EXCLUSIVE
Marcia Langton sent a message to polarizing politician Mark Latham telling him he “deserves a slow, painful death” during a heated online exchange.
The message was sent via X, formerly Twitter, on March 10, 2018, and Professor Langton’s account has since been deleted.
The comment came to light on Wednesday amid a furore surrounding the prominent architect of Indigenous Voice to Parliament this week, after she was forced to deny calling No voters “racist and stupid”.
“You truly deserve a slow, painful death and humiliating obituaries,” Professor Langton wrote of Mr Latham.
She then gave two examples of “humiliating obituaries”: “Australia celebrates the death of a far-right white supremacist, homophobic asshole” and “Australians look forward to a life without hate.”
Mr Latham – whose own political career has been marred by controversy – hit back at Professor Langton, describing her as “the voice of left-wing compassion in Australia”.
“Indigenous people, university employees, brimming with identity,” he wrote.
The shocking message was sent via X, formerly Twitter, on March 10, 2018, and Professor Langton’s Twitter account has since been deleted.
Professor Langton is a member of government advisory groups on The Voice and co-author of an influential co-design report
“Political leaders say they are campaigning against online defamation, particularly in the education system. But this is guaranteed: nothing will happen to Professor Marcia Langton of the University of Melbourne for declaring that I “deserve a slow, painful death and humiliating obituaries”.
“If a white man said that about him, they would throw the book at him. One rule for the elites, a different rule for everyone else.
Mr Latham recently stood down from Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party to sit in the New South Wales state parliament as an independent. It follows widespread backlash after he made explicit and widely condemned comments about fellow parliamentarian Alex Greenwich.
Professor Langton was a prolific tweeter and had amassed more than 30,000 followers and 51,000 distinct tweets when she suddenly closed her account in early 2023.
It’s unclear what made her delete her account on the app after 13 years.
Professor Langton hit back on Wednesday and denied calling No voters “racist and stupid” following media reports.
Instead, she clarified that she was “explaining how the No campaign is using fear and lies to scare voters into voting No.”
Mr Latham – whose own political career has been marred by controversy – hit back at Professor Langton, describing her as “the voice of left-wing compassion in Australia”.
“The No campaign claims that our proposal in the referendum will create apartheid and so it is very important to answer people’s questions and explain exactly how this type of (campaign) works.”
“I absolutely deny it. There is a recording of what I said at the Bunbury meeting. And what I said is very clear.
Audio of the meeting reveals Professor Langton said: “Every time the No cases raise their arguments, if you start to dismantle them, you go back to basic racism – I’m sorry to say that’s where that it lands – or sheer stupidity.”
“If you look at any reputable fact checker, every one of them says no is essentially false, they’re lying to you.”
Hours after fiercely rejecting the article’s initial claims, a video of another panel discussion Professor Langton participated in in July was released.
On this occasion, she said: “The wave of racist nonsense is confined to a minority of Australians. Ordinary Australians think: “yes, of course I vote for The Voice”. And that would be, say, 48 to 49 percent.
“Then there are the No voters. I hope they are around 20 percent. And they are the ones who spread racism.
A No campaign source told Daily Mail Australia: “Yes campaigners have spent years making controversial and inflammatory comments.
“They are now in full damage control mode.”
Professor Langtons’ involvement in Indigenous activism began after she spotted her aunt in town at the height of the Vote Yes campaign for the 1967 referendum (pictured, Professor Langton at a 1982 rally) .
Over the years, Professor Langton has made no secret of his experiences with racism in Australia.
In an interview in 2012Professor Langton recalled that people “sat in front of her and cried” before the reconciliation, assuring her that they had never been racist.
But she said just telling him that was racist in itself.
“Every Indigenous person who met with believers in reconciliation was singled out as some sort of confessional,” she said at the time.
“And you can’t tell them at that point, because they’re too upset, ‘well why are you telling me, don’t you think it’s an act of racism to tell me? ?
“Why don’t you go tell someone in your family about it?” What can I do with all this information about you?
In the same interview, Professor Langton categorically ruled out the form of Indigenous constitutional recognition proposed by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.
Mr Dutton would like to see a referendum to recognize First Australians in the Constitution, without the proposed advisory body, now known as Voice to Parliament.
Professor Langton then insisted she was not calling No voters racist or stupid, insisting she was using those terms to refer to the arguments of No campaigners.
“A preamble (to the constitution) that does nothing other than recognize Indigenous people would leave other Australians behind, so it would be a hopeless proposition,” she said.
“If we only did that, the constitutional experts we consulted believe that we would undermine the Constitution and that, in any case, we would have no chance of success.”
And in a later interview with former Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Professor Langton said she frequently noticed that people were “dehumanizing me perhaps unconsciously”.
“Dehumanize me, degenerate me. They cannot untangle the racism, sexism and fundamental hatred towards me.
Professor Langton stressed that it was “not right to treat people like this”, but added that “African women are treated worse than me”.
