Manipulation, intimidation and ‘sustained’ abuse: The claims against Mark Latham

5 hours ago 3

The former girlfriend of maverick MP Mark Latham has claimed the pair broke up five times over the course of a year, with him “manipulating and intimidating” her to reunite before she eventually went to police to seek an apprehended violence order against the former Labor leader.

Nathalie Matthews, a Liberal Party member, has made stunning allegations against Latham in documents filed with the NSW Local Court, claiming that the former One Nation MP engaged in a “sustained pattern” of abuse, including emotional, psychological and financial manipulation.

Mark Latham and Nathalie Matthews pictured last year.

Her AVO application claims Latham pressured Matthews to have sex with other people and participate in depraved acts, and drove his car at her, with his side mirror hitting her and “causing a bruise”.

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, only that they have been made and will be contested in court. Latham has denied the accusations.

NSW Labor leader in the upper house Penny Sharpe said the allegations were “disturbing and frankly disgusting” and questioned whether the Greens and Liberals should be working with Latham on proposed legislation.

Mark Latham leaves Royal Randwick racecourse after a vote over the future of the Rosehill racecourse on May 27.

“I would make this point, the Labor government has been calling out Mark Latham for several months now in relation to his behaviour on a whole range of different things,” she said.

After breaking up on May 27, the day of the Rosehill Racecourse vote Latham was involved in, Matthews said she travelled overseas between June 5 and June 22, which “provided temporary relief due to physical distance”, according to the documents.

“Since returning, I have been in a constant state of fear and hypervigilance due to the defendant’s patterns of harassment and intimidation following previous separations,” the documents say.

The documents say shortly after that final break-up, Latham sent “further threatening and coercive messages”, accused her of aggression and called her a “monster”.

NSW Labor leader in the upper house Penny Sharpe said the allegations were distrubing.

Matthews claims Latham told her he had gone to his GP to “create a record claiming distress” and that he had “approached NSW parliamentary security (given he is currently a member of the NSW Legislative Council) with unspecified allegations about me”.

“I believe this was intended to intimidate me, control the narrative, and deter me from seeking help, consistent with his ongoing tactics throughout the relationship,” the documents say.

The pair have been known to dine in the parliament’s Strangers’ Dining Room together and Matthews attended the celebration of the bicentenary of the upper house in October, where King Charles was the guest of honour. She also attended Opposition Leader Mark Speakman’s budget reply event in June.

NSW parliamentary security has been contacted for comment.

The documents also allege that Latham carried out “physical violence” during the relationship, including pushing Matthews against a wall and throwing a plate at her.

There were also claims of emotional abuse “including constant put-downs comparing me unfavourably to other women, acting as if he would harm himself to manipulate me, monitoring my devices without consent, and systematically undermining my confidence to control and isolate me”.

Matthews also made claims in the documents that Latham had sought loans of “$20,000 on four occasions without prompt repayment” from her, with sources close to her confirming the money was to cover the costs related to a court battle with Sydney MP Alex Greenwich.

Latham has been locked in a bitter legal fight with Greenwich after Latham defamed Greenwich in an offensive tweet. Latham was ordered to pay $140,000 in costs.

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 on Monday night. Latham was again contacted for comment on Tuesday.

Matthews, who 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, which first reported the details, said Matthews had taken the allegations to NSW Police.

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.

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