Any apology from firebrand ex-Labor leader Mark Latham over a homophobic tweet targeting a rival MP could have been weaponised against him, his lawyers have argued.
Independent NSW MP Alex Greenwich was awarded $140,000 in damages in September 2024 after he successfully sued the former federal opposition leader.
Mr Latham was found to have defamed Mr Greenwich, who is gay and a prominent advocate for the LGBTQI community, in a tweet that explicitly described a sex act.
On Thursday, the parties returned to the Federal Court to argue about how much of Mr Greenwich’s resulting legal bill should be footed by Mr Latham.
Mr Greenwich’s barrister Matt Collins KC said Mr Latham should have to pay the full amount because he had refused a reasonable offer to settle for an apology, a retraction and $20,000.
Dr Collins said the offer hadn't called for a “grovelling or humiliating apology” or even an admission that his comments were defamatory, only that they caused distress.
But Mr Latham’s barrister Guy Reynolds SC said an apology towards a political rival could be used against his client for the rest of his career.
He said it was not unreasonable for Mr Latham to refuse the offer, which stipulated he apologise for the unacceptable threat of violence provoked by his comments and required him to disable social media reactions to his public show of regret.
Mr Latham's initial tweet exposed Mr Greenwich to a torrent of hateful abuse, the court was previously told.
He posted the comment in the lead-up to the 2023 state election in response to a post that quoted Mr Greenwich describing the former NSW One Nation leader as a “disgusting human being”.
Mr Reynolds claimed Mr Latham should only have to pay a quarter of Mr Greenwich’s legal costs because he had successfully argued separate comments to the Daily Telegraph were not defamatory.
However, Dr Collins said his client's lawsuit had primarily focused on the defamatory tweet and had not spent additional resources on that second element of the case.
He maintained Mr Greenwich’s legal costs should be covered because he was the “overwhelming winner” of the dispute.
Justice David O'Callaghan will hand down his decision on costs at a later date.
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