Mark Latham’s views on Rudd.

Cartoon: By Nicholson.

Mark Latham is vilified among Labor purists, but he understood just what sort of disingenuous piece of shit Kevin Rudd was and is.

Generally I have no interest in political diaries or autobiographies, as I usually have little time for the type of people who write them, politicians or their acolytes. Apart from a short time in history, (the founding of the US) where government was considered to be for the protection of the liberty of the people, politics and its manipulators have sucked.

In this country the sort of people attracted to politics are not those who believe in free people doing their own thing, but the more authoritarian view, that we need both them and governing.

The problem with the state is that it is seen as ‘authority’ and as such, like any institution involving that aspect of life, attracts the worst in people. There is little difference between the attraction of politicians to politics, pedophiles to schools or scouts, and sadists to Abu Ghraib. The attraction of flies to crap is more honorable – flies are just being flies, politicians are just being politicians, both are pretty disgusting but the flies only want a feed.

Mark Latham is one of the most extraordinary and most controversial figures to walk the political stage here. He was a divisive figure in many ways often due to his intemperance in language and behavior. After losing to John Howard he resigned from parliament after criticism, both for his tactics during the election, and for being out of communication. During the election and afterwards he was suffering from pancreatitis.

He wrote a great op-ed on the folly of the need to be seen to be doing something, a major problem in government.

Andrew Bolt in his Herald Sun article relates some of the things one of his commenter’s gleaned from “The Latham Diaries,” on his opinions of Rudd, and examples of his behaviour such as:

Another slice of Caucus chaos: Kevin Rudd. On Wednesday, ‘ The Australian ‘ carried a front-page story saying that if Rudd didn’t became Shadow Treasurer he would go to the backbench. My thoughts went back to December last year and his tantrum over his title. He’s such a prima donna.

Rudd came around to see me yesterday morning, lobbying to be Shadow Treasurer. He went into a long explanation of why he’s so wonderful. When he finished I put my cards on the table: that I regard him as disloyal and unreliable, and he only holds his frontbench position because of his media profile and public standing among people who have never actually met him. I also told him that if the newspaper report was true, he should get ready for the backbench, as there was no way I could give him the Shadow Treasury.

He appeared surprised, protested his innocence and then broke down badly, sobbing over the recent death of his mother, just before polling day. I told him to leave work and go back to Brisbane to rest with his family. But he wouldn’t give up. Even though he was crying, he kept on lobbying to be Shadow Treasurer. It was becoming quite sad. Then he said words that I will never forget: ‘I swear on my mother’s grave that The Australian story is wrong, totally wrong, and that I’ve been loyal to you and will continue to be loyal to your leadership’.

I don’t mind people bullshitting to me in politics, but not like this. Last week he rang around Caucus to gauge the mood after our loss, and told Trish Crossin that my leadership was on notice: I had until the Budget Reply speech next May to prove myself. He’s always bagging me to journal­ists and that’s not going to change any time soon. I don’t trust him, no matter what he says.