Lawyers for Bruce Lehrmann, who is accused of raping former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins, will learn this afternoon if their bid to delay his trial has been successful.
Mr Lehrmann is accused of sexually assaulting Ms Higgins inside an office in Parliament House in 2019.
He was charged last year after Ms Higgins went to police, and has pleaded not guilty.
His jury trial in the ACT Supreme Court was to begin on Monday, June 27.
But his lawyers asked for a delay after journalist Lisa Wilkinson, who interviewed Ms Higgins, gave a speech at the Logie Awards on Sunday night.
Today, the court heard the speech had prompted intense attention in the media and online.
ACT Chief Justice Lucy McCallum noted that some of the commentary had ignored the fact the trial had not yet been held.
The ACT's Director of Public Prosecutions, Shane Drumgold, opposed the application, saying it was a re-agitation of an earlier bid for a delay, which had been rejected.
Mr Drumgold said there was nothing substantial enough in the speech or the reaction to it to warrant revisiting the case.
Mr Lehrmann's lawyer Steve Whybrow rejected that argument, telling the court the new stay application was not a narrow regurgitation of the issues.
Mr Whybrow said the publicity posed a real threat to the trial process.
"It's untenable for a trial to be held in the case at this time."
But Mr Drumgold said that while the media attention had been undesirable, Ms Wilkinson's opinions on the matter were already known.
He said delaying the trial was not the only option when a jury could be properly addressed.
"It's all speculation. We do not know who in the jury would be affected," he said.
