SYDNEY – A tribunal in New South Wales, Australia, has ordered controversial politician Mark Latham to pay approximately €60,000 (A$100,000) in damages to openly gay Sydney MP Alex Greenwich for unlawful homophobic vilification and sexual harassment.
The ruling, delivered by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT), marks a significant moment in the accountability of public figures for online conduct. In addition to the financial penalty, Mr. Latham has been ordered to delete the offending social media posts within 24 hours and is prohibited from repeating any similar unlawful vilification of Mr. Greenwich.
The case stems from a series of public comments made by Mr. Latham in 2023. The initial incident involved a graphic and sexually explicit tweet from Mr. Latham directed at Mr. Greenwich. This was posted in response to a news article where Mr. Greenwich had described Mr. Latham as a "disgusting human being" following a protest at one of Mr. Latham's public appearances.
The tribunal found that Mr. Latham's tweet used "crude and explicit language" to describe a presumed sexual act. The members concluded it was "capable of inciting an ordinary member of [Mr. Latham's] audience to have hatred towards, serious contempt for, or to severely ridicule" Mr. Greenwich on the basis of his homosexuality.
A Pattern of Harassment
The case also examined subsequent comments made by Mr. Latham, including a statement to a newspaper where he insinuated Mr. Greenwich was involved in "grooming children" and an online radio interview where he described Mr. Greenwich's presumed sexual practices as "puke worthy."
The tribunal determined that these actions constituted a pattern of vilification and sexual harassment. In a notable finding with potential international implications, the tribunal ruled that for politicians, social media and the airwaves can be considered part of their "workplace."
"Politicians have unusual work, in that their work requires them to be in the public eye. Attending such interviews and posting material is part of their parliamentary and political work," the members wrote. This interpretation allowed the conduct to be classified as unlawful sexual harassment between MPs under the state's Anti-Discrimination Act.
The tribunal rejected Mr. Latham's defence that his comments were made in "good faith" for the purpose of public debate, describing them instead as "verbal 'blows' against a political opponent, insults of a crude and gross type, likely to goad or encourage base emotions."
Community Impact and Defiant Response
During the proceedings, it was noted that Mr. Latham's posts unleashed a "barrage" of hateful messages and threats toward Mr. Greenwich, causing him psychological injury and forcing his electoral office to take security precautions when opening mail.
In a statement following the verdict, Mr. Greenwich said the decision sent a clear message. "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," he said. "The judgement makes clear that social media is plainly capable of being a vehicle for unlawful vilification, particularly where the conduct is engaged in by a public figure with a large audience."
Mr. Latham, who was once the leader of Australia's federal Labor party before moving to the right-wing populist One Nation party and later becoming an independent, has remained defiant. In a statement on X (formerly Twitter), he described the ruling as a "woke, left-wing political judgement" and announced his intention to appeal.
This is the second civil case Mr. Latham has lost to Mr. Greenwich. In 2024, he was ordered to pay A$140,000 in a separate defamation case, a judgement he is also appealing.
