A high-profile politician known for his brash and outspoken antics has been branded a one-trick pony after fending off a Labor-led censure bid.
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See subscription optionsThe failed motion against Mark Latham came after the one-time prime ministerial hopeful used parliamentary privilege in the NSW upper house to reveal details about a police commissioner and an independent MP.
He has been embroiled in several scandals, including taking photos of women MPs without their knowledge, for which he has already apologised.
But an attempt to have Australia's oldest parliamentary chamber officially censure him has failed, after the coalition opposition, the Greens and minor party MPs voted to adjourn the motion until October.
The powerful privileges committee is investigating several complaints about Mr Latham, with some reports due back in October.
The NSW government's upper house leader described the 16-to-22 vote loss as disappointing.
"Mark Latham is a serial offender," Penny Sharpe told reporters on Wednesday.
"There's no one he won't go after (and) there's no one he won't double down on.
"We should be a model workplace, not a degenerate workplace."
She also noted he called her an "ignorant pig" and her colleagues "disgusting frauds" during the chamber debate on Tuesday.
Premier Chris Minns said MPs needed to "draw a line in the sand" and criticised Mr Latham for his sustained personal attacks on his political foes under parliamentary privilege.
"That's his modus operandi. He goes after anyone who holds him to account ... he's a one-trick pony," he said.
Mr Latham also used Tuesday night's debate to level unsubstantiated sexual harassment allegations against the premier, who declined to respond.
"I'm not going to detail them one by one as if to give it credence or importance or it has been backed with some shred of evidence or information," Mr Minns said.
Labor's motion was first flagged in June after Mr Latham aired information that now-former NSW police commissioner Karen Webb purchased dozens of bottles of gin using taxpayer money to hand out as gifts, and discussed the medical records of independent MP Alex Greenwich.
That followed a court ordering Mr Latham to pay $140,000 in damages to Mr Greenwich in September 2024 over a sexually explicit and homophobic social media post that resulted in a defamation case.
He had been referred to the privileges committee for an investigation, with a report on matters involving Ms Webb and NSW Police due in October.
Mr Latham defended bringing up information about Ms Webb, arguing the public had a right to know because of an "undeclared conflict of interest" and relationship to the gin distillery owners.
But he also hinted, without evidence, that the Minns government had covered up a sexual assault that took place in the NSW Parliament.
He called several ministers "cowards and curs and quislings".
In July, Mr Latham denied sexual abuse allegations levelled against him by a former partner.
The woman made a private application for an apprehended domestic violence order at a local court in Sydney.
Mr Latham resigned from federal parliament in 2005 and was ejected from the Labor Party before being elected to the NSW upper house in 2019 as a One Nation member.
He quit that party in 2023, becoming an independent, with his term expiring in 2031.
Australian Associated Press
