Allegedly sacked former ABC presenter Antoinette Lattouf has appeared at one other listening to on the Truthful Work Fee in her ongoing unfair dismissal case, hours earlier than the nationwide broadcaster’s managing director was grilled at Senate estimates over the problem.
Lattouf alleges she was unfairly dismissed by the ABC in December final yr after taking to Instagram to repost Human Rights Watch reporting on the battle in Israel and Palestine. Lattouf alleges her employment was terminated on the grounds of her political opinion, and that her race was a contributing issue.
On Tuesday morning the fee heard arguments about whether or not the ABC ought to have to provide any communications referring to Lattouf between managing director David Anderson, chair Ita Buttrose and members of the general public, in addition to communications between the broadcaster and journalists at The Australian, which printed an article on the matter inside an hour of Lattouf herself being informed to not return for the ultimate two shifts of her contract. Lattouf’s staff, led by Maurice Blackburn employment legislation principal Josh Bornstein and Sydney barrister Christopher Parkin, additionally sought communications from Sydney silk Robert Goot, who’s alleged to have “agitated for Lattouf’s dismissal”, to the ABC.
Goot was contacted for remark however didn’t reply in time for publication.
Crikey attended a sparsely populated listening to in Sydney’s inner-east, with a lot of the town’s media reporting cohort presumed to be throughout city at Lisa Wilkinson’s prices declare listening to towards Community Ten within the Bruce Lehrmann defamation matter. Solely three different reporters joined Crikey within the public gallery, the place some entertaining pre-trial water cooler dialog was overheard.
With the ultimate episode of the ABC’s Nemesis airing in a single day, attorneys within the case had been discussing the Coalition’s best hits and misses of the 2010s when the dialog turned to former prime minister Tony Abbott.
“Oh my god, the onion” is a hell of a factor to listen to earlier than “please stand” in a landmark employment legislation case.
Thus started an hour or so of authorized argument, with the ABC arguing that Lattouf’s case was mired in “pure subjectivity”.
Ian Neil SC, appearing for Aunty, submitted that the termination of employment was a authorized act, assessed “solely objectively”. At one level, Neil referred to arguments put ahead for Lattouf as “legally incoherent”.
In doing so, Neil cited WorkPac v Rossato, a landmark 2021 Excessive Court docket choice in regards to the nature of informal employment — a case by which Neil and Parkin labored collectively showing for WorkPac because the profitable appellant.
Lattouf’s staff, in response, argued that the contents of the alleged conferences and documentation between ABC administration had been materials to the fee having the ability to make a discovering with regard to the unfair dismissal declare. Lattouf’s staff argued that discussions round her employment had been “manifestly probative” as to a discovering made on the details of the case, and pointed to the pace with which The Australian was in a position to publish its story on the case. Lattouf’s staff additionally argued that the factual matrix of occasions within the case manifested an “intention to not be sure by the [employment] contract” on behalf of the ABC.
Lattouf informed media exterior the Truthful Work Fee that the ABC was looking for to “suppress … the airing of the details”.
“What we’ve seen as we speak is the ABC spending tens of hundreds of taxpayer {dollars} attempting to cover the reality,” she stated.
Shortly afterwards, Anderson was grilled by Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi, sitting on the Senate Atmosphere and Communications Laws Committee.
Faruqi requested Anderson immediately whether or not he had “ever heard of any journalist being terminated for sharing a truth”, in reference to Lattouf’s social media actions previous to her alleged dismissal from the broadcaster. Anderson wouldn’t touch upon the continued case, looking for to submit a public curiosity immunity declare with respect to the road of questioning.
Faruqi additional pressed Anderson, asking why he was “going to cover away [and] not reply the query”.
Anderson responded that for him to comment on the matter or reply to Faruqi’s line of questioning would “prejudice the [commission] course of because it ought to really occur”.
ABC editorial director Gavin Fang, showing alongside Anderson, informed the committee that the broadcaster had acquired 3,000 complaints since October 7 associated to the battle in Israel, most referring to bias. Fang informed the committee 58% of these complaints charged the ABC with a pro-Israel bias, and 42% with a pro-Palestinian bias.