A bitter feud between Mark Latham and fellow NSW MP Alex Greenwich that initially played out on social media will head to court for a defamation showdown.
Five days of hearings, set to begin in the Federal Court on Wednesday, will test claims by Greenwich that the former federal Labor leader’s tweet describing explicit sexual acts between men fuelled a “torrent” of homophobic and other abuse against him.
Latham’s tweet came in response to an earlier post by Mr Greenwich calling him a “disgusting human being”.
The lawsuit targets both Latham’s tweet and statements made during an interview with the Daily Telegraph in which the then-One Nation state leader discussed Greenwich giving speeches about sexuality to students in schools.
Latham has denied that he defamed the independent MP for the state seat of Sydney and is defending the lawsuit.
His barrister Barry Dean previously argued Latham’s tweet was a reasonable response to the initial attack and the comments were the conservative MP’s honest opinion at the time.
He also said there had been no serious harm done to Greenwich.
“When you look at the reputation of Mr Greenwich, that has not been affected in a material way,” Dean said during earlier proceedings.
Latham is also running various qualified privilege defences and a defence that his comments were made in the public interest.
High-profile barrister Matthew Collins KC, who is representing Greenwich, said his client was seeking aggravated damages over the abuse allegedly resulting from the tweet.
“Mr Latham, our ultimate case is, responded in a wholly disproportionate and irrelevant and disgraceful manner,” he said.
Several of Greenwich’s political allies, as well as his husband, will be among witnesses called to give evidence about his character and state of mind following the tweet.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young and Speaker of the NSW Legislative Assembly Greg Piper are expected to be among them.
The trial is expected to run until Tuesday.
