Antoinette Lattouf vs. the ABC: Tense scenes as Ita Buttrose takes centre stage in blockbuster court case

Former ABC chair and high-profile media identity Ita Buttrose is being grilled in the Federal Court over the role she played in the scandal-plagued sacking of Antoinette Lattouf as an ABC fill-in radio host.

The one-time magazine editor and TV personality arrived at the court house, in Sydney’s inner-city, in a wheelchair mid-morning on Tuesday as the public broadcaster’s former Sydney radio boss Steve Ahern was still giving evidence about the controversy.

Buttrose, who turned 83 last month, eventually took the stand, while remaining in her wheelchair, just before 2.50pm, before being sworn in.

The court has previously heard she had strong views about Lattouf’s short, week-long stint as a presenter on the ABC’s morning radio show in Sydney.

Ita Buttrose is struggling to hear as she is quizzed about her former role as the ABC’s chair.

Cradling her chin on her hands, she is cocking her head to one side and is trying to make out some of the questions being put to her.

‘I’m sorry, I’m having trouble hearing what your asking,’ she says as as she is question by Lattouf’s barrister Philip Boncardo.

She is keeping her answers short and succinct and has refused Boncardo’s suggestion to ‘take a stab’ at a question about procedural fairness she said she was unable to answer.

The man responsible for personally sacking Antoinette Lattouf from her week-long casual stint on ABC radio has recountered how the encounter played out.

Former ABC Sydney radio boss Steve Ahern agreed, under questioning in the Federal Court, that he tracked down Lattouf after her third hosting shift on the station’s morning show and asked her to come into an office for a private chat before she left the building for the day.

During the meeting, Lattouf was told she was being let go because she had reposted a message from Human Rights Watch about the Israel-Gaze conflict on her social media account.

Ahern agreed that Lattouf claimed she had been given the go-ahead to post about the war provided the information came from a reputable source.

He told her that the post risked calling the ABC’s impartiality into question.

However, he denied that he accused Lattouf of breaching the public broadcaster’s social media guidelines by posting about the conflict.

He then effectively told Lattouf she could ‘return to your desk, get your bag and leave’ – though maintained it was not in those specific words.

The legal tussel between Antoinette Lattouf and her one-time employers, the ABC, has resumed in the Federal Court in Sydney.

We’re expected to hear the exec who hired her for a week of casual, fill-in shifts back in December 2023, Steve Ahern, face one final battering of questions before being excused in about 20 minutes.

Then we will move right along to the day’s main event when former ABC chair and major Aussie media identity Ita Buttrose takes the stand to give evidence.

Steve Ahern, the ABC exec who hired Antoinette Lattouf for a week of casual hosting shifts on the public broadcaster’s Sydney radio station, was also given the unenviable task of firing her after his bosses made the decision she had to go.

This despite the fact, he insists, he didn’t fully comprehend the context of the reasons she was being sacked.

Before letting Lattouf know her services would no longer be required, Ahern wargamed what to say in the meeting in a series of notes.

He was asked about a number of lines from the key talking points he had mapped out, including one bullet point suggesting, ‘It’s not in the ABC’s interest to keep you on air.’

‘I did write that – I didn’t say it,’ he says.

He says he was not across the all the detail of the decision to fire Lattouf and refrained from telling her it was because she had breached ABC policies and guidelines during the December 20, 2023 meeting because he did not what to say the wrong thing.

The Federal Court has now adjourned for lunch.

Ahern’s testimony will resume at 2.15pm and is expected to run for about 20 minutes before former ABC chair Ita Buttrose is called to give evidence.

Ahern insists he was informed by the ABC’s director of audio Ben Latimer that the decision to sack Lattouf had been made by the broadcaster’s senior executives.

‘He said we’ve decided Antoinette should come off air, something to that effect,’ Ahern says.

‘I assumed it had been [as a result of] the further discussions that were going to take place after the Teams meeting.

‘But I knew from past conversations that those things were going up the line.

‘The decision had been made because Miss Lattouf had posted ssomething controversial about the Israel-Gaza war and had been asked not to.’

He says he did not know whether the ABC’s managing director, David Anderson, would have been consulted.

Ahern agreed a number of executives disagreed with the decision and thought, ‘for the sake of two days’, Lattouf should be allowed to remain on air.

Steve Ahern denies recommending that the ABC sack Antoinette Lattouf over concerns about her social media activitiy and personal views on the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Instead, he maintain he simply ‘agreed with the consensus that formed’ during a Microsoft Teams meeting with fellow executives on December 20, 2023, by saying ‘I guess we will have to take her off the air’.

‘It’s an agreement with a conversation, yes,’ the former ABC Sydney radio boss says.

‘I had agreed witth the consesus that was forming in the meeting… [but] I hadn’t made a recommendation.’

He earlier conceded he was aware that the ABC’s chief content office Chris Oliver-Taylor had raised questions about his ‘ill-informed’ decision to hire Lattouf and whether all appropriate pre-employment checks had been properly carried out.

However, at the time, he was unaware that the broadcaster’s managing director, David Anderson, was going to level allegations of serious misconduct at him over the appointment.

Steve Ahern is facing sustained question about whether Antoinette Lattouf was ‘directed’ to refrain from posting about the Israel-Gaze conflict on social media or whether it was simply ‘suggested…it would be wise’ for her to ‘keep a low profile’ and avoid posting anything controversial.

Although he concedes there is a difference between the two, Ahern maintains that anyone who had completed the ABC’s staff training would understand the implications of that ‘suggestion’.

Steve Ahern may be the one facing all the questions in court… but we’ve been getting plenty of queries about Lattouf’s latest fashion statement at Federal Court.

Apparently it’s a $800 number by leading designer Rebecca Vallance, for those wondering.

According to the online listing, the Augustine Midi is ‘a sophisticated and unique satin midi dress’ that boasts long sleeves ‘fitted to the elbow [which] then flows into voluminous shapes for added drama.’

As if there wasn’t enough drama looming today as it is.

Former ABC Sydney radio boss Steve Ahern is back on the stand and continuing to be grilled over the role he played in the hiring and firing of fill-in presenter Antoinette Lattouf at the public broadcaster.

Steve Ahern has faced a barrage of questions about whether Lattouf was really warned off posting anything about the Israel-Gaza conflict on her social media accounts.

The former ABC exec insists she was warned in the ‘late afternoon’ after completing the first of her five shifts.

The court has now adjourned for a 20-minute recess.

Outside the Federal Court, former chair Ita Battrose has arrived in a wheelchair during the break as she prepares to give evidence this afternoon.

The ABC executive who hired Antoinette Lattouf for a week of fill-in shifts on the public broadcaster’s Sydney radio station says he was instructed to warn her against posting ‘anything controversial about Israel and Gaza’ on her first day at work.

Steve Ahern says he was given the directive by former ABC chief content officer Chris Oliver-Taylor on Monday December 18, 2023.

He then asked ABC Radio Sydney content director Elizabeth Green whether Lattouf had been reminded to refrain from posting anything that could be seen as ‘not impartial’, and was assured that she had been.

‘I was asked by Chris Oliver-Taylor to make sure that she didn’t post anything about Israel-Gaza that was not impartial,’ he says.

‘I had a job to do and I did it.’

Former ABC Sydney radio boss Steve Ahern says that, although he wasn’t concerned about the content Lattouf’s personal social media posts, he was worried there could be a ‘perception of bias [by Lattouf] among the audience’.

‘My concern was not necessarily about what Antoinette had written but that there was a perception forming in the audience – or in the taxpayers of Australia – that there could be a perception of bias,’ he says.

Ahern says he formed that view after receiving three complaints from the public.

‘The ABC is very alive to the perception of audiences and the taxpayers of Australia in what is does,’ he says.

Ahern agreeds under questioning from Lattouf’s barrister Philip Boncardo that he started following the now sacked presenter on social media after receiving complaints about her posts.

After reviewing her account, he says he noticed she had being posting ‘views against Israel’s attack on Gaza’.

‘She expressed views that were supportive of the Palestinian cause,’ he says.

However, he admits he did not believe she was biased in relation to the conflict at that point in time.

Ahern tells the court there is an obligation for all ABC employees to refrain from making posts on their personal social media accounts that are ‘not impartial’.

Under the broadcaster’s social media policy, Ahern says such posts have the ability to damage the ABC’s reputation and credibility.

Steve Ahern tells court about 600,000 listerners tune into the ABC’s Sydney radio station each day, with the peak audience tuning in between 8.30am and 9am for the weekday morning show.

He agrees hundreds of thousands of people would have been listening while Lattouf filled in as morning show host.

The Antoinette Lattouf v ABC unlawful termination trial is underway in the Federal Court in Sydney.

Although Ita Buttrose will be the star witness on Tuesday, first up we will hear from former ABC Sydney radio boss Steve Ahern.

Ahern is the man who hired Lattouf to fill-in hosting the public broadcaster’s Sydney radio morning program for five days in December 2023.

She claims she was unlawfully sacked from the role after just three days.

Welcome to our live blog covering Antoinette Lattouf’s bombshell court case against the ABC.

It has been a week of dramatic revelations, but many eyes have been on Ms Lattouf’s fashion sense as the former journalist wowed in chic designer outfits and accessories worth thousands of dollars.

In what is expected to be an explosive day in the Federal Court, former ABC chair and high-profile media identity Ita Buttrose is set to be grilled today over her role in the controversial sacking of Antoinette Lattouf as an ABC fill-in radio host.

Buttrose arrived at the court in a wheelchair mid-morning as the ABC executive who hired Lattouf, former Sydney radio boss Steve Ahern, was still giving evidence ahead of her.