‘You got any gear’: Lehrmann’s text after Higgins rape allegation made public

Former federal Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann told a friend he had “no idea in the slightest” who Brittany Higgins was referring to when she made a rape allegation against a then-unnamed former colleague, text messages filed in his Federal Court defamation case reveal.

He also texted “need bags”, “you got any gear” and “let’s get lit” to two friends after 10pm on the night Network Ten aired Lisa Wilkinson’s interview with Higgins on The Project.

Bruce Lehrmann (left) arrives at the Federal Court in Sydney on Thursday.Credit: Kate Geraghty

The court released a tranche of documents on Friday night in Lehrmann’s defamation suit against Ten and News Corp over interviews with Higgins on The Project and news.com.au, broadcast and published on February 15, 2021.

Lehrmann alleges the interviews, which did not name him, conveyed a series of defamatory meanings, including that he “raped Brittany Higgins in [then-]defence [industry] minister Linda Reynolds’ office in 2019”. He denies the rape allegation.

Federal Court Justice Michael Lee must decide whether he will allow Lehrmann to sue the media outlets because he did not file the claim within a one-year limitation period for bringing a defamation suit. The publications at the centre of his claim are two years old.

The media outlets argue the limitation period should not be extended, and the issue was agitated at a preliminary hearing in Sydney on Thursday. A further hearing on the issue will be held on March 23.

Text messages tendered during the preliminary fight reveal a friend texted Lehrmann the morning the news.com.au story broke and asked if he knew who “the Canberra rape guy is, the yarn says ‘rising star’ so that rules out our mates but who else?”

Lehrmann replied: “No idea mate in the slightest.”

Another friend sent a link to the news.com.au article and asked: “Know this chick?”

“Yeah worked with her briefly,” Lehrmann replied.

The Federal Court heard on Thursday that Lehrmann watched The Project interview later that evening at his lawyer’s office in Sydney.

His then-girlfriend had texted him earlier in the day: “You must be busy today! Not messaging much haha. Hope everything is ok.”

Lehrmann’s solicitor Paul Svilans said in an affidavit on March 1, released by the court on Friday, that Lehrmann was working as head of regulatory affairs at British American Tobacco when News Corp and Ten published and broadcast the interviews with Higgins.

Svilans said that about 2pm that day, Lehrmann was informed by his supervisor “in substance, that he had received an email from ... a journalist at The Australian, stating that government sources were identifying Mr Lehrmann as the man accused of sexually assaulting Ms Higgins”.

“Mr Lehrmann was then suspended pending an internal review.”

His employment was terminated in June 2021, the affidavit said, after Lehrmann’s supervisor informed him “in substance, that given the nature of the allegations being made against him, BATA did not consider he would be able to continue to fulfil his role in regulatory affairs and as a lobbyist to government”.

Lehrmann was subsequently named in the media in August 2021 after he was charged with sexual intercourse without consent.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge. His trial was aborted in October last year due to juror misconduct. The charge was later dropped altogether amid concerns about Higgins’ mental health. Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence.

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