ABC should never have hired ‘activist’ Lattouf, Ita Buttrose declares
Former ABC chair Ita Buttrose has declared Antoinette Lattouf an activist who was ‘critical of Israel’ and should never have been hired by the public broadcaster, in a feisty Federal Court appearance.
Former ABC chair Ita Buttrose has declared Antoinette Lattouf an activist who was “critical of Israel” and should never have been hired by the public broadcaster, in a feisty Federal Court appearance in which she denied having any major involvement in the dismissal of the controversial stand-in radio host.
In an extraordinary showdown between Ms Buttrose and Lattouf’s barrister, the senior media executive emphatically rejected repeated suggestions that she bowed to a co-ordinated campaign of complaints to dismiss Lattouf, and said she could not replace anyone.
The court also heard Ms Buttrose received a lengthy email from staff-appointed ABC board member and senior journalist Laura Tingle in which she raised her “deep concern” that Lattouf was sacked and the “reputational damage” it would cause.
Ms Buttrose entered the witness box after lunch on Tuesday to give evidence in the mammoth unlawful dismissal case brought by Lattouf against the ABC, in which she claims she was fired during her five-day, fill-in radio contract because of her political opinion on the Middle East.
Lattouf’s legal team alleges the ABC bowed to the pressure of a co-ordinated WhatsApp campaign from a group of Jewish lawyers to force her off the air because of her stance on the Israel-Gaza war.
During cross-examination, Ms Buttrose said she did not infer that the complaints were part of a coordinated attack on Lattouf – despite many being near-identical – but said she feared listeners would think the ABC was being impartial.
“I observed when reading the letters that the letter writers felt we were not being impartial and I was concerned about what that would do for the ABC’s reputation and 702, the radio station,” Ms Buttrose said.
She said the number of email complaints received about Lattouf was “small” compared to those received for the coronation of King Charles. “We got a lot more for King Charles,” she said.
Ms Buttrose told the court she forwarded the complaints to then-chief content officer Christopher Oliver-Taylor at the request of outdoing managing director David Anderson so Mr Oliver-Taylor could “learn the folly of what happens if we don’t check the references of someone we’ve hired”.
Throughout the cross-examination on Tuesday, Ms Buttrose appeared annoyed with Lattouf’s barrister, Philip Boncardo, often answering his questions with the same one-word response: “So?”
She audibly chuckled when asked about an email she sent to Mr Anderson during Lattouf’s contract asking why she could not just “come down with flu or Covid or a stomach upset?”
“I thought it might have been an idea for Antoinette,” she told the court. “It’s an easy way to save face.”
She added Mr Anderson “did not pick up on the suggestion so we did not continue the discussion”. She rejected a suggestion the response was “antagonistic” or “hostile” to Lattouf.
In a separate email, Ms Buttrose had asked Mr Anderson whether Lattouf was going to be replaced. She defended the email on Tuesday, saying she “didn’t want her gone” but was simply “asking for an update”.
Later, she added: “It’s a perfectly legitimate query from the chair to the managing director.”
Ms Buttrose rejected a suggestion that she was getting “sick and tired” of getting complaints and therefore wanted Lattouf replaced. “No I didn’t want that – I can’t replace anybody. The chair can’t do that,” she said.
The court heard Ms Buttrose believed Lattouf was an “activist” who “had a view” on the Israel-Gaza war and was “critical of Israel”. She – said she believed Lattouf was not honest when she was appointed to the role.
“I don’t think she told (head of capital city networks) Steve Ahern or whoever that she was an activist,” she said.
Mr Boncardo read aloud an email Tingle sent to Ms Buttrose after Lattouf was dismissed, in which she raised concerns about the damage the decision had caused. In the email, which was discussing an appearance for Ms Buttrose at the National Press Club, Tingle wrote: “Finally, unrelated, I have to register my deep concern about the public debate that is unfolding over Antoinette Lattouf. I’m sure you would share those concerns but feel I have to note them.
“I made some inquiries yesterday and it is still not at all clear to me what led to her being removed or who took the decision. Whether or not she breached the social media code, the fact that someone, apparently senior, briefed The Australian on it and I suspect verballed your actual role in any action taken on it is almost as spectacular an error in judgment as a social media breach it leaves Antoinette and the ABC suffering reputational damage.”
Ms Buttrose questioned the relevance of the email. “It doesn’t matter what Laura says to me,” she said.
Judge Darryl Rangiah also appeared frustrated with parts of Mr Boncardo’s questioning, saying he had raised various documents without explaining their relevance. “So what? What’s the relevance of that?” Justice Rangiah said at one point during the cross-examination. “You need to be direct Mr Boncardo; otherwise you waste time.”
On another occasion during Mr Boncardo’s questioning, Justice Rangiah interjected and said: “To use the witness’s question: So?”
Ms Buttrose said she did not become aware that Lattouf had been sacked until after a Christmas lunch with Mr Anderson.
The pair were dining at Luke’s Kitchen in the Sydney CBD on December 20, 2023, when Mr Anderson missed a number of phone calls from Mr Oliver-Taylor who had made the decision to dismiss Lattouf.
Ms Buttrose said that going into lunch she had expected Lattouf to finish out her contract, but while the pair were eating “the situation changed”.
The hearing is expected to conclude on Wednesday.
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