Latham ordered to pay $100,000 for vilifying Sydney MP based on sexuality

Mark Latham vilified fellow NSW MP Alex Greenwich based on his sexuality and must pay $100,000 in compensation, a Sydney tribunal has ordered.

The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal’s Administrative and Equal Opportunity Division agreed that a series of tweets and quotes given by Latham amounted to unlawful homosexual vilification and sexual harassment.

Greenwich launched the court action after Latham made a graphic tweet about the Sydney MP in 2023. The tweet is too offensive to repeat.

The Federal Court previously found the tweet defamed Greenwich. Latham is appealing the decision, and Greenwich is cross-appealing for increased damages.

The NCAT tribunal on Thursday found the tweet was capable of stirring up hatred towards Greenwich among Latham’s followers, showed serious contempt for the MP and reduced him to a “presumed unhygienic sexual act”.

The tweet objectified Greenwich so that others could “demean and ridicule him on the same basis”, the tribunal found.

The tribunal also found quotes given by Latham to The Daily Telegraph insinuated Greenwich was “perhaps grooming children in schools” and possibly conflated homosexuality with paedophilia. Those quotes were likely to incite hatred or serious contempt for Greenwich in the minds of the general public, the tribunal found.

Greenwich was subjected to years of abuse based on his sexuality from members of the public after the initial tweet, including voicemails, social media posts and text messages. Many of the messages are too offensive to publish.

“The nastiness of asserting that sexual acts by homosexual males are ‘unhygienic’ … is not a matter of abstract public purpose discussion,” the tribunal’s decision said.

“They were words landed as verbal ‘blows’ against a political opponent, insults of a crude and gross type, likely to goad or encourage base emotions, including hatred, serious contempt for and/or severe ridicule of the applicant on the ground of his homosexuality.”

Along with $100,000 in compensation, Latham must now pay Greenwich’s legal costs.

The decision is the latest in an ongoing feud between the two MPs. Latham spoke at a western Sydney church before the 2023 state election about “religious freedom, parental rights, school education and protecting [non-government] schools from alphabet activism”.

A small group of LGBTQ protesters outside the event were confronted by an angry mob of about 250 attendees, prompting the riot squad to intervene. The incident sparked accusations flying between Greenwich and Latham.

Greenwich called Latham a “disgusting human being” in quotes to this masthead. In response, Latham made the tweet that has been found to vilify Greenwich.

Greenwich welcomed the judgment, which upheld his claims that Latham’s comments had a detrimental impact on his mental health.

“I pursued this matter not only for myself, but for the many people across the LGBTQIA+ community who experience similar abuse and are told to accept it as part of public life or online debate,” Greenwich said.

“The tribunal has made clear that the law does not require anyone to endure unlawful vilification or sexual harassment.”