Mark Latham has broken his silence after posting a homophobic tweet about a gay MP – saying he will “never apologise, never explain”.
The controversial NSW One Nation leader fired back on Thursday when independent MP Alex Greenwich said he was “disgusting human being”.
Mr Latham replied on Twitter, saying: “Disgusting? How does that compare with sticking your d*** up a bloke’s a*** and covering it with s***?”
The outspoken politician was widely panned for his remark and his One Nation boss Pauline Hanson demanded he apologise.
But Mr Latham looks unlikely to do so.
One Nation MP Mark Latham. Picture by Julian Andrews
‘Never apologise, never explain’ turns out to be right @UnHerdhttps://t.co/r5hjG8gneQ
— Real Mark Latham (@RealMarkLatham) March 31, 2023
He appeared to break his silence on the matter on Friday evening, linking to an article from 2019 about Donald Trump on how leaders should “never apologise, never explain”.
Mr Greenwich hit back at Mr Latham with a classy response on Thursday evening.
He posted a picture of himself alongside his husband on Twitter and wrote: “For those wondering how I’m doing after Latham’s homophobic attacks today, I’m fine and I’m more motivated than ever to deliver long overdue LGBTIQA+ reforms… and I have the most handsome husband.”
Mr Latham’s tweet remained online for around three hours before it was deleted.
The exchange comes after hundreds of Christian protesters targeted LGBTQIA+ activists outside a church where Mr Latham gave a speech at last Tuesday.
The ‘Christian Lives Matter’ group were seen on video throwing bottles and rocks at a small gathering of LGBTQIA+ protesters who were opposing Mr Latham.
Mr Greenwich said that Mr Latham’s views “belong in the past” but wished to move on from them.
For those wondering how I’m doing after Latham’s homophobic attacks today, I’m fine and I’m more motivated than ever to deliver long overdue LGBTIQA+ reforms… and I have the most handsome husband. pic.twitter.com/MRA8pI6xE5
— Alex Greenwich MP (@AlexGreenwich) March 30, 2023
“I understand this tweet has been taken down, and I don’t intend to engage with the matter further,” he said in a statement.
“My focus in the next parliament will be working with the majority of members who support the LGBTQ community to progress important reforms, remove discrimination and make it clear these views belong in the past.”
The tweets have also been slammed by One Nation’s leader Pauline Hanson.
“I want you to know that I don’t condone them and neither do my members of parliament or party associates, I think they are disgusting,” Ms Hanson said in a video shared to her own Twitter account.
“I’ve actually tried to ring Mark a couple of times, to no avail, and I have clearly sent a text message to him, telling him my views and also I’ve asked him to give the people an apology.”