NSW Premier Chris Minnes received a brutal swipe at Mark Latham long before they fell out recently.
In the wake of Mr Latham’s now-deleted tweet denigrating gay sex, Mr Means declared he would not “work with him” to which the One Nation leader responded by calling the Labor leader an “idiot”.
However, Means’ hatred of Latham goes back much further than that, according to a book written by former senior union official Paul Howes.
In his 2010 autobiography, Confessions of an Unidentified Man, Mr Hawes describes a conversation he had with Mr Means who was then the NSW Assistant Minister for Labour.
Mr Howes wrote: “Chris Means rings from downstairs to talk about some issues…”.
When we talk about Latham’s incursion[into the campaign]he mutters about the trajectory of the election so far.
Incoming NSW Premier Chris Minns says after Mr Latham’s vile tweet about gay sex he will not work with Parliament in the One Nation House
“Hey, Matty,” he says, “it wouldn’t surprise me if this guy was killing a weekend backpacker—he’s totally unhinged.”
Confessions of an Unidentified Man is Mr. Hawes’ account of the 2010 federal election in which, as president of the National Labor Union, he was considered one of the power brokers who ousted incumbent Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in favor of Julia Gillard.
During that campaign, Mr. Latham, the former federal leader of the Labor Party, worked briefly as a reporter on Channel Nine for 60 Minutes where he crashed a press conference given by Ms. Gillard.
During an awkward confrontation, Mr Latham asked Ms Gillard why Labor had made a complaint about his work on Channel Nine, an accusation the then prime minister refused to deal with.
During his time as a political analyst, Mr. Latham urged people to cast ballots informally and feuded with veteran Nine political commentator Laurie Oakes.
Mark Latham had an embarrassing confrontation with then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard during the 2010 federal election campaign
The latest controversy was sparked by Mr Latham’s tweet targeting Sydney MP Alex Greenwich on Thursday.
Latham hit back at Mr Greenwich calling him a “disgusting human being” for attending a rally where Christians clashed with LGBTQ activists on 21 March.
‘gross? How does it compare to sticking a d*** up a bloke’s a*** and covering it up with an s***? Mr Latham wrote before deleting the tweet.
Means called the tweet “despicable” and said on Sunday he would try to stop Mr Latham from chairing any NSW Senate committees.
The One Nation NSW leader told Daily Mail Australia he was “not standing for any positions to chair the committee and Mr Means is ‘an idiot'”.
“But if this is what the new prime minister is thinking, then he is showing people how empty he is.”
Former union official Paul Howes included an anecdote in his memoirs of the 2010 federal election that Mr Means expresses a very brutal opinion to Mark Latham
In a February op-ed for Daily Mail Australia, Mr Latham was even more scathing towards Means, likening him to the empty-headed male model played by Ben Stiller in Zoolander comedies.
Means has become the Derek Zoolander of politics: adept at hitting positions on trivial matters.
Means on Saturday accused Latham of “trying to…import an American (Donald) Trump-style style of politics into New South Wales, but without achieving any political success”.
He told Sky News: “(Mr Latham’s) comment, his approach to politics in NSW (is) clearly someone who takes politics in a spiteful way.”
“I don’t think it is useful… good politics in this State, to raise his standing as a Senator of New South Wales.”
Mr Latham’s comments even led to One Nation founder and national leader Pauline Hanson demanding an apology.
She made the request in a video where she revealed that she was unable to contact Mr Latham.
Alex Greenwich (pictured left with husband Victor Hold) said he would not give Mr Latham ‘victim’ status over his hateful tweet
Latham refused to apologize and summed up his position in another tweet on Friday.
“Never apologize and never explain,” the book says.
Mr Greenwich tearfully revealed on Friday the pain the abuse had caused him.
Obviously, this was painful for me. I cried a little bit late yesterday at the end of the day,” he said.
“After being at this party for a decade and being re-elected, I didn’t think I would still be subjected to homophobic abuse.”
Mr Latham (pictured with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson) refuses to apologize for his deleted tweet about gay sex
However, Greenwich declined Mr Latham’s call to apologize or resign.
“I don’t want to give him another box of soap to pretend to be a victim when he seeks the victory of the people,” he said.
Mr. Latham and Mr. Means have been contacted for comment.
