Bruce Lehrmann has admitted under cross-examination in his defamation trial that he lied twice in a letter to his boss and again in an interview he gave to Seven’s Spotlight program.
On the fourth day of proceedings he brought against the Ten Network and Lisa Wilkinson, Lehrmann’s varying accounts of what happened in the wake of his after-hours visit to Parliament House in 2019 came under intense scrutiny.
Lehrmann also agreed he had asked a friend to get him some cocaine because he had “spiralled” on the evening Brittany Higgins went public with an allegation of rape on The Project in 2021.
Lehrmann has denied raping Higgins and pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual intercourse without consent. His criminal trial was abandoned due to juror misconduct and the second did not proceed due to prosecutors’ fears for Higgins’ mental health.
Lehrmann admitted under cross examination in his defamation trial that he was not being truthful when he told his then-employer, Liberal minister Linda Reynolds, in 2019 that he had “retreated to Queensland to see my mother” and could not talk in person.
And he also lied about the reason he gave his employers for being in the office early on Saturday morning after a night of drinking in Canberra.
He said in the letter he had not told security he was entering Parliament House on official business but admitted that he did say he had been “requested to pick up some documents” after giving Reynolds’ name.
The court heard Reynolds’ chief of staff, Fiona Brown, had tried to speak to him and meet up with him to discuss a security breach but he had ignored her telephone calls and told her he was not in Canberra.
Reynolds and Brown fired Lehrmann for serious misconduct on 5 April 2019, because he accessed Parliament House office after hours in March along with a junior colleague Higgins.
Collins asked Lehrmann if he “understood it was important to be completely frank and truthful in his letter to Reynolds.
Lehrmann replied: “As best as I could recall, yes”.
Collins asked: “Here in a letter to the minister you’ve lied?”
Lehrmann replied: “Well, yes”.
Collins then asked: “What explanation do you give for that lie?”
Lehrmann replied: “There were plans back then to … [go to Queensland]; I can’t take myself back there to why”.
Lehrmann said his “headspace” was unclear about the allegations he was facing and he was “was probably trying to play it down”.
Collins: “You accept it’s not true?”
Lehrmann: “It would appear that way, yes”.
The timeline of when Lehrmann became aware of the rape allegation was explored by referring to his correspondence with friends and legal advisers in the lead-up to The Project broadcast.
Lehrmann denied he knew he was the alleged rapist when he read a news.com.au article by Samantha Maiden and said he only knew Higgins had implicated him after a reporter from The Australian, Rosie Lewis, contacted his then-employer, British American Tobacco, in the afternoon before The Project aired.
Lehrmann admitted lying during an interview with Channel 7’s Spotlight program about his reason for lying to Brown about why he entered Parliament House after hours. Lehrmann said the interview was “hastily arranged” and was a “very nerve-racking time”, and said he didn’t necessarily know he wasn’t telling the truth at the time of the interview.
Lehrmann said he lied about the reasons for entering Parliament House because he was concerned about the “national security implications” that stemmed from the tone of Brown’s meeting when she appeared angry with him.
At the end of the day’s evidence, Collins read out text messages between Lehrmann and friends on the evening The Project interview aired talking about procuring some cocaine which read: “need bags”, “you got any gear” and “let’s get lit”.
Lehrmann told the court he was “in a bad place” when he asked for drugs.
Collins: “You decided to spend some time that night with some friends and that substance.”
Lehrmann: “Yes, Dr Collins. I spiralled pretty quickly.”
Collins: “Your reaction to spiralling was to ask for cocaine … to have cocaine brought to you?”
Lehrmann: “I was in a bad place. Yes.”
The trial continues with Lehrmann in the witness box on Tuesday morning.
