At a national online meeting on January 22 attended by over 200 MEAA members, staff overwhelmingly passed a motion of “no-confidence” against the ABC’s leadership. Staff also warned that further action is possible if urgent action is not taken.
The move comes following the resignation of several high-profile journalists from the broadcaster during 2023 and this month. This includes the controversial termination of high-profile journalist, diversity advocate, and radio broadcaster Antoinette Lattouf on December 19. Lattouf alleges her contract was terminated in connection with her sharing of a social media post discussing findings from a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, which detailed the use of starvation as a tool of war abused by the Israeli government in Gaza. The ABC had already reported on HRW’s research a day earlier on December 18.
An investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald, published on January 16, revealed a chain of leaked messages from a WhatsApp group titled ‘Lawyers for Israel’, which the newspaper reported as a deliberate lobbying effort directed towards ABC Chair Ita Buttrose and David Anderson to terminate Lattouf’s employment. In response to the revelations, a committee of over 80 ABC staff and MEAA members threatened industrial action on January 17, unless Anderson returned from annual leave to address the allegations. In a mass email sent to all staff on January 17, Anderson rejected the claim of any outside influence on the ABC.
On January 18, Lattouf submitted a claim with the Australian labour rights tribunal, the Fair Work Commission. The submission alleges that she had been terminated after a warning by a manager about ABC’s social media standards. ABC refuted the claims and claimed Lattouf had been directed not to post on social media about “matters of controversy”. ABC has since reframed its positions, stating it did “not to require” Lattouf to perform the last two of her five shifts as a casual presenter of Sydney’s Mornings because she had “failed or refused to comply with directions that she not post on social media about matters of controversy during the short period she was presenting”.
Ita Buttrose spoke on behalf of the ABC board on January 23, after it passed a unanimous vote of confidence in support of David Anderson. “It is abhorrent and incorrect that people would suggest that he has shown a lack of support for independent journalism and journalists,” said the ABC Chair.
The current crisis follows multiple incidents where the national broadcaster has been criticised for its failure to support its Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, and culturally diverse staff. On January 12, ABC political reporter Nour Hardar resigned over the broadcaster’s failure to accommodate diversity and the ongoing coverage of Israel’s catastrophic assault on Gaza. In May 2023, veteran Wiradjuri journalist Stan Grant resigned following the ABC’s inaction against online racist harassment and abuse.
Acting MEAA Chief Executive Adam Portelli said: “The message from staff today is clear and simple: David Anderson must demonstrate that he will take the necessary steps to win back the confidence of staff and the trust of the Australian public. This is the result of a consistent pattern of behaviour by management when the ABC is under attack of buckling to outside pressure and leaving staff high and dry.[…] Journalists at the ABC – particularly First Nations people, and people from culturally diverse backgrounds – increasingly don’t feel safe at work; and the progress that has been made in diversifying the ABC has gone backwards. Management needs to act quickly to win that confidence back by putting the integrity of the ABC’s journalism above the impact of pressure from politicians, unaccountable lobby groups and big business.”
The IFJ said: “At all times, particularly in times of war and conflict, truth must not be the first casualty. Journalists must be able to report without fear of retribution from outside groups and must be protected and defended by those who employ them.”