Mark Latham has called Chris Means an ‘idiot’ after he warned the NSW premier he would not work with the One Nation leader after a homophobic tweet.
Means called the tweet “despicable” and said on Sunday he would try to stop Mr Latham from chairing any NSW Senate committees.
He is the latest person to condemn Mr Latham after the One Nation NSW leader launched an offensive tweet about Sydney MP Alex Greenwich on Thursday.
Greenwich called Mr Latham a “disgusting human being” for attending a rally where Christians clashed with LGBTQ activists on March 21, prompting him to strike back on Twitter.
‘gross? How does it compare to sticking a d*** up a bloke’s a*** and covering it up with an s***? ‘ he wrote.
The One Nation NSW leader hit back at Mr Means telling Daily Mail Australia he was “not running for any positions to chair the committee and Means is ‘an idiot'”.
NSW State Leader Mark Latham (pictured) has called the state’s newly elected Labor premier Chris Means an ‘idiot’ amid a war of words over a homophobic tweet about an openly gay MP.
“But if this is what the new prime minister is thinking, it shows people how empty he is,” he said.
Former NSW Premier Dominic Perot resigned as Liberal Party leader after losing the state election last weekend, but Means said he would seek an agreement with the incoming party leader on trying to sideline Mr Latham.
“I’m not sure who will lead the Liberal Party in the next few months, but I will call on their organization to make a similar commitment,” he said.
“The comment he made in relation to the independent member for Sydney, Alex Greenwich, was contemptible and obviously deeply disrespectful.”
Means said Mr Latham was “trying to … import a (Donald) Trump-style American style into politics into New South Wales, but without any political success”.
“We’re not going to work with One Nation,” he said.
Comment (Mr. Latham), his approach to politics in NSW (she) is clearly someone who takes politics in a spiteful way.
“I don’t think it’s helpful… good politics in this state, to raise his standing as a NSW Senator,” Means told Sky News.
On Saturday, Mr Latham continued his refusal to apologize for his now-deleted tweet about Greenwich.
“Sometimes in public life when you get rid of insults, they come back to you stronger and truer… So, Alex Greenwich,” he said.
When Greenwich calls someone a disgusting human being for attending a church hall meeting, Latham said, attention may turn to some of their habits.
“The Greenwich goes to schools and talks to kids about being gay,” he said.
“I didn’t want to be accused of anything similar, leaving this kind of content on my social media.”
Mr Latham’s comments this week led to calls for One Nation founder and national leader Pauline Hanson to apologize.
She made the request in a video where she revealed that she was unable to contact Mr Latham.
Latham had refused to apologize on Friday and issued another tweet instead.
“Never apologize and never explain,” the book says.
Means called him a “bigot”, saying the comments were “vile and disgraceful”.
NSW Premier Chase Means (pictured) called Mr Latham’s tweet ‘despicable’ and said his government would try to stop him chairing any NSW Senate committees
Sydney MP Alex Greenwich (pictured) refused Mr Latham’s call to apologize or resign
Means said Greenwich was an “extraordinarily effective” politician who could “raise the conversation and make significant changes in the country…
One of the things that can’t be forgotten is that comments like this one, even though they are awful in and of themselves, unleash ghouls on people like Alex.
This is not what we need in public life. There should be unequivocal universal condemnation of these comments.
NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharp also joined the group, saying Mr Latham’s tweet was “totally unacceptable”.
However, it revealed that Parliament is unable to discipline the One Nation leader because he used a loophole in the Senate system that allows him to resign as an MP before state elections and re-contest his seat.
This means One Nation will be able to fill its former seat now vacant with another politician, who is likely to be Tanya Mihailuk, who, like Mr Latham, was a former Labor MP.
He said the homophobic attack on him caused Greenwich to cry briefly on Thursday.
Obviously, this was painful for me. I cried a little late yesterday evening by the end of the day.
“After being at this party for a decade and being re-elected, I didn’t think I would still be subjected to homophobic abuse.”
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 to hurt people.”
