Antoinette Lattouf thanks MILLIONS of Australians for supporting her as she sues for being sacked by the ABC three days into a five-day casual summer job

Antoinette Lattouf has thanked the ‘millions’ of Australians standing by her in her unlawful termination case against the ABC.

Lattouf had been filling in as host for the national broadcaster’s ABC Sydney Mornings radio show when she was sacked on December 20.

She’d been in the role for three days and had two days to go when she was terminated after breaching the ABC’s social media policy in relation to posts about the conflict in the Middle East.

Lattouf had shared a post linked to a human rights report that accused the Israelis of ‘using starvation of civilians as a weapon of war in Gaza’. 

She subsequently launched a Fair Work claim, alleging she was fired over her political opinions and her Lebanese heritage.

The ABC and Lattouf met for a private Fair Work Commission hearing in Sydney on Thursday morning. 

Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Lattouf said while the matter is not yet resolved, she will continue to fight.

‘I’m willing and prepared to fight for as long as it takes and I want to take a moment to thank the millions of people around the country, so much support from around the country but also overseas,’ she said.

‘This is such an important case because it’s not just about me. It’s about freedom of speech, it’s about racism, it’s about the important role journalists play in truth telling, and it’s also about a fair, independent and robust ABC.’

Lattouf said she ‘loved’ the broadcaster and would always ‘advocate and fight’ for an ABC that would ‘inform and entertain the masses without fear or favour’.

The broadcaster has hit back at Lattouf’s claim and said it was ‘without merit’ and ‘fundamentally and entirely misconceived’.

The broadcaster claimed ‘any “political opinion” held by (Lattouf) was entirely irrelevant to (and played no part in) the decision by the ABC’, according to legal documents filed to Fair Work.

‘The ABC decided not to require (Lattouf) to perform the last two of her five shifts as a casual Presenter 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 a radio program on the “ABC Sydney” radio station,’ the filed legal defence stated.

The broadcaster’s response came shortly after it was revealed a coordinated campaign from Jewish lawyers had attempted to have Lattouf her sacked.   

Secret WhatsApp messages from a 156-strong Australian group called Lawyers for Israel revealed how they bombarded ABC chair Ita Buttrose with emails threatening legal action unless the presenter was fired. 

Antoinette Lattouf has thanked the ‘millions’ of Australians standing by her in her unlawful termination case against the ABC after she was sacked three days into the job

Lattouf, who is described in her Fair Work claim as a ‘multi‐award‐winning journalist, with many years’ experience in television, radio and podcast news and current affairs’, has so far raised almost $54,000 for her legal fight. 

The ABC’s defence also said: ‘The suggestion that the ABC took action against (Lattouf) on the basis of her race, national extraction or social origin is abhorrent.’

‘In any event, it appears that (Lattouf) is attempting to bring an unfair dismissal claim under the guise of an unlawful termination claim because she is not able to make an unfair dismissal claim.’

On Tuesday afternoon, around 80 ABC employees in the organisation’s Ultimo headquarters in Sydney reportedly threatened to stage a walkout over concerns of ‘outside interference’ and how it handled complaints against staff.

‘MEAA media members at the ABC today called on managing director David Anderson to urgently meet with staff and address growing concerns about outside interference, culturally unsafe management practices and to stand up for journalism without fear or favour,’ the union posted on X.

That same day, Lattouf shared – and later deleted – a post on her Instagram account from comedian Dan Ilic who wrote: ‘This saga will end up with Ita (Buttrose) and David Anderson resigning because they forgot what their job was.’

Lattouf, who is described in her Fair Work claim as a ‘multi‐award‐winning journalist, with many years’ experience in television, radio and podcast news and current affairs’, has so far raised almost $54,000 for her legal fight.