‘Has she been replaced yet?’ ABC content chief details Buttrose pressure

The ABC’s former content chief found himself “between a rock and a hard place” after former chair Ita Buttrose sent a flurry of complaints about Antoinette Lattouf to him directly, while the organisation’s editorial policy expert advised him she had not breached any guidelines.

“Complaints were coming into me directly from the chair’s office,” Chris Oliver-Taylor told the court during an astonishing day of cross-examination, saying he had “no idea why” Buttrose was telling complainants that he was dealing with the Lattouf matter directly.

ABC chief content officer Christopher Oliver-Taylor arrives at the Federal Court on Friday.Credit: Nikki Short

“I think the way that this was exercised through the chair writing to me and naming me, was I felt, unusual,” Oliver-Taylor said.

During the proceedings on Friday, Oliver-Taylor confirmed that ABC’s acting editorial director Simon Melkman had assured him that Lattouf had not broken any of the ABC’s social media or editorial policies.

He insisted he had not formed a view whether the content posted on Lattouf’s social media was impartial or not, whether it breached any of the ABC’s editorial or social media policies, and that he was not qualified to make this judgment, as he was not an expert on the subject of the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Oliver-Taylor has been positioned as the sole decision-maker by the ABC in its defence of the case brought by Lattouf, while the freelance journalist’s legal team has argued both Buttrose and outgoing managing director David Anderson were also decision makers.

The ABC’s former content chief, who announced his resignation in January, was the sole witness on the fifth day of proceedings in Lattouf’s unlawful termination case against the ABC in the Federal Court. His appearance was critiqued by Lattouf’s barrister Oshie Fagir throughout, at one point describing his evidence as “shambolic”, and asking if he had been coached or practised his lines.

He admitted there was “pressure from above”, after Buttrose had told him “we’ll keep getting these complaints until Antoinette leaves”.

He said he “didn’t like” a number of the comments made by Buttrose, which included correspondence asking “has she been replaced yet?” as well as pushing back on suggestions she should be taken off-air prematurely. Oliver-Taylor suggested the blowback from such a move would be “phenomenal”.

Lattouf arrives at Federal Court on Friday alongside her barrister Philip Boncardo.Credit: Nikki Short

The chronological order of events during the week Lattouf was employed on a casual contract were put to Oliver-Taylor during his appearance in the witness box, just as they had been put to both Lattouf and Anderson earlier this week.

Late on Friday afternoon, it emerged Oliver-Taylor had taken a call from Sophie Elsworth, a journalist at The Australian, regarding Lattouf, less than an hour before the decision to take her off-air was made. Asked why this detail was not mentioned in his affidavit, Oliver-Taylor said he did not believe it to be relevant, telling the journalist “no comment”.

He later told Anderson he wanted to “beat” the News Corp masthead to the story, to avoid the perception they had bowed to pressure from The Australian and sacked her.

Despite this, he did not respond to an email from Lattouf looking for further clarification over her dismissal, nor did he respond to an email from the ABC’s head of communications, Nick Leys, who asked the executive for clarification over which policy Lattouf was alleged to have breached.

He also ignored advice from Melkman to consult the ABC’s “People and Culture” team, the court heard. Melkman had advised Oliver-Taylor and other executives to “tread carefully” when considering whether to take disciplinary action over Lattouf’s posts.

As the day drew close to an end, Oliver-Taylor eventually told the court that Lattouf’s Instagram post quoting a Human Rights Watch report had breached the ABC’s personal use of social media guidelines in his view.

Two additional days have been set aside to hear from the remaining witnesses, which include Melkman, audio boss Ben Latimer, former ABC radio executive Steve Ahern, Lattouf’s then-line manager Elizabeth Green and Buttrose.

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