Former federal Labor leader Mark Latham has been ordered to pay a fellow state MP the maximum available penalty for vilifying him for his sexuality.The sexually explicit tweet from the NSW upper house independent in 2023 has previously been ruled to be defamatory by the Federal Court.
Independent MP Mark Latham speaks to media in Camden on Saturday 19th July 2025. Photo: Sitthixay Ditthavong (Sitthixay Ditthavong)
Latham’s tweet came in response to a post quoting Greenwich describing him as a “disgusting human being”.
The online sparring match between the two politicians followed violent protests outside a church in Sydney’s southwest, where Latham was giving a pre-election speech in March 2023.
The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal imposed the maximum penalty due to the extreme abuse Greenwich received and the intense impacts he felt.
It found that Greenwich had suffered extreme psychological damage as a result of Latham’s actions.
The tribunal did not order Latham to produce an apology, saying it would be pointless given it would likely not be genuine.
Latham was ordered to pay Greenwich’s legal costs. (Dominic Lorrimer)
Greenwich welcomed the decision and said the result was a landmark ruling for LGBTQIA+ rights in the state.
“This decision sends a clear message: public figures are not above the law, and online platforms are not a space for unlawful vilification,” the member for Sydney said in a statement.
“The tribunal has made clear that the law does not require anyone to endure unlawful vilification or sexual harassment.”
Latham was ordered to remove any material from his social media that vilifies Greenwich based on his homosexuality and to refrain from making any more unlawful vilifying statements.
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