Before he became leader of Australia's opposition Labor Party, most-Australians knew Mark Latham for two things: his language and his fists. He once called John Howard, the prime minister, an "arse licker" over his strong support for George Bush and the Iraq war, and Mr Bush himself "the most incompetent and dangerous president in living memory". Then there was the time Mr Latham tackled a taxi driver and left him with a broken arm. But faced with an election by the end of 2004-and the prospect of Mr Howard winning a fourth term-Labor parliamentarians decided to ignore Mr Latham's colourful past and on December 2nd elected him to replace the lacklustre Simon Crean.
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