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tagged: 60 Minutes, Andrew Crook, Channel 9, Crikey, Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd, Labor Party, Laurie Oakes, Lindsay Tanner, Mark Latham, Medicare, Politics, Socialist ForumGillard vs Latham: The Plot Thickens
Posted by Claire Connelly in Media, Politics
In an ordinary election I would be appalled, nay outraged!
The nerve of that man – how can he dare to call himself a reporter?!
But this is no ordinary election and Mark Latham’s conspicuous presence at Julia Gillard’s press conference in Brisbane this morning indicated another riveting plot twist in the soap opera that is the campaign trail.
Mark Latham ambushed Julia Gillard at a Brisbane press conference this morning, and asked her why the Labor campaign complained to Channel 9 about his presence at the station; (Latham is currently producing a segment for 60 Minutes).
Gillard denied having knowledge of any complaints and wished Latham the best of luck in his journalistic endeavors.
Rumour, speculation and conspiracy theories are as intrigal to the election campaign as over-simplification, rhetoric and outright lies that plague political events and the journalists that are forced to report on them.
From Tanner’s suspicious resignation, Rudd’s (until recently) noticeable absence, Rudd’s recent command of a Brisbane press conference, to the unnamed leaker in the ranks – people have long suspected and privately hypothesized about Julia’s secret past.
On a slow news day whispers of political scandal are a valued commodity between journalists, and the politician-turn-reporter’s unwelcome presence this morning (while professionally appalling) served only to perpetuate suspicion and intrigue about just what Julia Gillard may have done to offend so many important figures in the Labor party.
Gillard and Tanner are old rivals from way back when they worked together in the Socialist Forum whose sole purpose, Crikey’s Andrew Crook reported, was to “cleanse the ALP of the last lingering vestiges of old-style command-and-control”.
It was rumoured that Gillard was unwilling to negotiate with modernisers Tanner and Kim Carr who were at the time aligned with a rival faction that was less willing to break with Labor’s past.
What kind of sordid history exists between Latham and Gillard we have yet to discover – the two worked closely together selling the controversial Medicare Gold program in the run up to the 2004 election.
In hindsight I wonder what Julia Gillard did to avoid any fallout from Latham’s unceremonious exit from the Labor party.
Whilst it is obviously shocking to me that Mark Latham would even consider attending this press conference in a professional capacity as a journalist – (ignoring the obvious conflict of interest, and 60 Minutes’ unsurprising lack of ethics) for me it is utterly fascinating – an almost guilty pleasure!
So sexy, so malevolent, one can’t help but get sucked in to the drama and intrigue.
It wasn’t just that he exposed the Labor party’s alleged complaints that Latham was now working for Channel Nine, it was that he was so willing to bide his time before asking Gillard anything at all.
He stalked, he watched, he loitered – hoping to attract the curiosity of every camera, microphone, dictaphone and notepad.
It was so creepy you couldn’t help but gaze-on – like a car crash, unable to look away from the tedious, jaw dropping, edge-of-your-seat (no pun intended) political action.
Who knows if the full story will ever come out, but Latham (and I’m sure he didn’t act alone) seems pretty hell bent on keeping her mysterious past on the agenda.
The only question is will we find out before Australia goes to the polling booths in two weeks time?
I suspect that we will, and I suspect that it will be Laurie Oakes and not Latham who finally breaks the story.
The pieces are slowly coming together and it’s only a matter of time before we will get to see the full picture.
Hopefully not too late that we can’t change our mind.
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Hi Claire, nitpicking friend here – “Gillard and Tanner are old rivals from way back when they worked together in the Socialist Forum whose soul purpose, Crikey’s Andrew Crook reported, was to “cleanse the ALP of the last lingering vestiges of old-style command-and-control”.” Now I suspect you meant “sole purpose” here, but if so the serendipity of “soul purpose” is delightful.
“So sexy, so malevolent, one can’t help but get sucked in to the drama and intrigue.” – nicely put – and have you ever watched the ‘Bold and the Beautiful’? But is Julia the bold or the beautiful, and does Mark fit whichever she isn’t?
Dang – I spent all night spell checking and went to bed thinking “I feel like I have missed something.” Thank you for pointing that out, your pedantry is much appreciated. Consider it changed.
Bold and Beautiful – I was thinking more the ironically titled “Young and the Restless,” (it had a decidedly older cast than Bold – at least in the fashions). They were always jumping into bed with each other and then stabbing each other in the back.
It’s a fine line between enemy and lover.