The ex-husband of Mark Latham’s former partner has been charged with harassment and menacing behaviour just days after he said he had nothing to do with his ex-wife.
Ross Matthews pleaded not guilty to a charge of ‘using a carriage service to menace/harass/offend’ in Sydney‘s Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday.
The charge is believed to relate to Latham’s porn star ex, Nathalie Matthews. He did not appear in court personally and was represented by his lawyer.
Police have Ms Matthews has also applied to the court for an apprehended violence (AVO) restraining order against him, which the court heard was associated to the criminal charge.
The legal twist comes just a week after Matthews insisted he no longer had anything to do with his former wife since their split three years ago.
Matthews spoke out after Ms Matthews accused Latham of ‘a sustained pattern’ of psychological, financial and emotional abuse during their relationship.
‘Please stop messaging me,’ Ross Matthews posted on X after the scandal erupted. ‘I don’t speak to Nathalie and do not care. Thank you.’
The Matthews married in 2018 but the marriage reportedly ended in 2022, before Ms Matthews began dating former federal Labor Party leader, Latham.
Ross and Nathalie Matthews tied the knot in 2018
Mark Latham (right) is pictured alongside his ex-partner Nathalie Matthews (left) at celebrity hangout restaurant Mimi’s in Coogee, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs
Ross Matthews issued a statement on social media, distancing himself from his former spouse
Ms Matthews now also has a separate AVO application in court against Latham.
She claimed Latham proposed to her during their affair – but he has dismissed the relationship as just a ‘situationship’, despite explicit texts to her also now emerging.
‘The big news is I had a private life. I had a sex life and I’ve got to say it was fantastic,’ he said on Wednesday.
UK-born Mr Matthews had previously posted proudly about his marriage to his former wife on social media.
‘Six months since I woke up with a killer hangover and still managed to make the best decision I have ever made!’ he wrote in the wake of their wedding.
In another post he added: ‘Happy one year! I cannot believe how fast a year can go!
‘I would be lying if I said it’s been the best year of my life – in fact it’s easily been the worst but it is in bad times that picking the right life partner is of the most importance!
‘I just could not imagine doing life without you, love you always and here’s to many years to come!’
The former couple married in a traditional Catholic ceremony
The pair lived in Cronulla and were active members of the Liberal Party
It’s understood the pair, who were living in Cronulla in Sydney’s south, were both Liberal Party members, and Ms Matthews stood as a candidate at the 2021 Sutherland Shire Council election.
On Wednesday, Latham alleged the couple were still actually married while he was seeing Ms Matthews.
‘Now The Australian is ‘reporting’ that I proposed to Nathalie Matthews in May last year,’ he posted to X.
‘They missed the joke: she was still married to Ross Matthews, and maybe still is to this day.’
The former Labor leader has categorically denied he ‘abuses women’ and insisted all his dealings with Ms Matthews were entirely consensual.
In an interview with Chris Smith on 2SM, he did not deny sending lurid texts to Ms Matthews from the floor of state parliament.
But he added: ‘If I’m the only person in Australia who in a work environment engaged in a bit of playful sex talk with their partner, then I’ll buy everyone a lottery ticket tomorrow.’
He said the AVO case against him was being brought privately after NSW Police chose to not pursue the allegations.
Nathalie Matthews has now applied for an AVO restraining order against Latham, claiming he abused her and made her perform degrading sex acts
Mark Latham and Nathalie Matthews pictured in 2023 Everest Carnival
‘There is a court case pending because she’s lodged a private AVO application,’ he said.
‘She tried to get an AVO with the police… I think that tells you a lot about the substance of the matter.
‘But I can say in relation to that, just about all the things she’s complaining about, she initiated in consensual arrangements.’
The domestic violence order filed in the NSW Local Court accuses Latham of subjecting his ex-partner to ‘a sustained pattern’ of psychological, financial, and emotional abuse over almost three years, according to details seen by The Australian.
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’.
Leaked WhatsApp messages reported by The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday allegedly show interactions between Latham and his former partner.
Latham told Daily Mail Australia the outlet’s reproduction of the messages was ‘not accurate’. It is also not suggested the claims of abusive behaviour are substantiated, only that the allegations have been made.
The leaked WhatsApp messages include a series of lewd exchanges on February 20, 2025 during parliamentary sitting hours.
Ross and Nathalie Matthews wed seven years ago but reportedly split in 2022
‘Very hard thinking about you,’ he wrote to Ms Matthews shortly after 11am, before following up with a series of suggestive emojis.
‘Need badly to taste you,’ he wrote that afternoon, alongside an emoji of a tongue.
‘Made it back for first vote after dinner,’ he said at 8.38pm.
Latham told the outlet the communications did not impact his work.
The tranche of leaked messages includes more explicit exchanges – too graphic to publish – spanning back as far as October last year.
On several occasions, Latham is referred to as ‘master’.
He said Ms Matthews sent him images during parliamentary sittings, ‘seeking a response’, and that he could not describe them due to ‘an abundance of caution about the revenge porn laws’.
‘I don’t think responding to a consensual partner on a private, intimate matter in any way has reduced my workload, which I would match up against any other member in the place,’ he told The Daily Telegraph.
Mark Latham (left) claims Nathalie Matthews (right) sent him images during parliamentary sittings, ‘seeking a response’, and that he could not describe them due to ‘revenge porn laws’
Ms Matthews’ allegations against the politician were detailed in court documents filed with NSW Local Court.
Latham has denied the allegations which he described as ‘comically false and ridiculous’ in a post to X on Monday night.
He said he had ‘scores of documents’ to support his claims and that he would rely on those documents to defend himself.
‘As the old saying goes, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,’ he wrote.
Ms Matthews, who runs an e-commerce global logistics firm based in Dubai, Perth and Sydney, has applied for an interim order barring Latham from coming within 100 metres of her.
She cited ‘ongoing, reasonable fear of harassment, intimidation, and potential harm’.
Her application accuses the former Labor leader of throwing a dinner plate at her, forcing her to call him ‘master’, and pressuring her to have sex with others.
Ms Matthews’ filing, reported by The Australian, also alleges Latham prevented her from cleaning up after defecating on her before sex and telling her she was ‘property’, and telling her that her only value to him was for sex to ‘demean and control’ her.
Pictured is a message exchange between the pair (Latham’s messages in blue)
Latham claimed the texting did not impact his work
She also alleged ‘physical violence’ incidents, including pushing her against walls, forcing her out a door, throwing a plate at her during a row. She also claimed he drove at her with his car, hit her with the side mirror and caused a bruise.
Latham is further accused of ‘systematically undermining’ Ms Matthews to ‘control and isolate’ her by comparing her ‘unfavourably to other women and acting as if he would ‘harm himself’ to manipulate her.
Ms Matthews accuses Latham of forcing her to cover the cost of holidays abroad ‘under duress’, making her purchase expensive goods, and coercing her regarding her father’s will for his benefit.
She claims she experienced ‘constant fear and hyper-vigilance’ since her arrival home from a June trip abroad, alleging all past break-ups with Latham featured a repeated ‘pattern of harassment and intimidation’.
She alleges: ‘The defendant has held intimate photos and videos of me, and I have been afraid he would expose them to shame and control me if I attempted to leave or resist his demands.’
Latham denied all accusations to The Australian.
‘Nothing has been served on me nor has anyone contacted me,’ he told the newspaper.
‘I haven’t had anything to do with her (Ms Matthews) since 27 May, so nearly seven weeks ago. I ended the ‘situationship’ that night for very good reason.’
The matter will be heard at Downing Centre Local Court on July 30.