Senator Pauline Hanson has sacked MP Mark Latham as leader of One Nation NSW, according to reports.
Latham made a public statement on Facebook claiming Hanson, the head of her party One Nation, had taken over the party’s branch in NSW “without consultation or due process” on Wednesday August 9, using her National Executive powers.
“Good party members who work exceptionally hard for One Nation have been kicked off the Executive,” Latham wrote in the statement.
Latham has recently made headlines in a defamation case brought against him by independent MP Alex Greenwich, claiming a homophobic tweet he wrote earlier this year was his “honest opinion”.
As a result of the ongoing legal proceedings, Hanson and Latham have reportedly not seen eye to eye as of late.
Hanson’s intervention leaves Latham, along with the two other One Nation representatives in NSW’s Upper House, Rod Roberts and Tania Mihailuk, without an official leader.
Latham said Hanson justified the political ousting by citing a 1 per cent fall in the Upper House vote, which he said is still 2 per cent ahead of the NSW Senate result from 2022.
“In Queensland, Hanson’s Senate vote fell by 3 per cent and she only just scraped in for re-election,” Latham said.
“If she is worried about under-performance, her best solution is to buy a mirror.”
Latham called Hanson’s decision to scrap the position of NSW One Nation Parliamentary Leader “bizarre” and likened it to “something the Greens do in the NSW Parliament”.
“Our NSW party was moving forward in a sensible, cooperative way but has now been turned upside down by the Queensland intervention,” he wrote.
“Over the past five years we have built up into the largest One Nation parliamentary party in the country – so where’s the problem?”
Latham said Hanson had replaced him with Queensland and Tasmania members of One Nation who “did not lift a finger to help us” during the March election in NSW.
“The Queensland takeover is not about performance. It is about money,” he said.
“As NSW One Nation Leader I have stood in the way of attempts to misuse our funds, especially the administration money contributed by NSW taxpayers through the Electoral Commission.
“I will continue to fight for the proper, ethical use of this money.”
A statement from a spokesperson for Pauline Hanson confirmed the position of NSW parliamentary leader, which Mark Latham previously held, is open.
“The new executive’s priority is a comprehensive review of the party’s organisation ahead of future election campaigns, with a focus on the relationship between the organisation and parliamentary wings of the party, and the performance of the parliamentary wing,” the statement given to The Guardian read.
“The national executive of the party has also declared vacant the position of NSW parliamentary leader while the review takes place.
The spokesperson for Senator Hanson confirmed that no one had been sacked as a member of One Nation.
“When Senator Hanson is confident the organisation and parliamentary wings of the party have established an effective, strong and collaborative working relationship under her leadership, she will consider opening the position of NSW parliamentary leader for nominations,” the spokesperson wrote in the statement.
More on Mark
Mark Latham joined Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party in 2018 and was elected into the Upper House in 2019, after 11 years with the Labor party, including his role as the Leader of the Opposition from 2003-2005.
He remains a member of One Nation following his ousting as the leader of One Nation NSW.
Last week, Mark Latham’s legal team submitted his defence against Alex Greenwich’s defamation allegations, which argue the independent MP was subject to “threats, repeated jibes, hatred, homophobic comments and contempt and ridicule” following Latham’s controversial tweet.
“Greenwich is an openly gay man who has participated in homosexual sexual activities, material that was set-out in specific or general terms in the primary tweet and is substantially true,” Latham’s defence says.
“Greenwich did not suffer serious harm to his reputation.”
Greenwich’s lawyers claim Latham’s tweet was defamatory, as it suggested the independent member was “not a fit and proper person to be a member of the NSW parliament” because he “engages in disgusting sexual activities”.
Senator Hanson called Latham’s remarks “disgusting” in a video statement at the time of the incident.
“I want you to know that I don’t condone them, and neither do my members of parliament or party associates,” she said.