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Latham's a product of Labor: Howard
09:42 AEST Thu Sep 15 2005
AAP
Mark Latham was a product of the Labor Party, not an outsider, Prime Minister John Howard said.
Mr Howard said he had not read extracts from the former Labor leader's diary, in which he accused Opposition Leader Kim Beazley of trying to undermine him with rumours and said the ALP was irreparably broken.
But Mr Howard said that no matter how much Labor tried to portray him as an outsider, he was inextricably linked to the Australian Labor Party.
"Whatever might be said over the next few days, it ought to be remembered that he was chosen by the Labor Party and claims to be an outsider - I think in some respects he was the quintessential insider," Mr Howard told reporters in New York.
"He spent all his life in the Labor movement and ... he was by the Labor Party, of the Labor Party, in the Labor Party for a very long period of time.
"I think it's a rather artificial attempt now being made to say 'he was never really one of us'. He was very much one of them."
Kim Beazley hit back at Latham, describing the claims as sad and fanciful.
In his soon-to-be released diaries Mr Latham says Mr Beazley was at the heart of a six-year smear campaign against him.
Extracts published in News Limited newspapers quote Mr Latham as saying Mr Beazley was manipulative and opportunistic while keeping up a public display of public decency.
He also says the Labor caucus is infested with "the sewer rats of the movement".
Mr Beazley issued a statement rejecting Mr Latham's claims.
"These allegations are untrue," he said.
"I was invited onto Mark's front bench straight after the ballot and again during the election campaign.
"At the end of the leadership ballot Mark thanked me for a clean campaign.
"These allegations are sad and fanciful.
"The Labor Party has moved on from all of this and is focused on the issues that matter to the Australian people such as skills, infrastructure, Telstra, foreign debt and industrial relations."
Meanwhile, Labor frontbenchers have lined up behind their leader.
Deputy opposition leader Jenny Macklin described Mr Beazley as one of the most decent people she'd ever met.
"Today is a very disappointing summary of Mark Latham's time in parliament. I think it's very sad that it's come to this," Ms Macklin told reporters in Canberra.
"Labor is coming together under Kim Beazley's leadership.
"For me, personally, he is one of the most decent human beings I've ever met."
She said she hoped Mr Latham could move on from his experience as a parliamentarian.
"We're moving forward and I hope at some point, Mark can, too."
The Latham Diaries will be published on September 21.
[ Last edited by NT on 2005-9-15 at 10:21 AM ] |
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