NSW politician Mark Latham has responded to claims put forward by his former Nathalie Matthews that allege an abusive relationship. The former Labor and One Nation NSW leader says the claim is “absolute rubbish”.
The claims were first published by The Australian newspaper on Monday night, based on an application for a domestic violence order reportedly filed by Matthews. She gave permission for details of the application to be made public, but declined to comment further.
In has been reported that in the application alleges that during the couple’s three year relationship Latham forced Matthews into “degrading acts, demanded she call him ‘master’ and threw dinner plates at her.”
Matthews, who owns an e-commerce global logistics firm, is seeking an order preventing the politician from going within 100m of her alleging an ““ongoing, reasonable fear of harassment, intimidation, and potential harm”.
The report says Matthews reported the claims to police, but they had not taken any action, nor had they applied for an order on her behalf. The matter will be mentioned at Downing Centre Local Court on July 30.
Latham has described the claims as “fictitious and comical” in an SMS response to the newspaper’s inquiry and later took to social media to label them as “absolute rubbish”.
Mark Latham.
In a series of posts on social media platform X Latham said he had not been contact by police in relation to any order.
“The Australian newspaper has published a story based on allegations from Nathalie Matthews which are comically false and ridiculous. I have scores of documents to show that and will rely upon them to defend myself. As the old saying goes, Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Latham said.
The newspaper stressed that they were not suggesting the allegations are true, only that they have been made and that Matthews is making an application for a domestic violence order. OUTinPerth does not make any suggestion about the validity of the accusations either.
Latham has faced many controversies during his time as a federal and state politician, and his time as a Sky News presenter also ended in controversy.
Last year a court order Latham to pay $140,000 in damages to NSW MP Alex Greenwich after it found he had defamed the independent MP in a series of social media posts and media interviews. The court also held Latham responsible for the majority of the costs.
Last month Latham and Greenwich appeared before a tribunal in New South Wales over concerns the same comments may have amounted to sexual harassment and vilification in the workplace. The descision is yet to be handed down.
Shortly afterwards Latham used parliamentary privilege to release details of a psychologist’s report into Greenwich’s mental health which had been part of the court proceedings. The move saw him referred to the NSW parliament’s privileges committee, while Premier Chris Minns labeled him on of the most “shameful bigots” in the state.
