What does Mark Latham stand for? Mark Latham and Pauline Hanson are eminently deserving of each other. That is in no way a compliment of either but is no less true. They are two characters of very little integrity or worth, who only receive the attention they do by virtue of their So with Latham finally confirming rumours of his joining the One Notion Party (and immediately not turning up to his first appearance), it will be interesting to see what happens next. To be fair, if it doesn’t last long, it will be entirely consistent with One Notion’s track record of keeping members (I’ve lost count of the number of senators and branch members who have either quit or been expelled in the last couple of years). But is does raise the question of what does Mark Latham actually stand for. Having previously represented and even led the Labor Party whilst denouncing One Nation and showing some affinity for Green environmental policies, he has certainly stood for a set of policies and values far removed from the ones he must now represent. Even without factoring in his brief foray into the Liberal Democrats, how do we reconcile the almost diametrically opposed values he has championed?
The most likely answer is that we dismiss it all and see him as an opportunist. Much like Scott Morrison, it appears that he will believe and passionately argue for whatever will keep his nose in the trough of public office or his face in tabloid media. Latham himself has spoken of his distaste for politically correct culture as a motivating factor in his return to politics. Let that sink in for a minute. The biggest issue he can see in national politics is that he has slightly less scope to be an insensitive jerk than he used to. He isn’t worried about the reality of climate change, the systematic abuse of refugees in offshore detention, the appalling cronyism, corruption and dishonesty of our government. He just wants to be able to upset people without consequence. That pretty much tells you all you need to know about Latham and the party that feels he represents their values in 2018.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Categories |