Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek has labelled embattled NSW MP and former federal Labor leader Mark Latham a “dud”, suggesting that those who returned him to public office would be regretting their decision as details about his alleged behaviour in parliament are revealed.
Latham has been accused of domestic violence, engaging in “sordid” sexual trysts in his parliamentary office and exchanging offensive messages about female colleagues in the past week, drawing criticism from a swathe of political figures across the country.
Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Speaking to Today, Plibersek said Latham’s alleged behaviour would “get you sacked in any other workplace”, noting that the claims against Latham were “probably consistent” with what the public had come to expect from the MP in recent decades.
“The criticism is perfectly justified in any other workplace. This behaviour would be completely unacceptable. Of course, it’s unacceptable in the state parliament,” Plibersek said.
“Taxpayers are paying his wages to represent them, not [to] make videos in his office.
“The people who voted for him will be thinking wow, we got a dud, we didn’t get our value for money when voting for this guy.”
This masthead does not suggest the claims against Latham are true, only that they have been made and will be contested in court.
Latham has described the leaked messages to media outlets, including sexually explicit messages allegedly sent by Latham while at parliament, as part of “some personal or political campaign to try and damage me”.
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