Lisa Wilkinson concedes Logies speech supported allegation
Lisa Wilkinson has conceded that when she praised the ‘unwavering courage’ of Brittany Higgins in her 2022 Logies speech she was supporting ‘a true allegation of rape against a guilty man’.
The Project’s star journalist Lisa Wilkinson has conceded that when she praised the “unwavering courage” of Brittany Higgins in her 2022 Logies speech, eight days before Bruce Lehrmann was tried for sexual assault, she was supporting “a true allegation of rape against a guilty man”, but was not prioritising “pride and ego” over “the right to a fair trial”.
In a gruelling cross-examination, Ms Wilkinson also said she believed Ms Higgins’ boss, then-Minister Linda Reynolds, and her chief-of-staff Fiona Brown, were “knowing participants in a systemic cover up” of the alleged rape in Parliament House.
Ms Wilkinson said Senator Reynolds and Ms Brown had been “very, very careful in the lead up to a tightly-contested election”.
She said she believed they were taking advice from, and later that they were “loyal servants” to, the Prime Minister’s office.
“That’s the way politics works”, Ms Wilkinson said, before backtracking.
“Can I understand that you’re saying an allegation of a systemic cover up of rape is not a serious allegation?” Justice Michael Lee asked in order to clarify her position.
“Is not a serious allegation? ... Yes, it’s a serious allegation,” Ms Wilkinson responded.
Mr Lehrmann is suing Network Ten and presenter Ms 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.
Mr Lehrmann’s barrister prefaced questions about Ms Wilkinson’s Logies speech, with a question about whether, in her 45 years of experience in journalism, she had received training in “contempt”. Contempt can be committed when prejudicial comments are published about legal proceedings before the courts in a way that interferes with the running of those proceedings.
Ms Wilkinson said she had never undertaken training in “contempt” but accepted she was aware of the rules around it.
In her winning Logies speech, Ms Wilkinson, says: “This honour belongs to Brittany. It belongs to a 26 year-old woman’s unwavering courage ... It belongs to a woman who said enough. It belongs to a woman who inspired more than 100,000 similarly pissed off, exhausted fierce women and men to take to the street to roar.”
The comments led to a three month delay to Mr Lehrmann’s criminal trial.
After much back and forth between Mr Richardson and Ms Wilkinson, Justice Michael Lee asked whether by “showing unwavering courage, it means they’re making a true allegation of rape against a guilty man”. “Yes,” she responded.
Mr Lehrmann’s barrister Matthew Richardson SC suggested that “irrespective of whatever Mr (Shane) Drumgold or anyone else did or didn’t do, you knew from your own experience that speech was reckless and ill-advised”. Ms Wilkinson disagreed.
Mr Richardson was referring to a broad warning to Ms Wilkinson from then-ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold that any publicity could delay the trial.
He then suggested to her “that you put your pride and your ego ahead of my client’s right to a fair trial when you gave that speech”.
Ms Wilkinson “completely” disagreed and told the court: “I had sought advice before I got up on that stage”.
While Lehrmann’s lawyer spent a portion of the day suggesting that viewers of The Project would see Ms Brown as the “critical instrument” of Ms Higgins’ having to make this choice between her career and going to the police, Ms Wilkinson claimed there were parts of the broadcast that painted Ms Brown was “caring”.
She was asked about why The Project had redacted sections of an email where Ms Brown tells Ms Higgins she could invite her father to a meeting after they spoke about the alleged assault.
Ms Wilkinson replied that it was not relevant: “I think there are other aspects of the broadcast that show that Fiona brown was being caring”.
Ms Richardson pushed back on this: “Is that a serious answer?”
“I believe that we presented the conversations ... Ms Higgins was actually complimentary about Fiona Brown and Linda Reynolds and we put that to air.”
Instead, Mr Richardson suggested that the “impression conveyed by (the broadcast) is that Ms Brown is some kind of vile apparatchik”.
Ms Wilkinson: “I totally disagree”.
He read another part of the broadcast where Ms Higgins says Ms Brown handed her a brochure and told her to take the rest of the day off.
Mr Richardson: “It portrays her as a monster, Ms Wilkinson, and you know it.”
Ms Wilkinson: “I totally disagree.”
He read out another section of the interview where Ms Higgins’ said bringing up anything about the alleged rape “made Fiona uncomfortable” and suggested it portrayed Ms Brown to viewers as “a terrible human being.”
Again, Ms Wilkinson disagreed.
Questioning also turned to whether Ms Wilkinson was “objective” in comments she made to Ms Higgins about Senator Reynolds.
In a five-hour pre-interview on January 27, 2021, Ms Wilkinson told Ms Higgins and her fiance David Sharaz, “I’ve so got her in my sights now,” referring to Senator Reynolds, “Now that I’ve refreshed my memory on that”.
The court heard this comment was a reference to a series of private Twitter messages sent between the pair, which Ms Wilkinson said followed a public Twitter attack by Senator Reynolds after she had complimented Julie Bishop.
She denied these comments were “not objective” and that she “badly wanted” to hear criticisms of Ms Reynolds.
Ms Wilkinson was also able to reject suggestions, previously aired in the media, that she had “coached” Ms Higgins to answer certain questions in The Project interview in a leaked ‘off-the-record’ chat.
Ms Wilkinson says to Ms Higgins: “The answer you really need to think about is why didn’t you press charges. I have every confidence that you will answer that very eloquently, but it’s one you just need to really think about. Speak about the culture that, you know, I don’t want to put words in your mouth but if you can annunciate the fact that this place is all about suppression of people’s natural sense of justice.”
Mr Richardson suggested she was attempting to “coach” Ms Higgins.
Ms Wilkinson: “I disagree.”
She also disagreed that it was “inappropriate conduct as a journalist” and that she “crossed the line”.
The hearing continues on Friday.
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