If there’s one thing Mark Latham can do, it’s have a long, impassioned rant.
He didn’t disappoint this morning on Sunrise, slamming Jamie Oliver’s proposed sugar tax in an effort to curb childhood obesity as “ridiculous”.
“I’m sick and tired of this celebrity politics, where people just fly in expecting to tax all Australians and then just fly out,” he said.
“Jamie Oliver let me give you one of my little laws about politics; if a celebrity flies into another country and tells you to do one thing, well make sure you do the opposite.”
Latham, who was recently fired from Sky News for his offensive comments, doesn’t think Australians need any more taxes.
“It’s ridiculous, we pay too many taxes already. There are plenty of fit people out there who’d be punished by a sugar tax as much as the fatties, so I don’t think it’s right to have extra taxes at all,” he very charmingly said.
“We pay more taxes than ever, why do we need a sugar tax.”
Fellow interviewee on the program Jeff Kennett, the former Victorian Premier, kept trying to get a word in but boy, was Latham not done.
“Well the guy’s got plenty of money, how about he just donates money to all the schemes he’s trying to run here in our country instead of trying to tax people working here trying to do the right thing,” he said.
“[We] don’t want some Pommy blow-in.”
“I’ve got to say, he’s not much of a cook. I’ve got his cook book and he’s nowhere near as good as Bill Granger. This bloke’s a bit of a fraud,” he said, as he well and truly went on a tangent.
“Ignore Jamie Oliver and take the tax burden off people.”
Sunrise co-hosts Samantha Armytage and Michael Usher didn’t quite know how to take the tirade, with Armytage simply uttering, “oh my god”.
Jamie has been petitioning the Australian government to “pull your finger out” and follow Britain’s lead in taxing drinks with a total sugar content above five grams per 100mL.
The Naked Chef is well-known for his distaste for “junk food parents”.
“I’ve spent two years being PC about parents, now is the time to say, ‘If you’re giving your young children fizzy drinks you’re an arsehole, you’re a tosser. If you give them bags of crisps you’re an idiot. If you aren’t cooking them a hot meal, sort it out.’ If they truly care they’ve got to take control.”
