‘Brittany Higgins lied to save her job’: Bruce Lehrmann
Bruce Lehrmann has accused Brittany Higgins of lying about being raped to save her job and spoken of how her sexual assault claim forced him to contemplate jumping in front of a train.
Bruce Lehrmann has accused Brittany Higgins of lying about being raped to save her job, as he announced he had not ruled out suing the former Liberal staffer for defamation.
In a new, wide-ranging interview, Mr Lehrmann spoke of how her sexual assault allegation forced him to contemplate suicide.
The Spotlight episode also included footage of Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann arriving at Parliament House on the night of the alleged rape.
He claimed Ms Higgins intentionally told senator Linda Reynolds’ chief of staff, Fiona Brown, the “white lie” that he had raped her in order to keep her job after seeing him get sacked.
“I think that a white lie to save a job occurred and, tick, that happened, because she saw me getting the turf,” he told Channel 7’s Spotlight. “And then she’s come into contact with media elites that have latched onto this and, given the environment at the time, in 2021, to weaponise it and advance a movement really.”
Mr Lehrmann said after he had been fired by Ms Brown, there were two or three hours before Ms Higgins was called in to explain why she was in Parliament House at 2am on the night the alleged rape occurred.
“There’s no mention of a sexual assault in that first meeting with Fiona Brown,” he said. “And a second meeting with Fiona Brown occurs, she’s given an opportunity to sign the code of conduct, that crunch time of signing the contract for your job, and not until the very end of that second meeting was any inkling of an allegation of sexual assault.
“So it was clear that there was a pressure there that in order to save her dream job, as she told The Project, she needed to ensure that it was a satisfactory explanation in terms of why they’re keeping her around.”
While Ms Higgins was adamant in her media interviews and throughout Mr Lehrmann’s criminal trial that she was drunk and unable to walk unassisted when she arrived at parliament, Mr Lehrmann has maintained she was only “tipsy”.
In the security footage of the pair entering parliament, Ms Higgins was seen walking unassisted, at times jogging.
“(She was) tipsy but functioning,” Mr Lehrmann said. “And I know that the CCTV footage shows that.”
Mr Lehrmann said he watched Ms Higgins’ interview with journalist Lisa Wilkinson on The Project live. He was not named in the interview, but as it aired he said he watched as his friends blocked him on social media. “If that’s not a clear indication of being identified, without having been named formally, then I don’t know what is,” he said.
In the days following the interview, Mr Lehrmann said he “went off the deep end”, leading to a near-suicide attempt in Sydney.
“I’d made arrangements to go. Mum was going to be OK. She’d get my superannuation,” he said. “There was no coming back. I’d actually even worked out the St Leonard’s train station. I was just going to go. I ended up taking myself to Royal North Shore Hospital that began a period of just strengthening my mind that there is a light at the end of this.”
Asked whether he had ruled out suing Ms Higgins for defamation, Mr Lehmann said: “That’s a possibility. I haven’t ruled it out, but I’m cognisant of the fact that … it’s not a good look. You kick someone when they’re down, and I have some sympathy for her because she’s obviously got people around her who they’re not there for her, they’re there for their own agendas.”
Mr Lehrmann is currently suing Network Ten and Ms Wilkinson for defamation over Ms Wilkinson’s interview with Ms Higgins.
Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14
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