What we heard in court today
The defence called a number of witnesses this afternoon who Network Ten’s barrister, Matt Collins KC, said would support Brittany Higgins’ version of events.
Bruce Lehrmann is suing Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson for defamation over an interview with Higgins broadcast on The Project and online which did not name him but alleged she had been raped by a Liberal staffer in 2019.
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.
Here’s what we heard this afternoon:
Justice Michael Lee ruled that details of ABC and News Corp’s settlements with Lehrmann over his defamation claims will be released.
Austin Wenke, a former media adviser to Peter Dutton, agreed with the suggestion of Lehrmann’s barrister, Steve Whybrow SC, that it was “an open secret” in Parliament House that Lehrmann was the subject of the media reports. “So in my own mind I concluded, what I understood to be the inference from the story, which was an allegation against him … against Mr Lehrmann,” Wenke told the court.
The Liberal staffer Lauren Gain told the court that the day after she left Higgins and Lehrmann at 88mph bar in Canberra she sent a message to a colleague saying Higgins and Lehrmann “hooked up”.
Gain also said that Higgins and Lehrmann had been “touchy with one another” and had been “kissing” on the night Higgins claims she was raped.
Read more about what was said this morning here, and follow our coverage again tomorrow when the case is back in court.
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Judge dismisses application for confidentiality orders over News Corp and ABC defamation case settlements
Justice Michael Lee has dismissed an application by News Corp and the ABC for confidentiality orders over how much each media organisation paid Bruce Lehrmann to settle his defamation claim.
Lehrmann sued the ABC and the publisher of news.com.au and journalist Samantha Maiden, but the parties settled out of court.
Barrister Dauid Sibtain SC, for News Corp, asked Lee to grant a confidentiality order to keep the dollar amount paid towards Lehrmann’s legal costs confidential. The ABC asked for the entire settlement document to be suppressed.
“I do not believe that either order should be made,” Lee said.
Lee said details of the ABC’s settlement were likely to come out at Senate estimates anyway and ordered that both deeds of settlement be made public.
The hearing has adjourned and will resume on Thursday at 10.15am.
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