Mark Latham denies horror abuse claims made by former partner

Warning: Graphic content

Rogue independent NSW MP Mark Latham has denied shocking domestic abuse claims made by his former long-term partner and Liberal Party member Nathalie Matthews, which included accusations he forced her into degrading sexual acts.

The stunning allegations, which were reported on Monday night by The Australian, are detailed in documents filed with the NSW Local Court, with Matthews claiming that Latham engaged in a “sustained pattern” of abuse, including emotional, psychological and financial manipulation.

Nathalie Matthews and Mark Latham in 2024.Credit: Instagram

Latham denied all accusations to The Australian. He was also contacted for comment by this masthead but did not respond. Matthews was also contacted for comment.

In a statement posted on X late on Monday night, Latham said Matthews’ claims were “comical and ridiculous”, adding he had “scores of documents to show that” and would rely on those documents to defend himself.

“As the old saying goes, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” he wrote.

The News Corp publication reported that the documents claim Latham pressured Matthews to have sex with other people and participate in depraved acts, and drove his car at her.

According to The Australian, the application documents detail serious allegations of “degrading” sexual acts, and claims that Matthews has been in a “constant state of fear and hypervigilance” since returning from overseas in June “due to the defendant’s pattern of harassment and ­intimidation following previous separations”.

The former federal Labor leader Mark Latham is now an independent member of the NSW Legislative Council. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

The application alleges Latham engaged in vile acts, “including defecating on me before sex and refusing to let me wash, forcing degrading sexual acts, pressuring me to engage in sexual acts with others, demanding I call him ‘master’, telling me I was his property, and repeatedly telling me that my only value to him was for sex to demean and control me.”

This masthead does not suggest that the claims against Latham are true, just that they have been made and will be contested in court.

Matthews, who, according to her LinkedIn profile, runs an e-commerce global logistics firm based in Dubai, Perth and Sydney, is seeking an order preventing Latham from going within 100 metres of her.

The Australian reported Matthews had taken the allegations to NSW Police, but they have not laid any ­charges or applied for an order on her behalf. NSW Police were contacted for comment on Monday night.

Mark Latham and Nathalie Matthews at Randwick Racecourse last year.Credit: James Brickwood

Matthews is a member of the Liberals and ran for the party at the Sutherland Shire Council election in 2021. She is seeking an initial interim order, which will be heard later this month, and a final two-year order.

She gave permission for The Australian to identify her but refused to comment further.

Latham, a former federal Labor leader and one-time One Nation MP, has been locked in a bitter legal battle with independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich after Latham defamed Greenwich in an offensive tweet. Latham was ordered to pay $140,000 in costs.

Greenwich has also brought a homosexual vilification and workplace sexual harassment claim against Latham before the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

As well as targeting Greenwich, Latham has long attacked domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty, whose 11-year-old son Luke was murdered by her estranged partner. In a podcast in 2016, he accused Batty and feminists of “demonising men” and making those who hit women “feel worse about themselves”.

Late last month, Premier Chris Minns called Latham one of the state’s most “shameful bigots”.

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