Mark Latham

Mark William Latham (born February 28, 1961) is a former Australian politician who served as leader of the federal parliamentary Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from December 2003 to January 2005. Latham captured national attention and high levels of public approval with his innovative policies and unconventional approach, but also attracted controversy surrounding his colourful past. In the October 2004 federal election, Latham was defeated by the incumbent Prime Minister John Howard. Ill health and deteriorating relations with his own party forced him to step down as Leader on 18 January, 2005. In September, Latham released a set of 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.

Publication of Latham's diaries and public appearances

Soon after his retirement, Latham announced his decision to publish a selection of diary entries spanning almost a decade. Following the inevitable bidding war, it was announced that Melbourne University Press would publish the diaries in late September. MUP later awarded the exclusivity rights for extracts to News Ltd and the exclusivity for the first interview to ABC program Enough Rope which was due to be broadcast at 9:30pm on Monday 19 September 2005.

Related Topics:
Diary - Melbourne University Press - News Ltd - ABC - Enough Rope - 19 September

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Meanwhile, excerpts of these diaries were published by The Australian newspaper from 15 September ahead of their publication in book form on Monday 19 September. The excerpts published include attacks by Latham on the Labor Party, his successor Beazley, frontbencher Rudd and former Labor prime ministers Keating and Whitlam.http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200509/s1460584.htm

Related Topics:
The Australian - 15 September - 19 September

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Due to the publicity the diaries were now generating, the extensive amount of published extracts, and concerns that Latham had recorded other interviews, in particular with another ABC program Lateline, Enough Rope pushed to have the the interview broadcast four days early on Thursday 15 September at 8:30pm with a simultaneous broadcast on some ABC Local Radio stations. However, when the time came to broadcast, the ABC announced that the interview would not be shown due to a legal injunction sought by News Limited (owner of The Australian), who had the rights to publish extracts from the diaries. Reports on the night said any broadcast by the ABC was a breach of confidentiality between News and the book's publisher, Melbourne University Press, the newspaper publisher having signed to an A$80,000 deal to publish excerpts of the book in the weekend newspapers. However, at 10:30pm, the ABC aired the Denton interview after the Supreme Court of New South Wales lifted the injunction. Justice Harry Palmer said the publication of large parts of the book in News Limited newspapers largely destroyed the value of the material. Due to the last minute changes, the edition of ABC's Lateline program scheduled for 10:30pm featuring another interview with Mark Latham (also subject to the short-lived injunction) was now aired the following night. http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s1463149.htm

Related Topics:
Lateline - Enough Rope - 15 September - Simultaneous broadcast - ABC Local Radio - ABC - Injunction - News Limited - The Australian - Supreme Court of New South Wales

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On September 27 2005, Latham gave his first public lecture since the release of the diaries, titled "Ten Reasons Why Young Idealistic People Should Forget About Organised Politics" at Melbourne University. During the lecture he argued that organised politics is ineffective at achieving real social change, due to public apathy, the rise of conservatism and the inward-focused structure of the major parties, and instead encouraged youth to focus on more grassroots, community based programs. He also claimed that politics has a detrimental impact on health, happiness and family life, largely blaming the 'arrogant' and 'incompetent' media, as well as internal party struggles. The question time following his lecture revealed that many young idealists in the audience were unconvinced, pointing out that removing passionate youth from the major parties would hardly be a step forward for social change. http://www.mup.unimelb.edu.au/publicity/lathamlecture.html

Related Topics:
September 27 - 2005 - Melbourne University

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