A Sky News Australia host has been fired after he called a high school student “gay” for supporting women’s rights.
Mark Latham, former leader of the Australian Labor Party, was sacked after an on-air discussion about an International Women’s Day video created by pupils at Sydney Boys High School.
In the video, male pupils read statements from women and girls about why feminism is important to them.
But in a chat with ‘Outsiders’ co-host Ross Cameron, Latham attacked the boys, saying they had made themselves “undateable because “left [leaning] women think they are hopeless, misogynists, toxic culture”.
“And sensible girls out in the suburbs would think they’re absolutely wallies.”
The 56-year-old then added: “I thought the first guy was gay. Maybe that’s all they’ve got left now.”
In a statement on Twitter, CEO of Australian News Channel Angelos Frangopoulos said: “While we support strong opinions and robust arguments we pride ourselves in doing so in a civil and respectful manner.”
Latham’s dismissal was also confirmed on air by Sky News Australia’s political editor David Speers.
Speers said: “Sky News has ended the contract of contributor Mark Latham.
“This follows a number of controversies in relation to his comments around Kristina Keneally, Wendy Harmer and indeed the story that’s been doing the rounds on a lot of news sites today in relation to some SBS students and a video they made for International Women’s Day.”
Since he was fired, Latham has sent a number of Tweets slamming the decision, saying he “loves gays”: