Nationals leader David Littleproud has urged One Nation leader Pauline Hanson to take action against NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham.
Speaking to Sky News Littleproud said Hanson needed to do more to rein in Latham following the furor around a homophobic tweet he published last week. The Nationals leader said parties had a responsibility to dump members when their conduct went too far.
Hanson released a video on Friday saying she condemned Latham’s comments saying she had tried to contact him but he had not answered any of her calls or responded to text messages. Latham broke his silence the next day refusing to issue an apology and adding more social media posts critical of LGBTIQA+ communities.
Newly elected NSW Premier Chris Minns has announced his government will not work with Latham, and are opposed to him chairing any committees in the new parliament. He’s urged whoever becomes the next Liberal party leader to make the same commitment.
Littleproud says Hanson needs to take action.
“Where is Pauline Hanson on this? Why is he even in a political party any more?” he said.
“Where is the leadership of Pauline Hanson? All she’s done is gone to ground saying ‘he won’t call me back’. Well, take control of your party, call him in and show that you have some leadership.”
The Nationals leader said he’d called out members of his own party when they gave incorrect information about vaccines during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We have a privileged position as being politicians and if someone oversteps the mark, they need to be hauled in and they need to give an explanation,” he said.
“If their explanation isn’t good enough, then you have to have the courage and conviction to move them on.”
Independent NSW MP Alex Greenwich, who Latham’s tweet was directed at, has also called on Hanson to take action.
“The party that Mr Latham represents in Parliament House is named after Pauline Hanson,” he said on Monday. “Surely if she is so outraged and disgusted by his vile homophobic remarks, she’s going to need to take action to protect her own name.”
In an interview with Chanel 10 on Friday Greenwich revealed that many One Nation supporters had been calling his office to apologise for Latham’s comments.
Yesterday Latham announced he was going on leave until the counting for upper house in the NSW election is completed. Latham used a loophole in election laws to resign from his position halfway through his term, creating a casual vacancy. He stood in the recent election and secured a new 8-year term.
OIP Staff
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