Two of Australia’s top female barristers have denied being engaged by Mark Latham’s ex-girlfriend to deal with the ongoing fallout over her toxic relationship with the NSW independent MP.
Nathalie Matthews claimed in a text message to Daily Mail Australia on Monday morning she was now being represented by defamation specialist Sue Chrysanthou SC and top prosecutor turned criminal defence barrister Margaret Cunneen SC.
However both lawyers have told Daily Mail Australia they are not working for Ms Matthews.
Ms Chrysanthou has acted for television presenter Lisa Wilkinson, billionaires Lachlan Murdoch and Gina Rinehart, Academy Award-winner Geoffrey Rush and former radio broadcaster Alan Jones.
Her political clients have included Victorian state Liberal MP Moira Deeming and One Nation senator Pauline Hanson – Latham’s leader when he was still a member of her political party.
Ms Cunneen is a former deputy senior Crown prosecutor who has regularly appeared in high-profile cases, particularly sexual assault matters, since embarking on private practice in 2019.
Ms Chrysanthou told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday she was not acting for Ms Matthews ‘and my chambers has no record of any such brief’.
Ms Cunneen said she had been offered the Matthews case but declined because she was too busy.
Two of Australia’s top female barristers have denied being engaged by Mark Latham’s ex-girlfriend Nathalie Matthews (above) to represent her during the ongoing fallout over her toxic relationship with the NSW independent MP
Ms Matthews, 37, claims Latham, 64, inflicted ‘a sustained pattern’ of psychological, financial and emotional abuse over almost three years.
She is seeking an apprehended violence order against the former federal Labor leader, alleging he committed vile acts ‘including defecating on me before sex and refusing to let me wash’.
Latham’s lawyer Zali Burrows served WiseTech global billionaire Richard White and Ms Matthews with subpoenas related to the AVO application on Friday.
The subpoena requested emails, text messages, and OnlyFans direct messages between Mr White and Ms Matthews, who connected on LinkedIn in 2023.
Mr White is not accused of any wrongdoing and this publication is not suggesting Mr White and Ms Matthews engaged in a sexual relationship, only that Latham joked about her performing a sex act on the businessman.
Daily Mail Australia revealed Ms Matthews’ past as an OnlyFans content creator last week. She posted graphic images and videos of herself under the suggestive name Bondi C** Sl** from 2019 to 2023.
Ms Matthews declined to comment on her OnlyFans past but her previous lawyer told Daily Mail Australia her client ‘has been subjected to character assassination, reputational damage and trial by media’.
Sexually explicit WhatsApp messages between Latham and Ms Matthews were made public by The Daily Telegraph last week.
Nathalie Matthews claimed in a text message to Daily Mail Australia on Monday morning she was now being represented by defamation specialist Sue Chrysanthou SC, pictured with Lisa Wilkinson
Latham told Daily Mail Australia the outlet’s reproduction of the messages was ‘not accurate’.
The messages included a series of lewd exchanges on February 20, 2025, during parliamentary sitting hours.
‘Very hard thinking about you,’ Latham wrote to Ms Matthews shortly after 11am that day, before following up with a series of suggestive emojis.
‘Need badly to taste you,’ he wrote that afternoon, alongside a tongue emoji.
‘Made it back for first vote after dinner,’ Latham wrote at 8.38pm.
Having generally limited his comments to posts on X or interviews on radio station 2SM, Latham directly addressed the unfolding sex scandal in a press conference on Saturday.
Latham said what he has called his ‘situationship’ with Ms Matthews ended on May 27 after the Australian Turf Club members voted against the sale of Rosehill racecourse.
Both of them are racing enthusiasts and Latham claimed that night Ms Matthews was covered in mud when she allegedly confronted him.
‘This was like something from World War Z,’ he said.
Ms Matthews claims Latham (above) inflicted ‘a sustained pattern’ of psychological, financial and emotional abuse against her for almost three years
‘[But] one thing’s abundantly clear – what we had for over two years was a sexed-up, consensual, open arrangement between adults with a fair bit of other contacts, such as fun days of the races, thrown in. I didn’t make any moral judgment about her.’
Latham went on to say the pair shared a consensual relationship, adding that ‘probably 95 per cent of the things she’s complaining about, she initiated’.
‘So the media disease here… is to take this stuff which is not rational, not true, from someone who… is obviously not thinking clearly about anything and exploit her for these salacious smutty stories that you run about someone’s sex life,’ he said.
Latham did not deny accusations he had sex with Ms Matthews in his parliamentary office, saying people could ‘write whatever they like’.
‘Members of parliament are allowed to run their own office,’ Latham said.
‘These are not matters of public interest… but the truth is, members of parliament have privilege for whatever happens in their office. It is their own domain.’
Latham said the subpoenas requesting communications between Mr White and Ms Matthews had not been intended to intimidate her, as she had alleged.
Instead, Latham insisted he wanted access to those communications to test Ms Matthews’ allegations that he had made her have sex with other men.
Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting the abuse claims against Latham are true, only that they have been alleged by Ms Matthews.
