Alex Greenwich Vs Mark Latham: Lawyers Say Anti-LGBT Tweets ‘Offensive’, Not Defamatory
Image: Source: Alex Greenwich and Mark Latham
A defamation case brought by independent MP Alex Greenwich against Mark Latham officially commenced yesterday (Wednesday May 23rd) in Federal Court, where it has been claimed vile comments from Latham were 鈥渧ulgar and shocking鈥�, but not defamatory.聽
Greenwich for defamation against Latham last year after the former OneNation member refused to apologise for , now X, on March 30th 2023.聽
The highly derogatory tweet was made after Greenwich called Latham a 鈥渄isgusting human being鈥� for a speech made about the LGBTQI+ community at a Catholic church in south west Sydney. This event prompted protests from 15 LGBTQI+ advocates, who were met with violent counter-protests.聽
After Greenwich made his comments to the Sydney Morning Herald, Latham responded to a tweet quoting the article, calling Greenwich disgusting and describing sexual activity in a highly explicit manner.聽
The comments received widespread derision; even OneNation leader Pauline Hanson called on Latham to apologise (although ).听
The Alex Greenwich vs Mark Latham trial so far
Latham鈥檚 lawyer Kieran Smark SC (May 24th) that Latham鈥檚 comments were 鈥渧ulgar and shocking鈥� but insisted that they did no damage to Greenwich鈥檚 character.聽
鈥淲hen it comes to serious harm, we can see a kind of鈥� almost universal revulsion at the primary tweet, but that does not directly mark it as defamatory,鈥� said Smark.聽
Smark says that Latham鈥檚 comments may have wounded Greenwich personally, but said that it did not ruin the independent MP鈥檚 reputation.
This contrasts with a on day one of the trial (May 23rd), where he said: 鈥淪ince this tweet was put out into the world鈥� I have wanted it to go away. I鈥檝e been in public life for a long time. I have during that time tried to just make the point that gay people are normal; we鈥檙e just like everybody else.鈥澛�
The MP鈥檚 claim is that Latham鈥檚 tweet and further comments to The Daily Telegraph have had multiple defamatory meanings, while Latham denies that his words carry those meanings.聽
In an affidavit, Greenwich wrote that the abuse he received because of the tweet gave him anxiety and panic attacks, made him reluctant to attend public events and even had him considering retiring from politics.聽
During his opening statement, Greenwich鈥檚 barrister Matthew Collins KC stated that Latham鈥檚 tweet went as 鈥渓ow as possible鈥� and relied on outdated stereotypes about gay men.聽
Collins added that Latham focused heavily on targeting Greenwich鈥檚 sexuality online, stating that Latham was unequivocally to blame for the incident. Rather than engaging in public debate, Latham 鈥渨ent as low as possible in the鈥� tweet and then the conduct that followed,鈥� said Collins.聽
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