We beat Latham in court -Alex Greenwich
*Media Release/Newsletter format
In March last year, Latham published a homophobic attack against me on Twitter. I was inundated by a torrent of abusive and threatening emails, phone calls and letters from members of the public and it changed my life.
With the support of Climate 200 donors, I took him to court and won. Yesterday, Justice O’Callaghan ordered Latham pay $140,000 in damages. The decision sends a clear message: these Trump-style personalised attacks on political opponents have no place in Australian public life.
This judgement makes Australia a safer place for me and my community, but we still have a long way to go. We all deserve respectful policy discussion and true service of the community from our representatives. It’s why I ran as a community independent in the first place.
I’m hopeful that Latham will also be ordered to pay my court costs, and I intend to donate as much of that as possible towards supporting independent campaigns.
The first donation I’ll be making will be to Jacqui Scruby, a fantastic community independent contesting the Pittwater by-election in just a few weeks. I encourage you to take three minutes to do the same.
Jacqui is kind, principled, and honest. She’s exactly the sort of colleague I want on the crossbench when Parliament votes on my LGBTQ Equality Bill later this year.
She was just 300 votes short of victory in 2023. I am certain that she can win this time, but only with the support of people like you and me.
Can you join me in donating to get her over the line in the Pittwater by-election?
The sad truth is the bullying and harassment that I experienced as a result of the Latham tweet is what LGBTQ people face every day in NSW, the state with the worst LGBTQ laws in Australia.
The Equality Bill would protect LGBTQ people from some of the worst abuse and discrimination we face today, and force people like Mark Latham to think twice before attacking our community.
But for it to pass, I’ll need the support of a strong crossbench of compassionate and progressive community independents in Parliament. Jacqui Scruby could be one of them.
Click here to join me in backing Jacqui’s by-election campaign.
My heartfelt thanks again to every single Climate 200 supporter who contributed to help cover my legal fees. Our victory is a major relief for me, my family, my staff, and the LGBTQ community.
I’m so proud to be part of a movement of community independents fighting for a fairer, more beautiful, and more loving world.
Together, slowly, and surely, we are changing how politics is done in Australia.
With thanks,
Alex
The independent member for Sydney
