Weighing in for the first time since the allegations emerged, the prime minister said he never wanted Latham to be his party’s leader.

“History has proven that judgment to be correct. Mark Latham since … has gone further and further and further away from any values that represent mainstream Australia,” he said.

Portraits of former federal Labor leaders John Curtin, Frank Forde, Ben Chifley, Kim Beazley, Simon Crean and Mark Latham in the Labor caucus room. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas

The words underneath the portrait will read: “In 2017 Mark Latham was expelled from the Australian Labor Party and banned for life. His actions do not accord with Labor values and fail to meet the standards we expect and demand.”

“It’s finding the balance, you can’t erase history, we can’t pretend he wasn’t our leader, he was and so there he sits in the leaders’ timeline,” she told reporters in Canberra. “But it’s a recognition … his behaviour and attitudes don’t reflect the modern Australian Labor Party.”