian Financial Review after it emerged he had been using a Twitter account to ridicule prominent women in the media, along with Australian of the Year and domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty.
The former Labor leader was then sacked from Sky News in 2017 after suggesting a Sydney high school student was gay on-air because he was involved in a feminist video.
That same year, he announced his intention to run again for electoral politics.
Mr Latham joined the Liberal Democrats Party, which prompted NSW Labor to place a lifetime ban on him ever rejoining the party.
Soon after, he quit the Liberal Democrats and joined Pauline Hanson's One Nation party in a successful bid for a seat in the NSW upper house in 2019.
Mr Latham had run on a platform of curbing immigration and overdevelopment — and controversially proposed a law requiring claimants for Aboriginal welfare programs to get a DNA test to prove their eligibility.
After being elected to the NSW Legislative Council and serving as the state leader of One Nation, in 2023 he resigned from parliament halfway through his eight-year term and re-nominated in a bid to increase the party's presence in the house.
That gamble proved successful, with Mr Latham being returned to parliament, but within days his relationship with Ms Hanson and her right-wing party would crumble.
A graphic and homophobic tweet aimed at independent MP Alex Greenwich, was widely condemned by politicians across the spectrum — including Ms Hanson — and he was eventually ousted as NSW leader of her party.
Mr Latham then quit One Nation alongside fellow party member Rod Roberts — accusing the party of allegedly "defrauding NSW electoral funds" — and the pair has since sat in parliament as independents.
Last year, he was ordered to pay $140,000 in a defamation suit brought against him by Mr Greenwich and separate vilification proceedings relating to his tweet are ongoing in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).
In June this year, Mr Latham used parliamentary privilege to reveal confidential information from a psychologist's report about Mr Greenwich that was prepared for NCAT.
That led NSW Premier Chris Minns to deliver a speech in NSW parliament, labelling Mr Latham "one of Australia's biggest bigots".
Mr Latham has strenuously denied allegations of a "sustained pattern" of domestic abuse and pressuring his former partner Ms Matthews to engage in "degrading sex acts" in an apprehended violence order (AVO) application filed in a NSW court.
News Corporation has published messages he allegedly sent to Ms Matthews that included photos of female MPs while on the floor of parliament and accompanied by disparaging and sexist comments.
Mr Latham has not confirmed or denied sending the messages but Liberal MP Susan Carter — who was included in the alleged messages — said he "called and apologised" to her.
He has declined an interview with the ABC but responded via text message to a Sydney Morning Herald report alleging he participated in a sex video in his office.
"Where's this video they're talking about?" he said.
"The paper said they hadn't seen it yet they reported it."
Mr Byrne has reached out to Mr Latham since this week's allegations emerged.
"I'm concerned for him, because it's awful stuff. He's a solid … red-blooded bloke without the sleaze," he told the ABC.
"There's nothing pervy about the bloke."
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