A 70-year-old man could be jailed for 10 years over a letter he allegedly sent to homosexual Sydney MP Alex Greenwich.
The letter, which resembled a greeting card, was allegedly mailed to Mr Greenwich’s office at NSW Parliament House on October 4 last year, and was seized for forensic examination by police who then opened an investigation, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
NSW Police on Friday arrested a man, 70, at a home in Penshurst in Sydney’s south and charged him with stalking or intimidating with intent to cause fear of physical or mental harm (punishable by up to five years in jail), as well as dealing in identification information with the intention of committing an indictable offence (punishable by up to 10 years in jail).
The letter allegedly began by referring to Mr Greenwich’s public clashes with former One Nation MP Mark Latham, and said a controversial tweet by Mr Latham made Mr Greenwich “cry” because he is a “defect” and “not a man, nor a woman”.
“The world was a safer and better place when you faggots were still in the closet. AIDS didn’t kill enough of you,” the letter allegedly said.
“I hope Latham and other real men of Australia, like me, force you to do more than cry.”
Mr Greenwich, who is suing Mr Latham for defamation over the tweet allegedly referenced in the letter, said the letter proved NSW needed to pass his equality bill, which includes legislation to make “outing” a homosexual a domestic violence offence.
“I’m a pretty privileged gay man who lives in a supportive community, and if I’m getting this type of threatening hate, I can’t imagine what the experience of a young trans person in suburban or rural NSW would be,” he told the publication.
Mr Latham has refused to apologise for the tweet, and has since quit Pauline Hanson’s One Nation to sit as an independent.
