The ABC has been ordered to pay a fine of $150,000 to journalist and presenter Antoinette Lattouf for her unlawful termination in 2023.
The penalty is for breaching the Fair Work Act and the ABC’s enterprise agreement when it unlawfully terminated Lattouf for holding a political opinion opposing the Israeli military campaign in Gaza.
The court’s judgement found the broadcaster had “abjectly surrendered” to pro-Israel lobbyists and “let down the Australian public badly”.
On Wednesday, Justice Daryl Rangiah ordered the ABC to pay Lattouf $150,000 within 28 days. This penalty comes after a previous order to pay Lattouf $70,000 in compensation.
Previously, the Federal Court heard Lattouf’s five-day radio presenting contract in Sydney was terminated by the ABC after she shared a Human Rights Watch post about starvation being used as a tool of war in Gaza to her personal Instagram account.
Justice Rangiah found the broadcaster’s decision was made to appease pro-Israel lobbyists behind a campaign of complaints.
“The ABC’s response was to surrender to the lobbyists’ political campaign by sacrificing Ms Lattouf. It did so for spurious reasons and without giving Ms Lattouf the opportunity to defend herself,” said Justice Rangiah.
The ABC had admitted it acted unlawfully and submitted that it should pay between $37,560 and $56,340.
Before the judgement on the $150,000 penalty was announced, Lattouff had posted to social media that her fight in court was “never about money”, but rather, has “always been about accountability”.
“To date ABC has spent well over two million dollars of taxpayer money fighting me,” Lattouf wrote.
“Whatever the penalty, for me this was never about money – it’s always been about accountability and the integrity of the information our public broadcaster gives us.”
“I hope the ABC takes this opportunity to restore credibility, regain trust, and re-establish integrity, because our democracy depends on a strong fourth estate.”