Opinion
Politics has been a tumultuous ride for both Pauline Hanson and Mark Latham. It’s just got a bit wilder, with Hanson sacking Latham as leader of her party in NSW.
Mark Latham is no longer the leader of the NSW division of One Nation, after the party made the sensational decision to ditch the controversial politician.
The NSW senator confirmed on social media on Monday he was no longer the leader of the NSW branch of the party founded by Pauline Hanson.
The position now remains vacant, according to a party spokesman.
The Australian
Ever since she was disendorsed as a candidate by John Howard at the 1996 election, leading her to form her own party, Hanson has seen more than her share of ups and downs, including a brief stint in prison before all convictions were quashed on appeal.
One of the biggest source of headaches for Hanson has been the men she politically surrounds herself with, from odious Svengalis to gormless staffers. The fallout with Latham seems to be another case of Hanson’s political man-trouble.
The official excuse for dumping Latham is the party’s showing at the recent NSW state elections.
Expectations of a strong One Nation performance at the March election failed to materialise, with the party snagging just 1.8 per cent of the vote and failing to pick up a seat in the Legislative Assembly.
However, Mr Latham’s ploy to gain an extra Legislative Council member by recontesting the top of the One Nation ticket succeeded, with former Labor MP Tania Mihailuk taking his vacancy, boosting the party’s numbers to three.
Others might be excused, though, for suspecting that Latham’s own controversies are behind the demotion.
Earlier this year, Mr Latham fell out with Senator Hanson over a graphic and homophobic tweet in which he claimed independent MP Alex Greenwich engaged in “disgusting” sexual activities.
Senator Hanson slammed the comments and called on Mr Latham to apologise.
“I want you to know that I don’t condone them, and neither do my members of parliament or party associates,” Senator Hanson said.
“I think they are disgusting. I have tried to ring Mark a couple of times to no avail.”
The Australian
The tweets are currently the cause of a defamation action from Greenwich. Whether or not a court agrees remains to be seen.
One thing is for sure, though: don’t expect a notorious political bovver boy like Latham to go quietly.
Mr Latham accused Senator Hanson of mounting a “Queensland takeover” and filling the state executive with interstate people “who did not lift a finger to help” in the NSW campaign.
The firebrand MP also hit out at a “bizarre” attempt to abolish the party’s parliamentary leadership position, saying the role was a matter for him and the party’s two other NSW representatives, Rod Roberts and Tania Mihailuk.
“The Queensland takeover is not about performance, it is about money,” he said.
While One Nation’s statewide upper house vote fell from 6.9 per cent to 5.9 per cent in March, Mr Latham said the figure was well ahead of the Senate result for NSW at the 2022 federal election after a campaign Senator Hanson headed.
“In Queensland, (Senator) Hanson’s Senate vote fell by three per cent and she only just scraped in for re-election,” Mr Latham said.
“If she is worried about under-performance, her best solution is to buy a mirror.”
AAP
Hanson might also want to ask some in the Labor party how well Latham takes to being dumped. When he was ousted as Labor leader after the 2004 election, Latham responded in devastating style, publishing The Latham Diaries, a memoir which savaged his former party colleagues. An essay in The Monthly, “No Exit the ALP” followed in 2010, excoriating the Rudd years.
Meanwhile, as election analyst Antony Green points out, it will be up to Latham and his two upper house colleagues, to “inform the Legislative Council of their party label and who is their parliamentary leader”.
“If the three choose to call themselves One Nation, it is likely the Parliament will accept that name even if they are expelled from the party known as One Nation and registered to contest elections.”
Antony Green’s Election Blog
One thing’s for sure — when Pauline and Latho are involved, there’s never a dull political moment.