Court played Brittany Higgins’ secret Michaelia Cash recording

Secret recordings taken by Brittany Higgins of a conversation between her then-boss and chief-of-staff have been played in court for the first time.

Bruce Lehrmann arrives at the Federal Court in Sydney.

A Federal Court has been played for the first time the 15-minute secret tape Brittany Higgins recorded of her then boss, Michaelia Cash, ahead of The Project episode going to air in 2021, in which the then minister says “we didn’t know anything”.

Ms Higgins, who affirmed her decision to quit Senator Cash’s office during the clandestine call, is adamant her boss learned about the alleged rape in October 2019, despite the Liberal senator denying she had any knowledge of it until 2021.

Ms Higgins previously told the court she believed her former boss’s attempts to “check in” on her wellbeing were “nefarious”.

In the call, Senator Cash can be heard saying: “Can I ask you, Britt, and I know we also didn’t get a chance to talk about it the other day, what actually happened, did the security guard … ?” and later: “Britt, we didn’t know anything. No one told us.”

Lisa Wilkinson arrives at the Federal Court in Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

Also on Tuesday, Bruce Lehrmann’s barrister, Steven Whybrow SC, served a subpoena on Sky News for a copy of the recording of a conversation between Ms Higgins’ solicitor, Leon Zwier, and her fiance, David Sharaz, allegedly captured by an onlooker in the Park Hyatt hotel last week, about how she should respond to questions under oath.

Mr Zwier told Sky News his comments were made on the common understanding that no one would speak to Ms Higgins about her testimony, and there is no suggestion Mr Sharaz passed on the advice.

Mr Lehrmann is suing Network 10 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. He has consistently denied raping Ms Higgins.

Justice Michael Lee allowed the two secret recordings between Ms Higgins, Senator Cash and her chief of staff, Daniel Try, to be tendered in the court on Tuesday, after Mr Whybrow indicated repeatedly he wanted the tapes played in court.

Senator Michaelia Cash. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

A week before Ms Higgins recorded her conversation with Senator Cash and Mr Try, she recorded another conversation she had with Mr Try, which was played in the court.

They discussed the alleged rape and the “PTSD-like panic attacks” Ms Higgins was having about the unknown identity of a Canberra Times journalist with possible information on the allegations.

The court heard on February 5, 2021 that Ms Higgins called Senator Cash, who asked “what happened?”, including how they got into Parliament House, whether the alleged attacker was “a staffer” and “when they found you (on the couch)”. “It’s just bizarre,” she can be heard saying about the security guards being alerted to Ms Higgins not leaving the building. Ms Higgins appears to be crying throughout the call.

Ms Higgins’ repeatedly asserts she “just can’t come back to work”, and Senator Cash says: “We will support you every step of the way to exit gracefully, don’t worry about that. But I think you’ve got unresolved issues we’re going to have to help you address.”

Ms Higgins says “of course I do” to another comment about her having “unresolved issues”.

At some stage, Mr Try interjects: “The minister and I had a discussion over the last couple of days … we think you do a fantastic job.”

He also refers to Mr Lehrmann as “like a receptionist for (George) Brandis”, adding “he’s not really that well known”.

Network 10 Producer Angus Llewellyn with his legal team. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

Ms Wilkinson’s lawyer, Sue Chrysanthou, said it was “absolutely clear” after hearing the two recordings that Mr Try knew “exactly what Ms Higgins was talking about, including the name of the person who she’s accused”.

The court heard a long cross-examination of Network 10 producer Angus Llewellyn about what steps he took to clarify evidence from Ms Higgins ahead of The Project broadcast.

Mr Lehrmann’s barrister, Matthew Richardson SC, grilled Mr Llewellyn about a photo Ms Higgins gave to him of a bruise on her leg, which she claimed was “caused by Mr Lehrmann during the rape” and was taken a couple of days later.

He asked why Mr Llewellyn didn’t check the date on the photo, which showed it was a screenshot from the morning of a pre-interview discussion with Ms Wilkinson and Ms Higgins in late January 2021. Mr Richardson said: “You knew the one piece of physical evidence she supplied to you could not be verified.”

“Which is why we had a statutory declaration,” Mr Llewellyn responded.

The hearing continues on Wednesday.