By Situation Theatre 23/3/2019
The convicted paedophile thought a reference from a man who trolled an anti-domestic violence campaigner would not be a good look.
In 2001, Mark Latham crash-tackled a taxi driver.
In 2004, he did this weird thing.
In 2006, Latham pleaded guilty to charges of malicious damage after smashing a photographer’s camera at Hungry Jack’s. During the same incident he apparently called the reporter a paedophile and the next day he veered towards a Channel Seven cameraman as he stood on the side of the road.
In 2010, as a guest reporter for 60 minutes, he confronted Tony Abbott, which seems like a positive. Until you find out he was criticising Abbot’s role in imprisoning Pauline Hanson, which we all know is by far the best thing Tones ever did. Latham goes on to ask the then Opposition Leader why he had not pledged to significantly reduce the migration intake.
In the same year, he did this other weird thing.
In 2013, he was asked to comment on Tony Abbott’s comments about Liberal candidate Fiona Scott having sex appeal. He said “It showed very bad judgment, it showed that he's got low standards. I've had a good look at Fiona Scott [...] and I don't think she's got sex appeal at all. [... Abbott] must have had the beer goggles on because she's not that good of a sort, and I'd rather have an aspirant for the prime ministership who's a good judge when it comes to checking out the good sorts.”
In January 2016, he described domestic violence as a “coping mechanism”. He said Rosie Batty, whose son was murdered by his father, was “exploiting her personal tragedy” and “doing more harm than good”.
In August 2016, he was forced to resign from his regular columns in the Australian Financial Review due to public pressure over his frequent articles critical of Rosie Batty and transgender activist and writer Catherine McGregor.
On the 29th March 2017, Latham was fired from Sky News for questioning the sexuality of a school student in a segment which criticised a Sydney Boys High School video supporting International Women’s Day. His response was to say “It really is appalling that people who complained about nothing at the time all of a sudden get worked up later on.”
In June 2017, Latham complained that same-sex marriage was dominating media coverage and blamed gay journalists in the ABC and Fairfax for this perceived problem. He opposes same-sex marriage.
In May 2017, he joined the David Leyonhelm’s Liberal Democrats, which later blocked him from running as a candidate. He resigned in September 2018.
In March 2018, participants in a Bankstown poetry slam suffered significant online abuse after Mark Latham described the event as “Islamic political ranting”. Organisers were forced, for the first time, to hire security guards for the slam.
In November 2018, Latham was forced to pay over $100,000 in legal costs and damages after being sued for defamation by ABC journalist Osman Faruqi. He accused Faruqi of “aiding and abetting Islamic terrorism” and fostering “anti-white racism in Australia”.
That same month, he announced his candidacy for the upper house of the NSW senate.
In mid-March 2019, he was sued for defamation by a man cleared of terrorism charges due to the “hatred, ridicule, and contempt” he was subject to following Latham’s comments about him.
In late-March 2019, he was elected to the NSW legislative council on a platform of banning the burqa, a travel ban on Islamic countries, and DNA testing of Aboriginal people.
So newly elected One Nation politician offered the Cardinal a character reference following the guilty verdict, Pell said “I’m good thanks Mark. I’ve got the guy who invaded Iraq and the guy who single-handedly destroyed climate action in this country, I think that’s plenty.”