Friday, 7 February 2025
Arab Council Australia is appalled by ABC Managing Director David Anderson’s failure to acknowledge the existence of a Lebanese people as a racial group during the Federal Court trial of Lattouf v ABC.

Arab Council Australia is appalled by ABC Managing Director David Anderson’s failure to acknowledge the existence of a Lebanese people as a racial group during the Federal Court trial of Lattouf v ABC.
When questioned about recognising the Lebanese race, Anderson said:
“I don’t necessarily have an opinion on it. I don’t – I haven’t formed a view as to whether there is or there isn’t.”
Even more disturbing was the ABC’s legal defence, which contested the very existence of an Arab or Lebanese race:
"Whether there is a Lebanese, Arab, or Middle Eastern 'race' is a complex multi-faceted question of fact."
This dangerous statement is now on the public record and not only belittles our identity but attempts to erase it altogether.
This revelation lays bare the ABC’s systemic racism and active erasure of Arab people from Australia’s public narrative. As a taxpayer-funded institution—supported by Lebanese-Australian citizens—the ABC’s stance is an outright insult to our community and the broader Arab population in this country.
A December 2024 statistical analysis by Dr Richard Bean revealed that on ABC’s flagship programs, Israeli guests were featured more than twice as often as Palestinian guests over the past 14 months. Further, it was found that guests supporting Israel were almost universally permitted to make “lurid and unverified claims without being challenged” in contrast to the Palestinian guests.
For years, Lebanese and Arabic-speaking communities in Australia have condemned the ABC’s pattern of biased and racially charged coverage. This issue has worsened in the wake of Israel’s Genocide in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon. And now the ABC has taken the decision to question our very existence as a legal tactic in a case that should never have had to go to court in the first place.
Further, Anderson’s reckless statement that a social media post by Ms. Lattouf that referred to the "illegal occupation of Palestine" was “anti-Semitic hatred” is beyond the pale. Arab Council Australia reminds the ABC that in July 2024 the International Court of Justice ruled unequivocally that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza was illegal. This dangerous error of fact by the Managing Director of the ABC reveals a deep-seated bias in the ABC’s reporting on one of the world’s most urgent human rights crises.
Arab Council Australia demands immediate, decisive action to address this shameful failure:
• An independent inquiry into the ABC’s independence from outside interference, editorial bias, systemic racism, and failure to uphold its duty to the public.
• Immediate intervention by the Minister for Communications to hold the ABC accountable for its failure to maintain journalistic integrity and impartiality.
• A public apology from the ABC Board for its blatant disregard of the Lebanese and Arab community.
• Concrete reforms to dismantle the ABC’s monocultural leadership and ensure genuine diversity at all levels.
The ABC cannot claim to represent all Australians while actively undermining the existence of a significant part of the Australian community. The ABC owes it to its audience to ensure that it adheres to the principles of journalistic integrity and avoidance of bias.
END

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