Mark Latham

Mark Latham

For those websurfers outside of Australia, Mark Latham was a former Australian politician and leader of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party, and was Leader of the Opposition from December 2003 to January 2005.

Latham captured national attention and high levels of public approval with his policies and unconventional approach. He soon attracted controversy surrounding his past.

He was accused of mismanaging funds when Mayor of the Liverpool Municipality, in Sydney’s West. He claimed he had reduced Liverpool's debt-servicing ratio from 17 percent to 10 percent, which he said was less than half of western Sydney's average. He also said Liverpool had adopted a debt-retirement strategy that he claimed would have made it debt-free by 2005, but which was not implemented by his successors. Councillor Colin Harrington, whom Latham defeated during the mayoral elections of 1991, later said these figures were not accurate. He said the average debt-servicing ratio for western Sydney was 12.1 percent and he said the council's financial staff could find no significant reference to the debt-retirement strategy.

Latham was also charged with assault after he broke a taxi drivers arm in western Sydney.

In the October 2004 federal election, Latham was defeated by the incumbent Prime Minister, John Howard. Deteriorating relations with his party and ill health saw him resign as Leader on 18 January 2005.

In September 2005, Latham released The Latham Diaries in which he attacked many of his former colleagues and members of the media, as well as condemning the general state of political life in Australia.

(Click on the image for a large-scale version; hold apple/control and wheel your mouse to fit in screen)