Bruce Lehrmann is to pay thousands to Lisa Wilkinson's high-profile husband as costs for asking him to attend court in his futile defamation trial, a judge's latest orders reveal.
The Federal Court of Australia has ordered Mr Lehrmann to pay $4616 to journalist author Peter FitzSimons as "reasonable loss or expense incurred in complying with the subpoena addressed to him" on June 28, 2023.
On that date last year, Mr Fitzsimons was asked in the Sydney court about a $325,000 book deal he offered to Brittany Higgins in 2021.
Following an application filed by Mr FitzSimons on March, 18, 2024, Justice Michael Lee made the orders on Friday.
He is the same judge who found, on the balance of probabilities, Mr Lehrmann had not been defamed and also that he did rape Ms Higgins in Parliament in March 2019.
The much-anticipated judgement was handed down earlier this month.
It was recently reported Mr Lehrmann rejected a "walk away offer" from journalist Lisa Wilkinson's employer Channel Ten, which is pursuing payment of all their legal costs.
