Mark Latham hates AC/DC

Mark Latham has emerged as an AC/DC hater, putting himself once again at odds with the majority of politicians in NSW Parliament’s upper chamber. 

On Wednesday afternoon, Latham responded to a motion by a Legalise Cannabis MP calling for a new memorial to the iconic rock band with a vitriolic spray, claiming AC/DC were “universally mocked” and that brothers Angus and Malcolm Young were “decrepit and falling apart”.

“The motion is nonsense for the simple reason that the honourable member seeks to honour a band universally mocked with its greatest hit, ‘It’s a long way to the shop if you want a sausage roll,’” Latham told Jeremy Buckingham, the MP who suggested the new monument. 

“Has anyone seen those Young brothers today? It is a sad case when some blokes just need to know when to quit. They are decrepit and falling apart. Angus Young is in hospital at the moment. Forget about a monument; we need to put him on life support because he has knocked himself around that badly. It is a miracle he is still alive.”

Latham also appeared to confuse the hometown of The Beatles with the Sydney suburb of Liverpool, where Latham grew up and served as mayor in the 1990s.

In response to a comment by Buckingham about how “Liverpool [in the UK] has incredible monuments and tributes to The Beatles”, Latham said: “I make a point of clarification: I am from Liverpool and we have never honoured the Beatles. We spend our money in productive ways rather than on ageing dinosaur rock‑and‑roll millionaires, which is what this proposal is about.”

Buckingham has championed a monument to AC/DC for years, and in February grilled Labor Premier Chris Minns about the idea at a budget estimates hearing. 

“I know the Youngs. I love AC/DC. Perhaps I can take it on notice. But it sounds like a good idea,” Minns said at the time.

In parliament on Wednesday, Buckingham said his idea had broad support among MPs and suggested the new monument should be built in Victoria Park in Sydney’s Camperdown.

“It is a big, open public space close to our entertainment precincts. It is near the Lansdowne, where AC/DC played. They also played on the roof of the pool at one point,” Buckingham said. “That area is well suited to large gatherings. It is open and has the perfect amenity for a monument that will attract tens of thousands — if not hundreds of thousands — of people a year from across the country.”

Labor’s Music Minister John Graham said the government supported the motion, and said work was already underway to honour the band.

“Sound NSW is exploring the best way to celebrate icons like AC/DC, and we intend to do so in consultation with the band and their family members,” Graham said. 

The opposition, and the Libertarian Party, expressed support as well, while Greens MP Cate Faehrmann sided with Latham — although for different reasons than the ex-One Nation leader. 

Faehrmann complained about the band’s sometimes sexist lyrics, including the songs “Givin’ the dog a bone”, which compares a woman giving oral sex to a dog, and “Let me put my love into you”, which uses violent sexual imagery. 

“AC/DC was, potentially, good for the time,” Faehrmann said. “People loved them, but I think that they need to stay in the 1970s. I hope that many of their lyrics stay in the 1970s … Let us honour other icons. Frankly, this would be a waste of time and taxpayers’ money.”