Brittany Higgins: Michaelia Cash grilled in Bruce Lehrmann rape trial

Senator Michaelia Cash has been grilled on the witness stand in the trial for the man accused of raping Brittany Higgins in parliament.

Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash has been grilled on the witness stand in the trial for the man accused of raping Brittany Higgins in Parliament House.

Bruce Lehrmann is accused of sexually assaulting the former Liberal staffer in Senator Linda Reynolds’ office in the early hours of March 23, 2019.

Mr Lehrmann has pleaded not guilty to one charge of sexual intercourse without consent.

The jury has been told the trial, which today enters its third week in the ACT Supreme Court, will likely wrap up this week.

The prosecution is expected to close its case by Tuesday, significantly reducing the initial four to six-week timeline for the trial.

Senator Cash was questioned by the prosecution over Ms Higgins’ claims that she had revealed her sexual assault allegations to the senator prior to February 5th, 2021.

The court heard Senator Cash rejected the suggestion that she had been told about the allegations prior to this date, saying up until then she believed the issue was purely a security breach.

She told the court she did not know there was a “sexual element” to the situation until February 2021.

Brittany Higgins pictured with Michaelia Cash.

Senator Cash has been questioned by the prosecution over Ms Higgins’ claims that she had revealed her sexual assault allegations to the senator prior to February 5th, 2021.

The court heard Senator Cash rejected the suggestion that she had been told about the allegations prior to this date, saying up until then she believed the issue was purely a security breach.

She told the court she did not know there was a “sexual element” to the situation until February 2021.

The Crown Prosecutor, Shane Drumgold, asked Senator Cash whether it could potentially be “politically embarrassing” to the government if the sexual assault allegations were made public.

“Absolutely not,” she responded.

“I don’t know how it could be politically embarrassing. It would be something that needed to be attended to.”

When asked if the situation being made public could be “politically harmful”, the senator once again said “absolutely not”.

“I just don’t understand the political connection to this,” she said.

Senator Cash was then asked by Mr Drumgold if she was aware of the term “plausible deniability”.

Liberal Party of Australia Senator for Western Australia, Michaelia Cash. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

She asked this question to be put into context and then told the crown prosecutor: “I don’t understand what you are trying to ask me”.

Mr Drumgold suggested that Senator Cash was denying she had been made aware of the assault allegations prior to February 2021 because it would be politically embarrassing.

“Absolutely not,” she said.

“I just don’t understand the line of questioning in relation to political embarrassment.

Mr Lehrmann’s lawyer, Steven Whybrow, then suggested to Ms Cash it would be “political suicide” to try and cover up the sexual assault of a staff member.

“Correct. Hence my confusion with the previous line of questioning,” she said.

Senator Cash then claimed when she had spoken with Ms Higgins in October 2019 in relation to the security breach in Senator Reynolds’ office, the former staffer was “adamant that the entire matter had been dealt with at the time”.

Brittany Higgins photos - Pictured: Brittany Higgins, Michaelia Cash

Earlier Senator Cash appeared to the court from a remote location.

Ms Higgins began working for Senator Cash after the 2019 Federal Election and worked for her until 2021.

The Senator told the court that she only became aware of Ms Higgins’ claim she had been assaulted by Mr Lehrmann on February 5, 2021.

Ms Higgins has consistently claimed that she had multiple conversations with Senator Cash about her allegations.

Senator Cash said she had a conversation with Ms Higgins about a past security breach in Senator Reynolds office after they received a media inquiry in October 2019.

Senator Cash told the court that Ms Higgins was “embarrassed” as the security breach was in relation to herself.

She said the breach was in relation to Ms Higgins and another staffer returning to Senator Reynolds office once evening after they had been out drinking.

The court heard Senator Cash say she understood they were “potentially intoxicated” at the time.

She said Ms Higgins had subsequently “fallen asleep on the couch” in Senator Reynolds’ office and she had been found by security the next day.

Bruce Lehrmann arrives at court with his solicitor Rachel Fisher, on day nine of the trial. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Ben Appleton

Senator Reynolds is also expected to take the witness stand this week.

Ms Higgins’ partner David Sharaz and Ms Cash’s former chief of staff Daniel Try are also listed to be called to give evidence.

Ms Higgins completed her evidence on Friday after returning to the witness stand following a four-day absence.

During that time, multiple witnesses took the stand, including Ms Higgins’ mother, her ex-boyfriend and Parliament House security guards.

However, a non-publication order kept their evidence from being published until Friday afternoon.

The court was also played an interview between Mr Lehrmann and police, recorded in April 2021.

In the interview, as well as addressing Ms Higgins’ allegations, Mr Lehrmann was questioned about his purpose for entering parliament that night, and said he had thoughts of self-harm after hearing about the allegations.

The interviewing police officers informed Mr Lehrmann that Ms Higgins had reported an allegation to police that he had engaged in sexual intercourse with her without consent.

“Obviously I reject that allegation because it simply didn’t happen,” the accused told police in the interview.

The trial continues.