New South Wales Health Minister Brad Hazzard has lashed out at One Nation MP Mark Latham for allegedly being a bully during a heated clash in a budget estimates hearing.
It comes a day after Mr Latham used parliamentary privilege to make claims against Shellharbour Labor MP Anna Watson.
During the Wednesday hearing, Mr Latham asked Michael Douglas, a former member of the state's COVID-19 operations team, about a Nationals function at parliament in 2021.
Mr Hazzard objected to Mr Latham's questions about whether the Minister received preferential treatment and avoided isolation after being exposed to a COVID-positive colleague.
"First of all, this question is about me and it is to do with health issues, so I don't know that this is appropriate — in fact I am sure it is not," Mr Hazzard said.
"It is an exercise in bullying a health official.
"Based on yesterday's effort of Mr Latham publicly humiliating a Labor MP, a hard-working Labor female MP and then another female former Liberal MP and trying to undermine the Broderick report."
In an estimates hearing on Tuesday Mr Latham claimed Ms Watson tried to drive home one night when she was drunk at Macquarie Street.
Mr Latham said he was raising the allegations because he did not believe Ms Watson was fit to be on an advisory committee for the Broderick review into the culture of parliament.
Ms Watson issued a statement acknowledging she had been drinking on the night of August 27, 2020, but denied she attempted to drive home and said she was picked up by her husband.
'History of bullying, mate'
Mr Hazzard defended Ms Watson and her work in supporting women's services in the Illawarra.
"He bullied two female MPs … Anna Watson, who is a really hard-working Labor MP, and he bullied her with an absolutely irrelevant comment about her," Mr Hazzard said.
"He has a history of bullying, mate, my lord, go back to 2003 — he broke a taxi driver's arm.
"He has a history … his own book he referred to all his colleagues as snakes, freaks, arseholes and sewer rats.
"You do nothing but attack females."
The hearing's chair Greg Donnelly attempted to interrupt, saying, "I can see you are getting a little fired up".
"Wouldn't you after Anna Watson got hammered by him yesterday?" Mr Hazzard said.
"Utterly irrelevant."
'He's quite obsessed'
Mr Latham continued to question Dr Douglas about the close contact reporting and Mr Hazzard accused the One Nation MP of being overly fixated on the matter.
"There was an answer given — two actually," Mr Hazzard said under parliamentary privilege.
"He's quite obsessed, not only with bullying female MPs and ex-MPs.
"He's also obsessed with anything to do with this.
"You should be out of parliament."
Former Liberal MP Catherine Cusack was also criticised by Mr Latham at Tuesday's hearings and took to Twitter to defend herself.
"Can I say, I am sick of this cruelty and smear — it disgusts me and it's why we have a women's problem in politics," she said.
Greens MLC Abigail Boyd also expressed concern about the budget estimate exchanges on Twitter.
"Just so we're clear, two men loudly arguing in a parliament hearing about bullying of women does not make me feel safer in my workplace," she said.
