Brittany Higgins ‘brought the party back to parliament’

Conversations between Brittany Higgins and her ex-boyfriend about the night she was allegedly raped have been recounted in court.

Brittany Higgins’ ex boyfriend Ben Dillaway leaves the Federal Court on Thursday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

Brittany Higgins told her former boyfriend she “brought the party back to Parliament House” on the night she was allegedly raped by Bruce Lehrmann, the Federal Court has heard, as a parliamentary security guard testified to finding her completely naked on then minister Linda Reynolds’s couch at 4am after the alleged assault ­occurred.

Former Liberal staffer Ben Dillaway told the court on Thursday that Ms Higgins was “very invested” in her job and was hesitant to report her allegations out of fear of becoming “the girl that was raped in Parliament House”.

Mr Lehrmann is suing the Ten Network and presenter Lisa Wilkinson over her interview with Ms Higgins on The Project in 2021, detailing accu­sations that Mr Lehrmann raped Ms Higgins on March 23, 2019 but not naming him as the ­alleged attacker.

Mr Lehrmann has consistently denied raping Ms Higgins.

Mr Dillaway was among witnesses called by Ten on Thursday, and testified to interactions he had with Ms Higgins directly after the alleged assault occurred.

He told the court he had a phone conversation with Ms Higgins while she was on her way home after she says the assault occurred, in which she was acting “cagey” and told him she had “carried on” to Parliament House after being at a nightclub but did not mention the alleged assault.

“I recall her using the words we brought the party back to Parliament House,” he said.

“I thought that was quite strange. I’d worked in that building as an adviser for a number of years and you’d almost never go back to parliament to carry on or party as she’d referenced.”

Mr Dillaway said Ms Higgins was hesitant to give him much information about the night before. “Like, she didn’t want to tell me what had happened, and abruptly ended the telephone call,” he said.

Mr Dillaway said he and Ms Higgins engaged in a “casual, close personal relationship” that ended before July 2019. “It was a very weird or unique thing,” he said.

“We weren’t officially dating or going out, we were casually seeing each other and obviously living in different cities.”

When Mr Dillaway learned of the alleged rape in the days after it occurred, he drove from Melbourne to Canberra to be with Ms Higgins and comforted her while she cried.

“I was staying at the Burbury Hotel and we met at the bar across from it … and had a discussion about the events of the previous weekend,” he said.

“We did later after having a drink … (go) back to my room; again, I was asking her some questions around that evening.

“She again kind of broke down. My recollection is that she was crying a lot, sobbing, and I was somewhat you know, holding her and supporting her.

“She was very upset and appeared very broken.

“She had concerns about becoming known as the girl who was raped in parliament and she was worried about how it could affect her job and her career.”

Mr Dillaway said Ms Higgins rejected an initial offer from him to take the rape allegations to the Prime Minister’s office on her behalf because “she did not want anyone to know.” However, when she finally agreed to it, nothing amounted.

Bruce Lehrmann arrives at the Federal Court on Thursday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

“I thought they would see, one, that she was someone … in pain and suffering and needed help and, two, I thought they’d see the political imperative of if Ms Higgins went public during the election, which was coming up, it could blow the whole thing up. But I was wrong.”

Earlier on Thursday, Parliament House security guard Nikola Anderson told the court when she found Ms Higgins asleep, naked in Senator Reynolds’s office after the alleged rape occurred, the former Liberal staffer looked at her, and rolled over “into the foetal ­position”.

Ms Anderson said when she entered the ministerial suite around 4.20am to conduct a welfare check, she found Ms Higgins “completely naked” on the couch, her make-up “appeared to be intact” and her dress and shoes were on the floor beside her.

“It looked like it had been taken off and thrown on the floor,” she said.