Here’s what happened today
Lehrmann’s cross-examination came to an end today. Under cross examination, we heard:
Lehrmann presented at Royal North Shore hospital on the Tuesday after The Project aired on the Monday night;
Lehrmann agreed that the first publications to name him were two independent crime websites – not The Project or news.com.au;
Lehrmann called Scott Morrison’s apology in parliament to Brittany Higgins “stupid”;
Lehrmann revealed Seven paid his rent for a year for his interview on the Spotlight program;
Lehrmann was asked whether the trial delay after Wilkinson’s Logies speech saved him from conviction.
In the afternoon, Ten’s barrister Matt Collins KC and Lisa Wilkinson’s lawyer Sue Chrysanthou gave their opening statements.
Collins said:
Lehrmann was not named in Ten’s program, and the program focussed on the handling of the incident by government;
He said Higgins would give “graphic and distressing evidence” as the first defence witness;
He also said Network Ten stands by its report.
Chrysanthou said Wilkinson asked Higgins multiple times if she was sure she wanted to go public with her story.
Then in the afternoon, Higgins – Ten’s first witness – took the stand. She is set to continue giving evidence tomorrow.
Read our wrap of day five of proceedings below:
Updated
Higgins tells court how she began working in politics
Brittany Higgins has told the court in the Lehrmann defamation case that when she was studying for a double degree at university she began working in politics and decided to pursue it because she really enjoyed it.
Giving evidence for the defence, she said she heard about a role opening up in Canberra and she applied for it and worked as a front-of-house and assistant media advisor for the Coalition.
Higgins said she helped with scheduling and it was “a lot to take in” for someone who was new to federal politics – her first job had been with a state politician in Queensland.
Higgins said: “So essentially, I was there to assist the primary senior media adviser. And his role was, you know, being proactive with stories, dropping media releases events, and I was there to kind of glean as much as I could from him.”
Higgins gave about five minutes of evidence about her background before being excused until 9.30am tomorrow.
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