Judge slams ABC for caving to Pro-Israel Lobby against Antoinette Lattouf

Journalist Antoinette Lattouf has won a landmark victory against the ABC on Wednesday 24 September 2025 with the Federal Court ordering the national broadcaster to pay her a penalty of $150,000 within 28 days, on top of the $70,000 compensation she was awarded in June.

Federal Court Justice Darryl Rangiah delivered a stinging rebuke of the ABC condemning its unlawful termination of Lattouf’s Sydney radio contract after it capitulated to an orchestrated campaign by pro-Israel lobbyists.

Federal Court Justice Darryl Rangiah.

Rangiah said the broadcaster had “surrender [ed] to the lobbyists’ political campaign by sacrificing Ms Lattouf,” describing the conduct as “spurious” and a betrayal of both its independence and the Australian public.

“The ABC is seen as an important public institution at a time when trustworthy sources of news and information are increasingly hard to find,” he said. “However, the ABC’s conduct in surrendering to the demands of the pro-Israel lobbyists … ignored the equally important statutory obligation of maintaining its independence and integrity. The ABC let down the Australian public badly when it abjectly surrendered the rights of its employee … to appease a lobby group.”

The case arose after Lattouf was removed midway through a five-day stint as host of ABC Radio Sydney’s Mornings program in December 2023, just 48 hours after pro-Israel groups mobilised complaints about her appointment.

Her supposed offence was a social media repost of a Human Rights Watch report alleging Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza — a report the ABC itself had covered.

Justice Rangiah found that ABC management acted in a “state of panic” to quell the complaints, which he described as an orchestrated lobbying campaign, and unlawfully terminated her contract for political reasons.

Rangiah stressed that the ABC’s decision was made without due process, noting that Lattouf was never given the chance to respond to allegations against her.

“It did so for spurious reasons and without giving Ms Lattouf the opportunity to defend herself,” he wrote. He also criticised the broadcaster’s “limited contrition for the broader effects of its unlawful actions” and its failure to investigate a leak of her dismissal to the press.

He said a significant penalty was necessary to ensure the ABC would not “capitulate in the face of political pressure” in future.

Lattouf welcomed the decision, calling it a matter of accountability rather than financial gain.

“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,” she said.

She also condemned the ABC for spending “well over $2 million of taxpayer money fighting me” despite rejecting an offer last year to settle the case for just $85,000.

The broadcaster initially argued that any penalty should be capped at about $56,000, a figure Justice Rangiah dismissed. He noted the ABC was exposed to a theoretical maximum penalty of $375,600 and imposed a sanction of sufficient weight to deter future breaches.

ABC managing director Hugh Marks acknowledged the decision and conceded that the broadcaster “was not handled in line with our values and expectations, and Ms Lattouf, our staff and the public were let down.”

In a statement, he reiterated a “sincere apology” to Lattouf, adding that the ABC must “reflect on the lessons learnt” to restore public trust.

The decision highlights the fragility of editorial independence when faced with political lobbying and marks a major test of Australia’s public broadcaster.

For Lattouf, the case represents both a personal vindication and a broader warning about undue influence. As her barrister Philip Boncardo argued in court, dismissing a journalist for her political opinion “is conduct antithetical to a liberal democracy such as Australia.”

Justice Rangiah’s ruling makes clear that surrendering to pressure from lobby groups cannot override the ABC’s duty to independence, integrity, and the Australian people.