Police raided a home on the NSW Mid North Coast this morning over alleged threats to controversial journalist and presenter Antoinette Lattouf.
Police raided a home on the NSW Mid North Coast this morning over alleged threats to controversial journalist and presenter Antoinette Lattouf.
By Clare Sibthorpe and Perry Duffin
February 18, 2025 — 1.30pm
A man in his 60s has been charged over an allegedly threatening email sent to freelance journalist and presenter Antoinette Lattouf as a result of a counter-terrorism investigation.
“Following an investigation by the Counter-Terrorism and Special Tactics Command’s Security Investigations Unit, a search warrant was executed at a home in Lake Cathie, south of Port Macquarie, just before 7am today,” a statement from police read.
“The occupant, a 61-year-old man, was arrested and taken to Port Macquarie Police Station where he was charged with use carriage service to menace, harass or offend.”
The 61-year-old man was granted conditional bail to face Port Macquarie Local Court on March 5.
Lattouf is in the midst of a high-profile unlawful termination suit against the ABC, claiming the public broadcaster bowed to pressure from pro-Israel lobbyists when standing her down during a five-day fill-in stint on ABC Radio Sydney’s Mornings program in December 2023.
In an Instagram caption posted on Tuesday afternoon, alongside a selfie standing outside Burwood Police Station, Lattouf explained that she received a “harassing, racially charged email from a man I’d never met” late last year.
“It wasn’t even the most vile or threatening message I’d received, even though it called for violence and harm,” she wrote.
“But I was exhausted. Frustrated. And I thought: I shouldn’t have to cop this. Enough.”
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Lattouf said she was about to block and delete the email like she had done many times before, but that day, she was “done”, so she reported it.
She said that months later, the NSW Police hate crimes unit called and had identified him as a man in his 60s from regional NSW.
“A few days later, at the police station, I hesitated. Should I go through with this? Was I scared enough? Unsafe enough? Was I worthy of police resources? Women are conditioned to endure hate and harassment. Women of colour, even more so,” she wrote.
“Maybe he’d had a few beers. Maybe he was having a bad day. Maybe he thought it was funny. Maybe, just maybe, he has a bit of a crush on me and this was his weird way of showing it.”
She was persuaded by a comment made by the sergeant about how men who are violent to women almost always start online.
“And the man was arrested today. Turns out he was also targeting others like me online and he’ll front court next month,” Lattouf wrote.
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“The alleged offence? Using a carriage service to menace, harass, or cause offence. Maximum penalty: three years in prison.
“Moral of the story: I totally get why a bloke in his 60s would be into me – excellent taste, obvs. But maybe next time, try a less criminally unhinged way of showing it. Allegedly. Etc etc.”
Lattouf told her followers that if they’re “copping this abusive shit online, report it”.
“You shouldn’t have to put up with it. We shouldn’t normalise it. And as for police resources? L’Oréal it up, babes – yep, you’re worth it.”
While in the witness box at the Federal Court earlier this month, Lattouf detailed the public abuse she had faced following her sacking.
She spoke of the heavy toll the saga had on her health, causing her to become paranoid, use sleeping pills and drink more heavily.
The high-profile lawsuit centres around Lattouf being told not to return to work three days into a five-day casual contract as a fill-in Mornings presenter.
She alleges she was unlawfully terminated because of her political opinions about the Israel-Gaza war, which were not articulated on radio but on her social media accounts, as well as because of her race or national extraction as a woman of Lebanese and Arab and Middle Eastern descent.
The ABC took Lattouf off air after she shared a post critical of Israel from non-governmental organisation Human Rights Watch on Instagram on December 19, 2023. She added the words: “HRW reporting starvation as a tool of war.”
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She claims the ABC bowed to pressure from pro-Israel lobbyists in removing her from air. The broadcaster had received complaints about her appointment as a fill-in presenter even before the December 19 post, the court heard.
The ABC argues it did not terminate Ms Lattouf’s contract and her casual employment contract allowed them to take the action they did. They deny taking her off air due to her political stance.
The court will hear closing submissions on February 27.
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Clare Sibthorpe is a crime reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via Twitter or email.
Perry Duffin is a crime reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via Twitter or email.
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