Former NSW One Nation party leader Mark Latham has been ordered to pay gay independent MP Alex Greenwich $140,000 by a Federal Court judge who found that a tweet made in March 2023 was defamatory and described a sex act in explicit terms. The tweet followed the violent protests that erupted outside a church in Belfield in Sydney’s south-west where Latham, who had indulged in anti-queer rhetoric, was giving a pre-election speech. A group of about 15 LGBTIQ+ protesters from the Community Action for Rainbow Rights were peacefully protesting opposite the church when they were set upon by a mob of approximately 250 attendees, who also attacked the police. Greenwich was subjected to an avalanche of homophobic abuse on social media afterwards.
