NSW Housing Minister Rose Jackson has labelled Mark Latham a “pig” following allegations he took photos of female colleagues in parliament, sharing them with derogatory comments about their looks.
“Mark Latham is a pig,” Jackson said at a press conference on Thursday.
“This man has attacked 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,” Jackson said.
“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.”
On Thursday, The Daily Telegraph published messages that Latham allegedly sent to his former partner Nathalie Matthews with photos of female upper house MPs, making comments about their appearance.
The MPs targeted in the messages included Liberal MP Eleni Petinos, with a message saying she “looks pregnant”. “I pinched her bum lightly and she smiled!! Change of heart!!”
Another message included a photo of Greens MP Abigail Boyd, saying ‘this is the view I have. Serving the people of NSW. I am a loyal servant”.
He also referred to Liberal MP Susan Carter as “grandma”.
On X, Latham said the messages were “cherry picked” and had been taken out of context by the media.
Earlier this week, Mark Latham denied allegations of domestic violence made in court documents by his former partner Nathalie Matthews. The Australian reported she is seeking orders preventing him from coming within 100 metres of her. Latham has strongly denied the allegations and said he will fight them in court.
Meanwhile, the Sydney Morning Herald reported this week that Latham’s parliamentary office had allegedly been used to record sex tapes.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said the revelations about Latham this week were “troubling” and he would be sacked in any other 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,” Minns said.
Latham is currently serving an eight-year term in the NSW Legislative Council, ending in 2031.