Bruce Lehrmann defamation against Network 10, Lisa Wilkinson: Key points

Bruce Lehrmann’s gruelling stint giving evidence is over — here are the major points that came out of his time in the witness box:

Bruce Lehrmann leaves the Federal Court in Sydney on Tuesday. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Bruce Lehrmann’s gruelling few days in the witness box of his mammoth defamation trial with Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson concluded on Tuesday.

Here are five major points that came out of his time in the witness box:

1. Mr Lehrmann backtracked on crucial evidence relating to alcohol stored in ministerial offices. The court was played footage from Mr Lehrmann’s interview with the Australian Federal Police after he was formally accused of raping Ms Higgins, in which he said: “I didn’t have any alcohol in my office.” However, after he was shown images of wine and gin bottles surrounding his desk, he admitted: “Clearly, as we’ve seen, I’ve been mistaken there.”
2. Mr Lehrmann confessed to buying Ms Higgins alcoholic drinks on the night of her alleged rape, despite previously testifying he had only bought drinks for himself and fellow Liberal staffer Austin Wenke. The court was shown CCTV footage from The Dock Hotel where Mr Lehrmann is seen buying two drinks for Ms Higgins. When questioned over this footage, Mr Lehrmann became confused and the court took a 15 minute break. After returning, Mr Lehrmann said he had ­“become aware” of having bought alcohol for Ms Higgins after having reviewed CCTV footage from The Dock, and apologised for giving the false evidence. “I was wrong,” he said.
3. The court learned the Kerry Stokes-owned Seven Network are paying Mr Lehrmann’s rent for a year in exchange for two interviews he conducted with investigations program, Spotlight. Mr Lehrmann said the network offered to pay for the accommodation “for filming in those places.” “I recall there was a section of the first broadcast … that was filmed in the place I was in at the time,” he said.
4. Mr Lehrmann denied attempting to kiss Ms Higgins in early March, 2019, and said he did not kiss her on the night of the alleged rape. It was put to Mr Lehrmann that he tried to kiss Ms Higgins outside a work event on March 15, 2019, to which he replied: “Absolutely not.” Mr Lehrmann was also asked whether he “pashed” Ms Higgins at the 88mph bar on the night of the alleged rape, to which he replied: “No, that did not happen.” This was despite Liberal staffer Lauren Gain, who was present at the 88mph bar that night, testifying that she had seen the pair kiss that night.
5. Mr Lehrmann denied telling a close family friend and his boss that he spoke to Ms Higgins on his way out of Parliament House on the night she was allegedly raped. Mr Lehrmann has maintained throughout his evidence that upon entering Senator Linda Reynolds’s office with Ms Higgins on the night of the alleged assault, he went left, she went right, and the pair never saw each other again. But Ten’s barrister Matthew Collins KC suggested he had told Senator Reynolds’s chief of staff, Fiona Brown that he remembered Ms Higgins being “happy” and told close family friend Lyndon Bienhoff that he spoke to Ms Higgins as he was leaving. Mr Lehrmann denied both these claims, and vehemently and consistently denies raping Ms Higgins.