ABC staff furious over broadcaster’s legal position on ‘race’

Hundreds of ABC staff have demanded the broadcaster disavow its legal position that Antoinette Lattouf had failed to prove that the Lebanese, Arab or Middle Eastern races exist and launch an inquiry into the independence of the public broadcaster.

While Lattouf has alleged in her unlawful termination case against the ABC that her political stance and race had played a role in the public broadcaster terminating her contract, the ABC has argued in federal court that the existence of a Lebanese, Arab or Middle Eastern “race” must be proven as fact.

Lattouf arrives at the Federal Court with her legal team on Thursday.Credit: Kate Geraghty

Staff are outraged over the ABC’s position, this masthead was told, and on Thursday, around 250 union staff passed a resolution demanding explicit acceptance from the ABC that it will not require proof it is possible to be racist to a Lebanese, Arab or Middle Eastern person, as well as offering an apology for making this argument in court.

“Whether there is a Lebanese, Arab, or Middle Eastern ‘race’ is a complex multi-faceted question of fact. The facts must be proved,” the ABC’s application, published by the Federal Court, states.

“Ms Lattouf has led no evidence of any relevant fact [...]. There is therefore no basis on which to find, as a fact, that there is a Lebanese, Arab, or Middle Eastern ‘race’ within the meaning of s 772(1)(f),” the document argues. 772 (1) 9f) refers to discrimination in unlawful termination claims.

The ABC’s union house committee said as a public broadcaster, it must act as a model litigant, demanding an immediate disavowal of this position and acknowledge, without qualification, that Lebanese, Arab and Middle-Eastern people can be subject to racial discrimination.

ABC staff have also called for an independent inquiry to examine the ABC’s independence and how pressure may have inappropriately influenced the broadcaster, including the attempts to sack Emma Alberici and Andrew Probyn in 2018, and how external pressure allegedly influenced the sacking of Lattouf.

A statement from the ABC’s union house committee said the inquiry should be conducted within 12 months and produce a public report, while also asking for a full apology to Lattouf, staff and the public for allowing external pressure to influence its independence and hard-won trust.

There were seven other resolutions passed, including an acknowledgement from chair Kim Williams that the events relating to Lattouf’s sacking, which occurred before his time, were unacceptable, and asking incoming managing director Hugh Marks to meet regularly with the MEAA union house committee.

The ABC was approached for comment.

Prior to the meeting, some journalists spoke to this masthead about the hurt the stance has caused.

It is a “slap in the face, an insult and a betrayal” of every Arab journalist who contributes to the ABC, an Arab ABC journalist said, speaking on condition of background due to their fears for their employment.

The race defence is ridiculous, factually incorrect and their approach had demonstrated it to be a “true beast”, devoid of humanity, another culturally and linguistically diverse ABC journalist said.

Anderson was pressed on this during his cross-examination on Thursday, stating he has not formed a view whether the Lebanese race exists.

“If somebody tells me they’re Lebanese, I don’t question whether they mean it’s race or national identity. So I don’t question whether somebody says that they are Lebanese by way of race, I don’t question that,” Anderson said.

On Thursday morning, after proceedings had resumed, the ABC’s chief people officer, Deena Amorelli, wrote to all staff to clarify the broadcaster’s position on race, in correspondence seen by this masthead.

“On Monday’s, Ms Lattouf’s legal team made submissions that may have been interpreted, by some staff and commentators, as suggesting that the ABC denies that certain races exist. I want to assure you that the ABC is not of that view.

“The ABC denies that any action was taken against Ms Lattouf because of her political opinion, race or national extraction. The ABC has only raised the issue that, in these proceedings, the legal onus lies with Ms Lattouf to establish her claim about race,” Amorelli said.

In October, the results of an independent review into racism at the ABC was released, finding overwhelming evidence of racism at the broadcaster, with staff subjected to racism from both external individuals and organisations in connection with their work.

Among the recommendations, the Listen Loudly, Act Strongly review, led by Dr Terri Janke, said the ABC must improve its responses to public attacks on staff, diverse representation in its leadership and management, recruitment processes and pathways, and conduct regular pay audits.

A statement from the ABC’s union house committee said the broadcaster’s legal position destroys any hope it intends to address the systemic racism identified in the review.

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