Antoinette Lattouf: Ex-ABC head Ita Buttrose wanted anti-Israeli journo to 'get COVID'

A push by senior ABC figures including then-chair Ita Buttrose to get rid of a journalist who expressed anti-Israeli views resulted in the presenter receiving death threats and needing to hire private security, a court has been told.

Antoinette Lattouf was recruited by the public broadcaster to fill a five-day timeslot on the Mornings show on ABC Radio Sydney in December 2023.

She lasted three days on air before being let go after a barrage of complaints to the ABC regarding past comments she had made about the conflict in Gaza and claimed anti-Semitic chants made at rallies in Sydney.

Lattouf has sued the ABC in the Federal Court, claiming unfair dismissal.

Her barrister Oshie Fagir told a hearing on Monday that after the “shocking and humiliating” sacking, his client received death threats and was forced to hire her own security.

Ms Buttrose, then-ABC managing director David Anderson and chief content officer Chris Oliver-Taylor had discussed how to get rid of Lattouf after a concerted campaign from a pro-Israel lobbying group, Mr Fagir said.

“Has Antoinette been replaced? I’m over getting emails about her,” Ms Buttrose wrote in one email.

“Why can’t she come down with flu or COVID or a stomach upset? We owe her nothing.”

An initial ABC investigation found Lattouf did not breach the broadcaster’s code of conduct, but the three senior executives also conducted their own investigation, Justice Darryl Rangiah heard.

Mr Anderson said she should take a managed exit at the end of the five-day shift, agreeing with Mr Oliver-Taylor’s opinion there would be “phenomenal blowback” if she was fired.

Lattouf was dismissed that same day after reposting, without comment, an Instagram post from Human Rights Watch about starvation in Gaza being used by the Israeli government as a “tool of war”.

The ABC had reported on the same claims in the days beforehand.

The journalist was told she had breached the broadcaster’s social media policy because the post called into question the organisation’s impartiality.

On Monday, she sat supported by her husband Danny in the court’s public gallery, which was filled with onlookers, including some seated on the floor.

Lattouf said in court documents she opposed Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, supported Palestinian human rights and believed the media should report on the conflict accurately and impartially.

The case brought up profoundly important questions such as freedom of political expression, the independence of the national broadcaster and the ability of powerful lobbying groups to stymie discussion, Mr Fagir said.

The names of nine individuals who made complaints against her have been suppressed for 10 years to protect their personal safety.

The ABC is accused of failing to comply with its own processes and breaching the enterprise agreement by terminating Lattouf’s employment based on her political opinions and race.

Mr Oliver-Taylor’s claims that Lattouf was fired because she breached a direction she was given to avoid posting about Israel and Gaza were dismissed by Mr Fagir.

“It might be thought to be unusual that an employer would defend a claim of discrimination by arguing it had one rule for Ms Lattouf and another for everyone else,” the barrister said.

She is seeking penalties against the ABC and damages.

In its defence, the ABC said it did not terminate Lattouf’s employment but rather it ended after the five days due to the “effluxion of time”.

The broadcaster did not require the journalist to work on the last two days as a casual presenter under conditions of her contract, it said.

The hearing continues.