A high-profile political drama has unfolded in New South Wales parliament, where Nathalie Matthews, the former partner of ex-Labor and One Nation NSW leader Mark Latham, has issued a scathing full-throated denial of a series of explosive claims made against her by her ex-partner, including allegations of insider trading, a drunken drug-fueled assault, and unethical financial arrangements.
Matthews, a one-time Liberal Party local council candidate who is currently fighting separate, unrelated revenge porn criminal charges (to which she has already pleaded not guilty), laid out her rebuttal in a formally tabled citizens’ reply last week, pushing back against what she describes as false, damaging defamation that has gutted her professional standing.
According to Matthews’ submission, Latham invoked her name a staggering 44 separate times during a November 12 debate in the NSW Legislative Council, where he leveled multiple incendiary accusations. Among these claims were assertions that she had accepted a $145,000 payment and confidential insider trading tips from Richard White, the billionaire tech co-founder of logistics software firm WiseTech, that she had carried out a “zombie-like drunken and drugged attack” that ended with her punching Latham in the head following their breakup, that she had engaged in a sexual relationship with businessman Paul Byrne, and that Byrne had covered the cost of her London flight.
Matthews has rejected every single one of these claims point-by-point. “I never punched Mr Latham and I was not under the influence of any prescribed drug or illicit narcotic,” she stated in her reply. She further denied any romantic or financial connection to Byrne, refuting the claims of a paid flight entirely. On the insider trading allegations, she made clear she has never received the $145,000 payment from White, never been given confidential market information by him, and has never received any correspondence or regulatory notice from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) related to insider trading claims.
The former Liberal candidate emphasized that Latham’s false remarks have triggered widespread negative media coverage that has eroded public trust in her character and left her professional reputation irreparably harmed, to date.
The NSW Parliament Privileges Committee ultimately voted to release Matthews’ full rebuttal, though the move was not without opposition. Independent Member of the Legislative Council Rod Roberts issued a dissenting opinion, arguing that the submission was “frivolous and vexatious and it contains inaccuracies.”
This public back-and-forth is only the latest chapter in a long-running bitter public dispute between the two figures. Last year, Matthews applied for and received an apprehended violence order against Latham, alleging he had committed serious domestic abuse including defecating on her – all claims Latham has repeatedly and categorically denied.