Bruce Lehrmann defamation case as it happened: Brittany Higgins raped by former staffer, Justice Michael Lee finds

Good afternoon and thank you for joining us for our live coverage of judgment day in former federal Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson.

If you are just joining us now, here’s what you need to know:

• Federal Court Justice Michael Lee has dismissed Lehrmann’s multimillion-dollar defamation case over an interview with Brittany Higgins aired on The Project on February 15, 2021.
• In a 324-page judgment, Lee found that Lehrmann had been identified in the interview, which did not name him. Ten and Wilkinson did not dispute that if the judge found Lehrmann was identified in the broadcast that it defamed him by suggesting he was guilty of raping Higgins.

Bruce Lehrmann departs court after the judge delivered his findings.Credit: Wolter Peeters

• However, Lee found the media parties had established a defence of truth and had successfully proven to the civil standard – on the balance of probabilities – that Lehrmann raped Higgins in Parliament House in the early hours of March 23, 2019. This is lower than the criminal standard of beyond reasonable doubt.
• Fronting a large press pack outside court, Wilkinson said she had “published a true story about a rape” in Parliament House in March 2019. As she walked off arm in arm with her barrister Sue Chrysanthou, SC, Wilkinson added: “I feel glad for the women of Australia today.”

Lisa Wilkinson outside the Federal Court after the judgment was delivered.Credit: Wolter Peeters

• While the media parties emerged victorious, Lee directed criticism at Ten and Wilkinson over the way they approached and ran the story. Had the truth defence not been successful, Lee said he would have rejected a separate defence of qualified privilege, which involved an assessment of the media parties’ reasonableness in airing the story. As the truth defence was established, this defence was not required to be proven.

This is Michaela Whitbourn and Sarah McPhee signing off on the live blog. You can read our story on the Lehrmann decision here.

Justin Quill, one of Network Ten’s solicitors, has praised Brittany Higgins’ bravery to testify in the unique circumstances in which she did.

He said Higgins was “particularly brave to come to court and, unlike most rape victims, come to court having chosen not to have anonymity, and give her evidence in the glare of publicity and spotlight”.

Justin Quill, one of Network Ten’s solicitors, addresses the media outside the Federal Court in Sydney.Credit: Wolter Peeters

Quill said he knew “those within Bruce Lehrmann’s team expected her not to attend”.

“I think that was pretty much their whole case theory. Perhaps I’m being too harsh there, but certainly, I know, they did not intend or expect her to attend,” he said.

“Of course, Channel 10 couldn’t have defended this case without Brittany. There’s no doubt that Brittany was brave in turning up here and giving the evidence that she did.”

Quill said he had not personally spoken to Higgins following the judgment.

“No doubt The Project and Ten people have already reached out to Brittany,” he said.

Federal Court Justice Michael Lee said that while Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson had “legally justified their imputation of rape”, it did not mean their conduct “was justified in any broader or colloquial sense”.

“The contemporaneous documents and the broadcast itself demonstrate the allegation of rape was the minor theme, and the allegation of cover-up was the major motif,” the judge said in his 324-page judgment.

Lisa Wilkinson outside the Federal Court in Sydney on Monday.Credit: Wolter Peeters

Lee said the “publication of accusations of corrupt conduct in putting up roadblocks and forcing a rape victim to choose between her career and justice” saw the broadcaster’s program The Project, of which Wilkinson was then a co-host, take away the “glittering prize” of Most Outstanding News Coverage or Public Affairs Report at the 2022 Logie Awards.

However, he said that accusation “was supposition without reasonable foundation in verifiable fact”, its dissemination “caused a brume of confusion” and it did “much collateral damage”.

This included impacting the fair and orderly progress of the underlying allegation of sexual assault through the criminal justice system, he added.

Lisa Wilkinson holding her Logie award in June 2022 for her interview with Brittany Higgins.Credit: Getty Images

“To the extent there were perceived systemic issues as to avenues of complaint and support services in parliament, this may have merited a form of fact-based critique, not the publication of insufficiently scrutinised and factually misconceived conjecture,” Lee said.

Wilkinson’s speech referencing Brittany Higgins, as she accepted the Logie on behalf of The Project, saw Bruce Lehrmann’s criminal trial delayed. However, the court heard that speech had been reviewed by Ten management and lawyers.

“What became apparent by the end of the evidence was the action in giving the speech was not, as many suggested at the time, a case of Ms Wilkinson going off on a frolic and irresponsibly saying something off the top of her head. She was sufficiently prudent to seek advice,” Lee said.

Federal Court Justice Michael Lee makes clear in his 324-page judgment that his finding of sexual assault is made in the context of a civil trial where there is a lower standard of proof than in a criminal trial.

Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence and his ACT Supreme Court criminal trial for Higgins’ sexual assault was aborted in 2022 owing to juror misconduct. He did not stand trial for a second time owing to concerns about Higgins’ mental health.

Lee said Lehrmann remains a man who has not been convicted of a crime. However, he also had this to say:

As a result of the inconclusive criminal trial, Mr Lehrmann remains a man who has not been convicted of any offence, but he has now been found, by the civil standard of proof, to have engaged in a great wrong. It follows Ms Higgins has been proven to be a victim of sexual assault.

Lisa Wilkinson defended her reporting as she made a short statement on the steps of the Federal Court after the judgment, before walking off arm in arm with her barrister Sue Chrysanthou, SC.

Lisa Wilkinson makes a short statement after emerging from court.Credit: Getty

Here’s what Wilkinson said in full:

Today, the Federal Court has found that I published a true story about a rape in a federal minister’s office at Parliament House in March of 2019.

I sincerely hope that this judgment gives strength to women around the country.

I am also so grateful to have had the benefit of my independent legal team, led by Sue Chrysanthou, [SC], whose expertise and wise counsel have been a source of ongoing strength to me for the last 14 months. Thank you, [Sue].

Throughout every step of this process, I have been surrounded by the love of my wonderful family, as well as incredibly supportive friends and colleagues. I can never thank them enough.

I also want to say how grateful I am to all the generous members of the public who have approached me, almost every single day, to express - often through tears - their unwavering support.

Justice Michael Lee said Wilkinson “never questioned the underlying truth of any of Ms [Brittany] Higgins’ allegations from the first moment they were articulated”.

Justin Quill, one of Ten’s solicitors, spoke briefly outside the Federal Court in Sydney.

He was asked if he had any advice for Bruce Lehrmann, who has said he is studying law at university. Quill says Lehrmann should “take up another course at university”.

Reflecting the court’s findings to the civil standard, Quill said that “Bruce Lehrmann is a rapist” and that the case had been an unmitigated disaster for Lehrmann.

The Herald’s team of photojournalists have followed every twist and turn in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case since it was filed in February last year. Take a look back at the highlights and lowlights here.

High-profile presenter Lisa Wilkinson delivered a statement outside the Federal Court in Sydney, saying that today the court had found she aired a “true story about a rape in a federal minister’s office at Parliament House”.

Lisa Wilkinson departs the Federal Court in Sydney with her barrister, Sue Chrysanthou, SC.Credit: Wolter Peeters

“I feel glad for the women of Australia today,” Wilkinson said. She said she sincerely hoped the judgment gave strength to women around the country.

One of the notable features of the Lehrmann litigation was the judge’s approach to transparency, which included releasing hundreds of exhibits publicly and streaming the hearings live on YouTube.

Today, simultaneous views on the court’s YouTube channel peaked at 47,000 as onlookers around Australia and overseas logged on to watch Federal Court Justice Michael Lee’s remarks in real time.

Bruce Lehrmann has been confronted by a large press pack as he exited the Federal Court in Sydney.

“Do you regret doing this, Mr Lehrmann?” one journalist asked as he walked down Phillip Street in the heart of Sydney’s legal district.

Bruce Lehrmann leaves the Federal Court in Sydney after losing his defamation suit.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Lehrmann now joins war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith in having serious findings made against him by the Federal Court after a judge found a media outlet had established a truth defence to allegations of criminal behaviour.

Roberts-Smith’s judgment is the subject of an appeal.

Federal Court Justice Michael Lee made clear during his decision today that his finding that Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins was made to the civil standard of proof, meaning the balance of probabilities.

No finding has been made against him to the criminal standard of beyond reasonable doubt, and today’s finding does not amount to a conviction.

Nevertheless, it is a grave finding and Lehrmann is expected to face a significant costs bill that it is unlikely he can repay.