Political knives sharpened for 'very troubling' Latham

Yahoo

17-07-2025

Mark Latham would be sacked if he worked anywhere else, some parliamentary colleagues say, while others hold firm on collaborating with the controversial MP.
The one-time prime ministerial hopeful turned independent NSW upper house MP has been the subject of days of reporting as a former partner, Nathalie Matthews, seeks an apprehended domestic violence order against him.
Mr Latham rejects her allegations of a "sustained pattern" of abuse and manipulation, reported by several media outlets.
A court has refused to release related documents as they contain untested allegations, and Ms Matthews' private application for the order is scheduled to be heard on July 30.
Messages reportedly sent by Mr Latham to Ms Matthews from the floor of parliament have also been published, featuring photos and derogatory comments about female MPs including Liberal Susan Carter.
Ms Carter told reporters Mr Latham rang her to apologise.
"I appreciated the apology - now it's time to get on with the job people expect us to do," she said on Thursday.
Senior government minister Rose Jackson said Mr Latham should be shunned by MPs across the political spectrum.
"I don't like working in a workplace with someone like that who thinks that kind of behaviour is acceptable," Ms Jackson told reporters.
Mr Latham's "very troubling" alleged behaviour would not be acceptable elsewhere, Premier Chris Minns said.
"In a typical workplace he'd be gone tomorrow," Mr Minns told reporters.
But opposition leader in the upper house Damien Tudehope defended working with Mr Latham, based on the merits of particular proposals.
"We work in parliament, Mark Latham is a member of parliament," he said.
"He is entitled to put up amendments as we are entitled to put up amendments, and people would expect to deal with those amendments on the basis of whether they are reasonable or not."
The pair have collaborated on amendments relating to sexual harassment claims under workers' compensation, which Treasurer Daniel Mookhey criticised as shifting the burden of proof to victims.
"Take Mark Latham's name out of it, I think it's an amendment that any reasonable person could accept," Mr Tudehope told reporters.
The government plans to call for an inquiry into Mr Latham over unrelated alleged abuses of parliamentary privilege when parliament resumes in August.
One matter relates to him revealing the medical information of another MP, Sydney independent Alex Greenwich.
It came after Mr Latham was ordered to pay $140,000 to Mr Greenwich in September 2024 over a sexually explicit and homophobic social media post.
The Federal Court found Mr Latham's tweet exposed Mr Greenwich, who is gay and a prominent LGBTQI community advocate, to a torrent of hateful abuse including death threats.
Mr Latham resigned from federal parliament in 2005 after an unsuccessful campaign for prime minister as Labor leader.
He later left the party, before being elected to the NSW upper house in 2019 as a One Nation member.
He quit that party in 2023, becoming an independent.
His term expires in 2031.
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