The Latham Diaries
Encyclopedia
The Latham Diaries is a political memoir by the former Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party
(ALP) leader, Mark Latham
. The book, published in 2005 by Melbourne University Press, attracted a great amount of criticism. Much of the controversy revolved around Latham's candid and scathing criticisms of the ALP, as well as highly personal and occasionally ribald comments regarding some individuals. However, readers of the book comment that there seem to be two facets to way Latham appears in it: an intellectual writing in longer entries, and an embittered Latham, who has been much-criticised and the main focus of media discussion.
The book is an abridgement of Latham's personal diary, from his election to the Australian House of Representatives
in 1994 until his retirement in 2005. He has claimed that the book is not intended to discredit the ALP, but rather to correct the record for the benefit of his sons, alleging the media has not accurately portrayed him during his time in Parliament.
In it Latham frequently refers to his belief that in the 10 years between the ALP losing office in 1996 and publication of the Diaries, Labor failed to respond to major changes in Australian society, wrought by globalisation and the policies of the Keating
and Howard government
s. Latham says that, under the leadership of both Kim Beazley
and Simon Crean
, the party has failed to develop new and innovative policies, and has either looked backwards and inwards for ideas, or has taken a purely negative position with government initiatives. Latham reiterates his belief, expounded in earlier books such as Civilising Global Capital (1998) that the ALP should reject many of its traditional policies, such as protectionism
and the welfare state
, and should instead focus on the expansion of social capital
. These views and Latham's frustrations with the development of Labor party policy over time, are shown in his entry for August 12, 1999:
In the book, and in interviews following its release, Latham also singled out Beazley for harsh criticism on the grounds of character, alleging that — as both party leader and an ordinary MP — Beazley failed to offer Latham and other Labor MPs the support and loyalty they were due. In one now-famous comment, he described Beazley as "a dirty dog" who is "not fit to clean toilets at Parliament house."
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
(ALP) leader, Mark Latham
Mark Latham
Mark William Latham , an author and former Australian politician, was leader of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from December 2003 to January 2005....
. The book, published in 2005 by Melbourne University Press, attracted a great amount of criticism. Much of the controversy revolved around Latham's candid and scathing criticisms of the ALP, as well as highly personal and occasionally ribald comments regarding some individuals. However, readers of the book comment that there seem to be two facets to way Latham appears in it: an intellectual writing in longer entries, and an embittered Latham, who has been much-criticised and the main focus of media discussion.
The book is an abridgement of Latham's personal diary, from his election to the Australian House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
in 1994 until his retirement in 2005. He has claimed that the book is not intended to discredit the ALP, but rather to correct the record for the benefit of his sons, alleging the media has not accurately portrayed him during his time in Parliament.
In it Latham frequently refers to his belief that in the 10 years between the ALP losing office in 1996 and publication of the Diaries, Labor failed to respond to major changes in Australian society, wrought by globalisation and the policies of the Keating
Paul Keating
Paul John Keating was the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 1991 to 1996. Keating was elected as the federal Labor member for Blaxland in 1969 and came to prominence as the reformist treasurer of the Hawke Labor government, which came to power at the 1983 election...
and Howard government
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
s. Latham says that, under the leadership of both Kim Beazley
Kim Beazley
In the October 1998 election, Labor polled a majority of the two-party vote and received the largest swing to a first-term opposition since 1934. However, due to the uneven nature of the swing, Labor came up eight seats short of making Beazley Prime Minister....
and Simon Crean
Simon Crean
Simon Findlay Crean is an Australian politician, and the current Minister for the Arts and Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government in the Australian Federal Government. He was leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition at the Federal level,...
, the party has failed to develop new and innovative policies, and has either looked backwards and inwards for ideas, or has taken a purely negative position with government initiatives. Latham reiterates his belief, expounded in earlier books such as Civilising Global Capital (1998) that the ALP should reject many of its traditional policies, such as protectionism
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
and the welfare state
Welfare state
A welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those...
, and should instead focus on the expansion of social capital
Social capital
Social capital is a sociological concept, which refers to connections within and between social networks. The concept of social capital highlights the value of social relations and the role of cooperation and confidence to get collective or economic results. The term social capital is frequently...
. These views and Latham's frustrations with the development of Labor party policy over time, are shown in his entry for August 12, 1999:
- The horse bolted in the first half of the [20th] century when Labor abandoned its mutualist traditions—socialismSocialismSocialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
in the relationship between people—and embraced the welfare stateWelfare stateA welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those...
—socialism in the relationship between government and its citizens. We can talk about the Third WayThird way (centrism)The Third Way refers to various political positions which try to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of right-wing economic and left-wing social policies. Third Way approaches are commonly viewed from within the first- and second-way perspectives as...
, a fourth way, a fifth way. In practice, it will take a miracle for the control freakControl freakIn psychology-related slang, control freak is a derogatory term for a person who attempts to dictate how everything around them is done — "a control freak. Scared to let us have differences"...
s and power junkies of the Labor movement to reform their ways. I'm pissing in the wind. (p.110)
In the book, and in interviews following its release, Latham also singled out Beazley for harsh criticism on the grounds of character, alleging that — as both party leader and an ordinary MP — Beazley failed to offer Latham and other Labor MPs the support and loyalty they were due. In one now-famous comment, he described Beazley as "a dirty dog" who is "not fit to clean toilets at Parliament house."