Latest news with #EleniPetinos
The Guardian
17-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘Mark Latham is a pig': NSW MP criticised for allegedly taking covert photos of female colleagues in parliament
The New South Wales housing minister, Rose Jackson, has labelled independent MP Mark Latham a 'pig' after allegations he took covert photographs of female colleagues in the upper house and shared them. The messages, reportedly sent to his former partner Nathalie Matthews and published in the Daily Telegraph on Thursday, allegedly included disparaging comments about the female politicians' appearance. In one message, the former One Nation MP allegedly made comments about Liberal MP Eleni Petinos, saying she 'looks pregnant'. 'I pinched her bum lightly and she smiled!! Change of heart!!' In another, he allegedly shared a photo of Greens MP Abigail Boyd in the parliamentary chamber, saying 'this is the view I have. Serving the people of NSW. I am a loyal servant'. At a press conference on Thursday, Jackson said: 'Mark Latham is a pig'. 'This man has attacked [Australian domestic violence campaigner] Rosie Batty, telling her to grieve in private. This man is well known on the record, multiple times as a bigot – one of the biggest bigots in the state.' 'It's extremely confronting for me to think that in a workplace there's someone who thinks it's acceptable to take photos of you and to share them with derogatory comments,' Jackson said. Premier Chris Minns has labelled the allegedly disparaging remarks made by Latham about female MPs as 'troubling', and claimed he would be sacked in any other workplace, but that parliament was not a typical workplace. 'In a typical workplace, he'd be out the door tomorrow but I'm not Mark Latham's boss, I'm not responsible for him being in parliament,' he said. Minns urged the parliamentary privileges committee to investigate Latham's alleged behaviour over the photos, and said the government would take advice on whether to refer him to the privileges committee, which oversees the rules of the parliament. 'I certainly think he has broken the standing orders,' he said. 'Privileges committee should be investigating these things. They should sanction him or make a decision about sanctioning him and then make a decision about his continued future in the upper house.' Labor's leader in the NSW Legislative Council, Penny Sharpe has already lodged two motions – one with the privileges committee and another broader motion, in relation to Latham's behaviour during the last parliamentary sitting. Latham used parliamentary privilege to reveal confidential medical records relating to NSW MP Alex Greenwich, who won $140,00 in a defamation payment last year over a vile homophobic tweet Latham made about him. Latham is in the midst of a messy breakup with his partner of three years, Matthews, a businesswoman and former Liberal member in the Sutherland Shire. She is pursuing a private apprehended violence order in the NSW Local Court and has alleged a 'sustained pattern' of emotional, physical and financial abuse and pressuring her into 'degrading sexual acts'. Police declined to pursue an apprehended violence order and have not laid any charges against Latham, who has strongly denied the claims. Latham has acknowledged sexting his former partner from the chamber. 'The big news is I have a private life. I had a sex life that I've got to say was fantastic,'' he said. Latham said he was guilty of nothing more than being 'male' and 'human'.
ABC News
17-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Mark Latham denies wrongdoing amid media reports of alleged messages from parliament, office sex video
Pressure is mounting on NSW Parliament to take action against independent MP Mark Latham after media reports alleged he took photos of female colleagues and made disparaging comments about them in private messages, and recorded a sex video in his office. News Corporation on Wednesday published messages the MP allegedly sent to former partner Nathalie Matthews with photos of upper house MPs speaking to parliament with comments about their looks and sexual remarks. The claims come after Mr Latham on Monday denied allegations in a civil court apprehended violence order (AVO) application by Ms Matthews of a "sustained pattern" of domestic abuse that included driving a car at her and pressuring her to engage in "degrading sex acts". She is seeking orders preventing him from coming within 100 metres of her, The Australian reported. Mr Latham this week dismissed the ABC's request for comment but published several social media posts responding to the string of allegations being made about him. In the messages allegedly sent to Ms Matthews between 2023 and this year, Mr Latham said Miranda MP Eleni Petinos "looks pregnant" and bragged about pinching her bottom — a claim Ms Petinos denies. "That is not in the realms of possibility," she told the ABC. "Mark's attitude towards his colleagues is disgraceful — instead of showing respect he chooses to objectify and degrade." Mr Latham also allegedly sent an image of Greens MP Abigail Boyd speaking in the house and referenced his "view", and in another message with a photo of Susan Carter referred to the Liberal MP as "grandma". In response to the publication of details from the messages, Mr Latham did not deny he sent them, saying on X the Daily Telegraph's "campaign … has come down to the weird, woke and wowser". "Asking me if it's sexual harassment to take a picture of a women in parliament. Which the media, of course, do all the time!!!" In posts on X, Mr Latham said the media had used his messages out of context, cherry-picking and missing in-jokes. On X, Mr Latham shared a screenshot purporting to be a request for comment from The Sydney Morning Herald about a claim there was a "video of you/your partner involved in sexual activity in your parli office". In response to the message, Mr Latham said: "You're asking me to dispute something I haven't seen put to you (and maybe you haven't seen it) by 'we are being told'." In his accompanying social media post, he said: "No suggestion of any law or rule broken." Mr Latham earlier this week labelled Ms Matthews's allegations of abuse as "comically false and ridiculous" in a post on X. "As the old saying goes, Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," the post said. Premier Chris Minns said on Thursday if proved true Mr Latham's alleged behaviour in the parliamentary chamber "almost certainly" broke standing orders if proven to be true. "The privileges committee should be investigating these things," Mr Minns said. "They should sanction him or make a decision about sanctioning him." Housing Minister Rose Jackson described Mr Latham as "a pig" and questioned if the behaviour would be appropriate "in any other workplace". "Obviously it is extremely confronting for me to think that in a workplace there's someone who thinks it's acceptable to take photos of you, to share them with derogatory comments," Ms Jackson said. "In any other workplace you'd be shown the door immediately and rightfully so. "I don't like working in a workplace with someone like that who thinks that kind of behaviour is acceptable its clearly not acceptable. "This should be a bipartisan issue, that working with someone who behaves in that way, who thinks that is an acceptable standard should be shunned and rightfully called out for the bigot he is." Mr Latham is a former leader of One Nation in the NSW Parliament and previously federal Labor leader. Former NSW One Nation colleague Rod Roberts said: "He hasn't broken any laws in New South Wales and he hasn't broken any standing orders in Parliament. This is a matter between two consenting adults." James Ashby, a spokesperson for Queensland senator and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, declined to comment. Mr Minns said he had previously voted for Mr Latham but said "his behaviour is dramatically gotten worse since he's left the party". The Labor party has signalled an intention to put forward a censure motion against Mr Latham when parliament next convenes for allegedly "disclosing authorised information" under parliamentary privilege, by referencing confidential information from a psychologist's report prepared for NCAT in proceedings brought by MP Alex Greenwich.
