Mark Latham to join Pauline Hanson’s One Nation

Former Labor leader Mark Latham and Pauline Hanson “deserve each other”, Labor frontbencher Chris Bowen says.

Former ALP leader Mark Latham. Picture: AAP

Former Labor leader Mark Latham is a “sad and pathetic joke” and he and Pauline Hanson “deserve each other”, Labor frontbencher Chris Bowen says.

The opposition treasury spokesman dismissed news this morning that the former Labor Leader has joined One Nation and will run as their number one candidate in the NSW upper house at next March’s state election.

Mr Latham told 2GB this morning he had joined One Nation to fight for “civilisational values”.

“Mark Latham is a bit of a joke, now. Really. Isn’t he? Sadly for him,” Mr Bowen told reporters in Sydney.

“Mark Latham and Pauline Hanson deserve each other. They’ve both fallen out with everybody they’ve ever worked with. How long do you give this marriage? Not very long I’d suggest.

“Mark Latham has degenerated into a pretty sad and pathetic joke.”

Mr Latham led the Labor Party from 2003 to 2005. He received a lifetime ban from the party last year when he joined the Liberal Democrats, which he also subsequently left.

.@Bowenchris says @PaulineHansonOz and Mark Latham deserve each other.

‘They’ve both fallen out with everyone they’ve ever worked with … Mark Latham has degenerated into a sad and pathetic joke.’

MORE: https://t.co/em195nALpW #SkyLiveNow pic.twitter.com/oKPi5726Qu

— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) November 6, 2018

Mr Latham this morning confirmed his plan to run as the One Nation leader in Australia’s biggest state.

“I’m very very happy to accept Pauline’s invitation to be the state One Nation leader,” he said.

“I’m doing that for the reason One Nation has the policies and NSW certainly needs a third choice.”

The former leader said he was running because “civilisational values” were under siege from the Australian left.

“This is a fight for civilisational values. For free speech, for merit selection, resilience, love of country, all of them under siege from the left. And a lot of it is happening in state politics as much as federal,” he said.

“I’m in a position and a stage in life where I just can’t stand on the standline talking about it. I want to get it stuck in as a legislator, as a parliamentarian, to give more exposure for the need for the fight.”

Pauline Hanson said she was “so proud” to have Mr Latham on her NSW state election ticket.

“With myself in the federal arena and Mark in the state ... these major political parties won’t have their own way,” she said.

Mr Latham led the Australian Labor Party from 2003 to 2005. He lost the 2004 federal election to John Howard, and slowly broken away from his old party over the past decade and a half.

He received a lifetime ban from Labor last year for joining the Liberal Democrats, but he left that party earlier this year.

Mr Latham has worked mainly as a newspaper columnist and television host since he left federal politics. He has been forced out from Sky News and the Australian Financial Review in recent years over controversial comments about women and gay people.

He confirmed on 2GB yesterday he would return to politics, saying he would be making an ­announcement about joining One Nation “soon”.

“Watch this space,” he told host Ben Fordham.

Former Tasmanian Labor premier David Bartlett called him a “sick, sad, sorry loser” after the news broke.

Mr Latham turned to political commentary after quitting ­federal parliament in 2005 following John Howard’s victory over Labor the previous year.

He says he was sacked as a columnist for the Australian Financial Review in 2015 for making ­offensive comments about Rosie Batty, whose ex-husband murdered her son.

He also worked as a co-host of the Outsiders show on Sky News, but was sacked following offensive comments about fellow Sky presenters and the teenage daughter of the Reserve Bank governor.

He made his return to political life this year by joining the Liberal Democratic Party, but quit in September, saying he was being blocked from running for a Senate spot.

“The Liberal Democrats have got a national executive that’s debating a potential role for me for quite some time and a couple of members there said, ‘Look, this thing is such a mess internally, we’re supportive of you but we think you’re a better chance of running in a different party or under a different guise’,” he said shortly before quitting the party.

Mr Latham sparked speculation he was joining One ­Nation when he recorded a robo-call for Senator Hanson during the Longman by-election campaign in July.