Buried in Justice Darryl Rangiah’s 185-page judgment that found the ABC breached the Fair Work Act in its termination of Antoinette Lattouf is a critical assessment of the behaviour of the broadcaster’s top management, including former chair Ita Buttrose.
Four of the key figures in Lattouf’s removal– Buttrose, the then managing director, David Anderson, former content chief Chris Oliver-Taylor and Sydney radio manager Steve Ahern – have since left the ABC.
But 18 months ago, they were among senior managers in a “a state of panic” after an “orchestrated campaign by pro-Israel lobbyists to have Ms Lattouf taken off air”, the federal court judge said.
Rangiah traced every text, email and internal discussion between multiple layers of ABC management in December 2023 and compared them with the evidence they gave in the seven-day trial, lifting the veil on decision-making at the public broadcaster. Some individuals came out better than others.
Buttrose, Rangiah said, “made clear her displeasure” at Lattouf’s appointment at the outset, forwarding email complaints from pro-Israel lobbyists to Oliver-Taylor. She demanded to know why an “activist” had been engaged in the first place, putting pressure on Oliver-Taylor to act, Rangiah found.
He said when Buttrose asked David Anderson: “Why can’t she come down with flu or Covid or a stomach upset?” the chair was expressing her “desire for Ms Lattouf to be taken off air immediately under the pretence of illness”. In the witness box, Buttrose claimed the expression was “just a face-saving idea”. When it came to her performance under cross-examination, Rangiah was not impressed.
“Ms Buttrose’s evidence under cross-examination was somewhat theatrical and difficult to follow at times,” he said. “She had a strong belief that Ms Lattouf was an activist who should have never been engaged by the ABC and she wanted Ms Lattouf gone as soon as possible.”
But while Buttrose’s forwarding of complaints about Lattouf placed pressure on Oliver-Taylor, Rangiah said that the chair did “not materially contribute” to the decision to take the journalist off air, finding that this was Oliver-Taylor’s decision alone.
In his assessment of Oliver-Taylor, Rangiah found some of his evidence about whether Lattouf was given a direction not to post about Gaza was “quite implausible”, ultimately finding that he does “not accept” this evidence and Lattouf was not given a direction.
At issue was whether Lattouf had been given a direction by her manager, Elizabeth Green, not to post on social media or just a suggestion to keep a low profile. Oliver-Taylor claimed in court that there was no difference between asking someone to do something and “directing” them.
When it came to the former managing director, Rangiah found Anderson “materially contributed” to Oliver-Taylor’s decision to remove Lattouf by “expressing his opinion that Ms Lattouf had antisemitic views” after inspecting her social media accounts.
Lower down the chain, Rangiah was critical of evidence given by Ahern, as well as radio chief Ben Latimer and editorial adviser Simon Melkman – the latter two for “their lack of recollection” about what was said at a Teams meeting before Lattouf was taken off air.
“The evidence of Mr Latimer, Mr Ahern and Mr Melkman under cross-examination left me with substantial doubts as to the reliability and credibility of their evidence on controversial matters,” Rangiah said.
“I reject their evidence asserting that Mr Oliver-Taylor was not informed in the Teams Meeting that Ms Green had not given Ms Lattouf a direction and had only given her advice.”
The judge was definitive in his assessment of what caused the “panic” on the executive floor and why emails were flying between them.
“Ms Buttrose and Mr Anderson received multiple letters and emails complaining about Ms Lattouf, which sought to pressure the ABC to not employ her and/or terminate her employment for reasons including her political opinion and/or race and/or national extraction,” he found.
“He [Anderson] considered that it was of critical importance for the ABC to have a high degree of actual and perceived impartiality in relation to the Israel/Gaza war.
“The complaints, as they developed over the ensuing days, were evidently a coordinated campaign to pressure the ABC into taking Ms Lattouf off air or ceasing to employ her.”
Of Lattouf’s direct manager, Green, Rangiah was highly complimentary, finding “no doubt about the reliability and accuracy” of her evidence.
“I accept Ms Green to be a reliable witness and accept her account of all her discussions with Mr Ahern,” he said.
“In summary, Ms Green made it explicitly clear she had not given any direction to Ms Lattouf and had merely provided advice.”
