Mark Latham made a graphic, homophobic remark about NSW MP Alex Greenwich in a tweet that a Federal Court later found was defamatory and seriously harmful to Greenwich’s reputation. The court held that the tweet portrayed Greenwich as someone who “engages in disgusting sexual activities”, and Greenwich was awarded $140,000 in damages.

What Latham Said (In General Terms)

Because the original tweet used explicit sexual language, news reports describe it but usually do not reproduce the full wording, noting instead that it referred in graphic terms to a sexual act and was characterised in court as “revolting” and “vulgar”. The tweet was posted after Greenwich had publicly called Latham a “disgusting human being”, and Latham replied with “Disgusting? How does that compare with…”, followed by the graphic sexual description.

Why It Became A Legal Case

  • The Federal Court found the tweet was defamatory because it conveyed that Greenwich engages in “disgusting sexual activities”, exposing him to hatred, contempt and ridicule.
  • The judge rejected Latham’s defences, including honest opinion and qualified privilege, and awarded $100,000 for non‑economic loss plus $40,000 in aggravated damages.

Impact On Alex Greenwich

  • Evidence before the court showed that after Latham’s comment, Greenwich received death threats, homophobic abuse, and repeated offensive calls, which affected his mental health and confidence in continuing his political career.
  • Greenwich said the ruling was a “massive relief” and argued it sent a message that attacking a gay person based on stereotypes about their sexuality has no place in Australian political debate.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.