No-one knew it at the time, presumably not even Mark Latham himself, but his valedictory comments in the House of Representatives on December 9, 2004, were to be his last words in the parliament.
Mark Latham, Leader of the Opposition, speaks for the last time in the House of Representatives on December 9, 2004.
Latham had led the ALP to defeat at the federal election of October 9. The ALP went backwards, returning just 60 seats in the 150 seat lower house, a net loss of 5 from 2001. The party’s primary vote was 37.64%, its lowest since 1931.
After the election, Latham was re-elected leader of the ALP, but on January 18, 2005 he resigned the leadership and left parliament. His departure followed a bout of illness and mounting criticism of his low profile during the Asian tsunami in the post-Christmas period. At a Caucus meeting on January 28, Kim Beazley returned to the leadership.