Controversial state MP Mark Latham surfaced at the Ashes in London during a parliamentary sitting week.
The NSW One Nation leader was seen by himself waiting for his food order at the Lord’s Cricket Ground on day one of Australia’s second Test against England.
He was pictured on Thursday, June 29 standing next to a seafood and sausages van, wearing a green, floppy cloth hat and a rain jacket over his shorts in London, where it is summer.
Mr Latham, a member of the Legislative Council, was in the UK even though the New South Wales Parliament was sitting in the final two weeks of June, ahead of a month-long winter break in July.
Controversial state MP Mark Latham surfaced at the Ashes in London during a parliamentary sitting week
The NSW One Nation leader was seen by himself waiting for his food order at the Lord’s Cricket Ground on day of Australia’s second Test against England
Twitter users made light of Mr Latham, as another image was posted of him standing in front of the Scampi & Fries van wearing a polo shirt – three days before Australia beat England in the second Test by 43 runs.
‘He looks like he’s just crawled out of the sea,’ one woman with a left-leaning social media profile quipped.
But Mr Latham’s office confirmed he had organised a study tour to Europe before the parliamentary schedule for 2023 was known.
‘I confirm that last year, well before the new parliamentary schedule was known, Mr. Latham organised a research trip of European school education, which he is now completing,’ his adviser told Daily Mail Australia.
His appearance on the other side of the world – 17,000km away from Sydney – came just six weeks after he criticised state Governor Margaret Beazley for being in Dubai during the opening of Parliament.
Mr Latham, a former federal Labor leader, noted Ms Beazley had skipped the resumption of Parliament for 2023, in May, after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had returned from London following the Coronation of King Charles III.
‘Albanese attended the Coronation on Saturday and naturally, he’s here in Canberra today for the Federal Budget,’ he tweeted on May 9.
‘But the NSW Governor has gone missing for today’s Opening of NSW Parliament, her one big job every four years!!
‘Believed to be in Dubai of all places.’
Mr Latham was so concerned he put seven questions on notice to fellow upper house MP Penny Sharpe – who is also the Environment, Energy and Climate Change Minister – asking about Ms Beazley’s absence.
He was pictured on Thursday, June 29 standing next to a salt-and-pepper squid van, wearing a green terry towelling hat and a rain jacket over his shorts in London, where it is summer
‘Can the minister explain why the Governor missed the opening of the Parliament on 9 May?
‘Why was the Governor unable to return to Sydney after the King’s Coronation on 6 May?
‘Which official events did the Governor attend while in London?
‘What were the details of the Governor’s flight movements while out of Australia on this trip?
‘When was the Governor in Dubai and what events did she attend?
‘What was the total cost of this trip for the Governor and her travelling party, broken down by flights and locations?
‘What approval did the Premier give for this trip and what are the details?’
Some of the details about Ms Beazley’s travel itinerary are available online.
On May 9, the Governor was in Dubai as Lieutenant-Governor Andrew Bell opened the NSW Parliament for its first sitting since December last year, ahead of the March election.
Ms Beazley met with Moin Anwar, the Trade and Investment Commissioner in the Middle East for the New South Wales Government in Abu Dhabi.
Former Liberal prime minister John Howard (standing centre), who beat Mr Latham in 2004, was at Lord’s wearing a suit and tie, as he watched the Test in a corporate box with his wife Janette (standing, right), former Nationals deputy PM Michael McCormack (standing, left) and former NSW Liberal premier Mike Baird (seated, left)
His appearance on the other side of the world – 17,000km away from Sydney – came just six weeks after he criticised state Governor Margaret Beazley for being in Dubai during the opening of Parliament
Mr Latham was so concerned he put seven questions on notice to fellow upper house MP Penny Sharpe – who is also the Environment, Energy and Climate Change Minister – asking about Ms Beazley’s absence.
Labor Premier Chris Minns in Opposition promised to scrap the state’s trade commissioner roles after former Nationals deputy premier John Barilaro was appointed as the senior trade and investment commissioner in New York, only to quit the role following a political outcry.
As Parliament resumed in NSW, Ms Beazley met with Othman Aljeda, the chief executive of courier group Aramex, at his head office in Dubai.
During the final week of June, Mr Latham issued a call for help on Twitter to fund his legal fight with independent state MP Alex Greenwich, a campaigner for gay marriage before he replaced long-serving Lord Mayor Clover Moore as the member for Sydney in 2012.
Mr Greenwich last month sued Mr Latham for defamation for mocking his homosexuality on Twitter.
Their spat escalated in March, ahead of the state election, when Mr Greenwich called Mr Latham a ‘disgusting human being’ after he attended a religious gathering in south-west Sydney.
Mr Latham is being sued by independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich (right) who is in a same-sex marriage (husband Victor Hoeld, left)
The event spiralled into chaos as Christian fundamentalists clashed with homosexual rights activists.
Mr Latham responded with an inflammatory tweet mocking Mr Greenwich, who is in a same-sex marriage.
‘Disgusting? How does that compare with sticking your d*** up a bloke’s a*** and covering it with s***?’ he wrote on social media before deleting that message.
Following that remark, Mr Minns vowed he would not work with Mr Latham, even though his Labor government lacked a majority in the upper house to get legislation passed.
Former Liberal prime minister John Howard, who beat Mr Latham in 2004, was at Lord’s wearing a suit and tie, as he watched the Test from a corporate box with his wife Janette, former Nationals deputy PM Michael McCormack and former NSW Liberal premier Mike Baird.
Mr Latham had defeated another Beazley – Kim Beazley – to become federal Labor leader in December 2003.
His former rival later became the state governor of Western Australia, from 2018 to 2022.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk