The Sydney state MP Alex Greenwich has vowed to reform laws in New South Wales to better protect the LGBTQ+ community after being brought to tears by a homophobic tweet from fellow parliamentarian Mark Latham.
The powerful independent was the focus of an explicit tweet by Latham on Thursday morning that has been widely condemned, including by Anthony Albanese and the federal One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson.
Speaking outside the NSW parliament on Friday, Greenwich said he did not expect to still be dealing with homophobia but the matter has made him more resolved in progressing LGBTQ+ rights in the state.
“This has obviously been hurtful for me,” he said in regards to the One Nation MP’s comment.
“I had a bit of a cry late yesterday at the end of the day … I didn’t think I’d still be subjected to homophobic abuse, but I woke up refreshed and really recommitted to dealing with LGBTI law reform in NSW to working with my colleagues.”
Latham made the comments in response to an article in which Greenwich called him “a disgusting human being”. The article was about LGBTQ+ protesters being targeted outside an event Latham spoke at earlier this month.
In response, Latham said “disgusting?”, and then went on to make gratuitous comments about a sexual act. Guardian Australia has chosen not to publish the full comment.
On Friday the newly sworn-in NSW transport minister, Jo Haylen, said Latham’s comments were disgusting and that he was “not fit for parliament”.
“Mark Latham’s comments were disgusting. Of course he should apologise but it’s Mark Latham [so] I don’t think anyone should be holding their breath,” she said.
“Personally, I don’t think he’s fit for parliament.” She said he should “apologise and apologise rapidly”.
Sydney MP Alex Greenwich is speaking after that Latham tweet. He says he has not heard from Latham. “I do not expect to hear from him. I do not expect an apology from him… I hope he's okay. The comments that he made are obviously not comments of a well person.” pic.twitter.com/a7Wt3HiEDE
— Tamsin Rose (@tamsinroses) March 30, 2023
Greenwich will seek to progress major reforms for the LGBTQ+ community in NSW during this term of parliament and has sought support for them from the new premier, Chris Minns, when they spoke on Thursday.
“I spoke to him about how I really want to work with his government to address outstanding LGBTQI law reform and that’s something that we are going to do together,” he said.
“We know that Labor has already committed to a ban on conversion practices and I’m looking forward to working with the government towards a review of the Anti-Discrimination Act and changes in the Anti-Discrimination Act.”
Greenwich said he had not heard from Latham and has not called on him to resign nor apologise because he does not want to give him more of a platform.
“I don’t want to give him another soapbox for him to pretend to be a victim when he seeks to victimise people,” he said. “I hope he’s reflecting on the comments that he has made.”
He added that he hoped Latham was OK, noting that they were “not comments of a well person”.
Late on Thursday afternoon Hanson posted a video to social media decrying the comments and insisting Latham should apologise to voters.
“I want you to know that I don’t condone them [the comments] and neither do my members of parliament or party associates,” she said. “I think they are disgusting.”
Hanson tried to contact Latham multiple times on Thursday, but had not been able to get through.
Latham, a former federal Labor leader, had served four years of his eight-year term as a state upper house MP but used a loophole at this year’s election that allowed him to resign and rerun at the top of the ticket in the hopes of increasing One Nation’s representation in the chamber.
At this stage, it appears he will be re-elected but the One Nation vote did not grow. The makeup of the upper house will be finalised next month.
The newly appointed environment minister, Penny Sharpe, was “physically sickened” by the comments.
The prime minister condemned the comment by Latham as “hateful speech”.
“I am concerned that with social media we seem to have a circumstance whereby people would say things through various applications they’d never say to someone face to face and we know that can be very hurtful and it can have drastic consequences,” Albanese said.
Last year an independent report into bullying, harassment and sexual misconduct in NSW parliament workplaces conducted by the former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick found bullying was a significant issue.
Greenwich said he was looking forward to assisting in the implementation of the report’s recommendations.
Latham has not responded to request for comment.
