Holmes a Court launches defamation suit against tabloids over alleged Nazi reference

The climate activist is suing The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, and is considering suing Dave Sharma, who accused him of using a ‘sickening’ Holocaust slur

Holmes a Court mulling defamation suit against media outlets and Sharma over Nazi reference (Age)
Climate change activist Simon Holmes a Court has launched a defamation action against The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail and is considering suing Liberal MP Dave Sharma, who accused the wealthy backer of independent candidates of using a “sickening” Holocaust slur.

The dispute centres on a tweet published by Holmes a Court on Tuesday morning.

Anticipating John Howard’s arrival in Melbourne to campaign in the seat of Kooyong, Holmes a Court outlined the former prime minister’s record on climate change and referred to him as the “angel of death”.

This was the nickname of Nazi officer and physician Josef Mengele, who performed deadly experiments on Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz. Holmes a Court denies he was referring to Mengele.

“This is an offensive slur and Mr Holmes a Court must immediately apologise,” Sharma said in The Daily Telegraph, whose political editor, James Morrow, published a story about it

Accusation of Nazi slur prompts (another) furious fight in Kooyong (Age)

Photo: Simon Holmes a Court addressing the National Press Club earlier this year (Alex Ellingshausen)