How Lisa Wilkinson and Brittany Higgins war-gamed which ‘friendlies’ to fire up
Brittany Higgins and Lisa Wilkinson brainstormed MPs who would ‘fire questions’ in QT over the alleged sexual assault, highlighting Anthony Albanese and Tanya Plibersek.
Brittany Higgins and Lisa Wilkinson war-gamed how to recruit prominent politicians and media figures who could help give momentum to their upcoming interview on The Project, as the TV host made suggestions to the former Liberal staffer about how to frame her story.
The more than five-hour session, which also involved Ms Higgins’ boyfriend David Sharaz and Wilkinson’s producer Angus Llewellyn, was recorded on January 27, 2021 a few days before they filmed the interview that was broadcast on February 15 revealing Ms Higgins’ claims she had been raped in Parliament House.
The group brainstormed MPs who would “fire questions” in question time over the alleged sexual assault, highlighting Labor leaders Anthony Albanese and Tanya Plibersek as key players, with Wilkinson highly critical of former foreign minister Julie Bishop for refusing to “speak out” against the poor culture of Parliament House.
The recording revelations came as Bruce Lehrmann accused Ms Higgins of lying about being raped to save her job, and for the first time revealed how her sexual assault allegation forced him to contemplate jumping in front of a train to kill himself.
In an interview with the Seven Network, Mr Lehrmann said Ms Higgins intentionally told their shared chief of staff Fiona Brown the “white lie” that he had raped her to preserve her employment, after seeing him get sacked.
Ms Higgins told Wilkinson that she could find some “friendly MPs” who could fire questions in question time. Wilkinson suggested Mr Albanese could be helpful, before backtracking and describing him as “a bit of a dead duck at the moment”.
“Well, he’s in a car crash, leave him alone,” Mr Sharaz responded. “He got a lot of coverage out of that.”
Wilkinson then suggested “Tanya Plibersek, definitely”, to which Mr Sharaz said: “Yeah”.
Ms Higgins tells the group: “We’re doing a parliamentary showcase before all this starts. So it’s going to be great, we’re having fun.”
The revelations come as CCTV images of Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann arriving at Parliament House were aired for the first time.
In the hours-long pre-session, Wilkinson said Ms Higgins would have to consider how to answer questions on why she did not go to the police with her allegations.
The Channel Ten host also told the former staffer that she did not want “to put words in your mouth” but asked if Ms Higgins “could enunciate” how the culture at Parliament House could allow a rape to occur without anyone being punished.
“I have every confidence that you will answer that very eloquently, but it’s one you just need to really think about,” Wilkinson said.
“I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but if you can enunciate the fact that this place is all about suppression of people’s natural sense of justice.”
Ms Higgins in the recording also said she thought she could win against Mr Lehrmann in a civil suit if he sued, but that she was unsure her allegations could be proved “beyond reasonable doubt” in a criminal trial.
“If he wants to go me after, like on a civil basis, I think, on the balance of probabilities, I think I could win. I think it’s, if the onus of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt, I think that would be different. I don’t think I could win that,” Ms Higgins said.
A small part of the session was played to the court during Bruce Lehrmann’s rape trial, in which it was revealed that Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz had proposed breaking the story in a parliamentary sitting week so that “they have to answer questions at question time, it’s a mess for them”.
Ms Higgins said it would mean “they’re all stuck in Parliament House with it”.
Mr Sharaz told the group: “I’ve got a friend in Labor, Katy Gallagher on the Labor side, who will probe and continue it going.”
Cross-examined on the conversation during the trial, Ms Higgins told the court: “That wasn’t the actual interview itself and I didn’t sign a stat dec on this. This is just us talking.”
Wilkinson lambasted Julia Bishop for waiting until after she left parliament to flag the sexist nature of parliament, rather than speaking up while she was in the role. “The biggest frustration that I have with Julie is that she had so many opportunities to speak out against the culture,” Wilkinson said. “And for one woman to, what was she, deputy to 13 different prime ministers over the course of her time in parliament.”
Mr Sharaz interjected, saying: “Always loyal too. Bridesmaid, never the bride.”
To which Wilkinson said: “The minute she was out of there (she said) ‘oh it’s really sexist’. I tried to get her on the record with that so many times when she could’ve actually affected change, and she wouldn’t.”
When questioning whether Ms Bishop would be willing to speak out against Parliament House culture, Ms Wilkinson suggested she might refuse due to her ties to Michaelia Cash and Linda Reynolds.
“They‘re all Perth girls,” she said. However, Ms Higgins said “they were never friends”.
“I don‘t know why, but they never liked each other,” Ms Higgins said.
Mr Sharaz added: “Julie doesn’t have any friends.”
Mr Sharaz then suggested getting sexual assault survivor and advocate Grace Tame to do media the next day.
The group also discussed whether former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull would help.
Male voice: “He does hate (Scott) Morrison. Does he hate him that much?”
Wilkinson: “Yeah, I think so. Malcolm, I know Malcolm well. I reckon Malcolm will talk.”
The group also discuss Senator Reynolds, who Ms Higgins claimed had not been supportive after the alleged assault. (Senator Reynolds and her then chief of staff say Ms Higgins didn’t tell them about the alleged assault).
At one point Wilkinson refers to Senator Reynolds as “an idiot”. When Ms Higgins’ says Senator Reynolds doesn’t “super care about my mental health”, Mr Sharaz says sarcastically: “No, Linda cares”, at which laughter is heard on the tape.
Wilkinson: “I’ve so got her [Linda] in my sights now. Now that I’ve refreshed my memory on that.
Mr Sharaz: “I said to Britt, ultimately, what do you want out of this? She goes, well, I want Bruce to forever have it difficult getting a job, like it’s going to be difficult for me.”
Wilkinson: “Yeah.”
Mr Sharaz: “And then you said, best-case scenario, Linda Reynolds.” Ms Higgins: “I was just reaching!
At another point in the session Ms Wilkinson told the group: “I’m a great believer in people’s time will come. I’m incredibly patient.”
Mr Sharaz interjects: “Linda’s time, please, god, let it be Linda’s time.”
Wilkinson: “Well, I think it might be.”
Mr Sharaz said Mr Lehrmann would be “shitting himself” when The Project interview was released, as Ms Higgins celebrated the fact the former Liberal staffer would never be able to run for politics.
The Project team elected not to name Mr Lehrmann in the interview, but Ms Higgins said “that‘s all right” because people within the party would be able to put ”two and two” together, which would prevent him from ever running for politics. “He was fired at the time, he was in that office, they’ll know and that’s what matters,” she said. ”He would never get a preselection now.”
Mr Sharaz added: “And he’ll be shitting himself when it comes out.”
Ms Higgins described Mr Lehrmann as “one of those … legacy ones” who would inevitably run for a federal seat.
“If enough people can put two and two together, it’ll stop him from getting preselected for the seat of Wentworth or something, one day,” she said.
After Ms Higgins flagged concerns she may be bullied by former prime ministerial staffers Yaron Finkelstein and Andrew Carswell, along with members of Senator Cash’s office, Wilkinson said: “You know your best response, if they want to try and bully you?”
Ms Higgins: “Hm?”
Wilkinson: “Just look them in the eye, and say, I was raped in a minister’s office.”
Ms Higgins likened Mr Finkelstein to the ruthless House of Cards character played by Kevin Spacey. “I’d liken Yaron to like, Frank Underwood from House of Cards,” she said. “He is like, he’s the PMO fixer. He is that guy.”
At one point in the session Ms Higgins says that when she resigns from her job she won’t be seeking a payout. “I’m not pressing, I don’t want money. I’m not going after them with a lawyer for anything. I don’t want anything. I’m not fired, I’m not a disgruntled employee, I’m quitting.”
Ms Higgins later took action against the Commonwealth and is believed to have settled for an amount in excess of $2m.
Additional reporting: Ellie Dudley
