|
Mark William Latham (born 28 February 1961), an Australian author and former politician, was leader of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition for thirteen months, from December 2003 to January 2005. Latham captured national attention and, initially, high levels of public approval with his policies and unconventional approach, but also attracted controversy surrounding his past. In the October 2004 federal election, Latham was defeated by then-incumbent Prime Minister John Howard. Deteriorating relations with his party and ill health saw him resign as Leader and as MP for Werriwa on 18 January 2005 triggering a by-election won by Chris Hayes. In September 2005, Latham released ''The Latham Diaries'', in which he attacked many of his former colleagues and members of the media, as well as condemning the general state of political life in Australia. He has since published ''A Conga Line of Suckholes'', a regular column in the ''Australian Financial Review'' and ''Spectator Australia'' and an essay for ''The Monthly''. ==Early career== Latham was born in Ashcroft, a suburb of south-western Sydney in New South Wales. He was educated at Hurlstone Public School; the Hurlstone Agricultural High School, where he was dux; and at the University of Sydney, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Economics with Honours in 1982. While he was a student, Latham worked at the Green Valley Hotel for 2 years, and as an adviser to Labor politician John Kerin from 1980 to 1982. After completing his degree, Latham worked as a research assistant to the former Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam from 1982 to 1987, which included working on the latter's book ''The Whitlam Government'', and then as an adviser to then-Leader of the New South Wales Opposition Bob Carr from 1988 to 1991. In 1987 he was elected to the City Council of Liverpool, in Sydney's south-west, and was mayor from 1991 to 1994. Latham played rugby union with the Liverpool Bulls club and had a stint as its president. He has also been a fan of St George Dragons rugby league club since 1968. Latham's term as mayor saw radical changes introduced to the council, with large spending on public works, to be paid for by a combination of loans and efficiencies achieved from outsourcing many council services. The public works, including libraries, a pedestrian mall and public art, have been highly praised in accounts of the period. In an article in ''Quarterly Essay'' (issue 15), journalist Margaret Simons, who conducted an extensive investigation of the period, concluded that there were real issues in the financial management of the council. These mostly related to the drafting of the outsourcing agreements. Simons also said most of the allegations come from council members who were sacked for incompetence by the state government. On 1 June 2004, Latham told Parliament that during his time as mayor he had reduced Liverpool's debt service ratio from 17 to 10 percent, which he said was less than half of western Sydney's average. He also said Liverpool had adopted a debt-retirement strategy that he claimed would have made it debt free by 2005, but it was not implemented by his successors. Councillor Colin Harrington, whom Latham defeated during the mayoral elections of 1991, later said these figures were not accurate. He said the average debt-servicing ratio for western Sydney was 12.1 percent and he said the council's financial staff could find no significant reference to the debt-retirement strategy. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mark Latham」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|