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Maverick MP Mark Latham and his former partner have defied hopes of a settlement and will instead go head-to-head in court over claims he subjected her to ongoing harassment.
Nathalie May Matthews, 38, applied for a special remand violence order to protect her from the one-time federal Labor opposition leader after accusing him of years of manipulation and constant harassment.
The allegations are vehemently denied by Latham, who now sits as an independent in NSW’s upper house. He was not charged with any crime.
After months of negotiations, Matthews’ lawyer suggested in October that the dispute would likely be resolved.
But the deal did not go through as hoped, Daniel Wakim told Sydney Downing Center Local Court on Tuesday.
“Negotiations were held on foot. Unfortunately, they could not resolve the issue,” he said.
Latham and Matthews will now face each other at a three-day hearing in May to determine whether an AVO should be granted.
The court was told that all documents had been submitted for the trial to continue.
It comes after Latham claimed on social media that the AVO application against him had been withdrawn.
“I was supposed to be in Sydney Local Court tomorrow for the final installment of the private AVO application against me,” he wrote on October 28.
“But now it has been removed from the list and the application has been withdrawn… That’s the end of it.”
The MP has been involved in several recent scandals, including photographing female colleagues without their knowledge, for which he has apologized.
Calls for his official portrait to be removed from Labour’s federal party room have resulted in the addition of a sign declaring he has been banned from the party for life.
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AAP
