What Brittany Higgins told the court this afternoon
Higgins was back in the witness box this afternoon, continuing her evidence as Network Ten’s and Lisa Wilkinson’s first witness.
Bruce Lehrmann has brought a defamation case against Network Ten and Wilkinson over an interview with Higgins on the Project which aired on 15 February 2021 and was released online.
Ten and Wilkinson are defending the case – you can read more about their defences here.
Lehrmann has previously told the court he denied sexually assaulting Higgins.
Here’s what Higgins said this afternoon:
Higgins said she felt “hurt” that she was “just abandoned” by colleagues and employers after the alleged assault. She also said senator Linda Reynolds “actively avoided” her and “didn’t even like being in a room with me;
Higgins said she was “rebuffed” by chief of staff Fiona Brown when she asked if she could see the tapes from the multiple CCTV cameras in Parliament House;
Higgins explained that she took a photograph of a bruise on her thigh when she lost confidence in Brown’s handling of her case;
Higgins claimed Reynolds told her “I didn’t think he was capable of this” when they had a meeting at a table next to the couch on which she was allegedly raped;
Higgins said she was “distraught and upset” that someone had found her after she had been raped and they “didn’t try and wake me up and call for help”.
You can read a rundown of what Higgins told the court on Wednesday morning here.
Our wrap of Wednesday’s proceedings is below. Higgins will continue giving evidence on Thursday morning.
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Evidence ends for the day
Today’s hearing of the Bruce Lehrmann defamation case against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson has ended early due to a prior commitment and will recommence on Thursday morning.
Network Ten’s barrister, Matt Collins KC, spent the day taking Brittany Higgins through her evidence about being allegedly sexually assaulted by Lehrmann in senator Linda Reynolds’ office in 2019 after a night when she had consumed at least 12 vodkas and was “more drunk than she had ever been in her life”.
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Higgins felt ‘hurt’ that she was ‘just abandoned’ after alleged assault
Brittany Higgins has told the court she sent an email to the police on 13 April withdrawing her complaint against Lehrmann and thanking them for helping her.
Higgins said she accepted a job in Western Australia but she was suicidal and felt very alone because she didn’t know anyone in Perth.
Higgins told the court that senator Linda Reynolds avoided speaking to her or going to events with her.
She actively avoided me and didn’t even like being in a room with me.
“She would never talk to me. She wouldn’t go to events with me, yeah, she just wouldn’t talk to me.
And all the people that I was working with day in, day out were all Bruce’s former colleagues … And they knew the reason that he was fired was in relation to me. So it was this weird thing … people were treating me kind of weirdly and weren’t overly nice.
Higgins said at the time she believed Lehrmann was a “bad person” who did a bad thing but she was really hurt by the way her colleagues and employers had abandoned her.
I was really personally hurt by all these people that I loved, or, you know, worked with in my time of need when something horrendous happened, all these good people did nothing … I can’t explain how hurt I was that I was just abandoned.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
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Higgins describes in court how she began to feel let down by her employers after alleged rape
Brittany Higgins has told the court she was “rebuffed” by her chief of staff Fiona Brown when she asked if she could see the tapes from the multiple CCTV cameras in Parliament House.
“She rebuffed it, she didn’t really answer it,” Higgins said.
Higgins says after the alleged rape she had taken it upon herself to count the cameras on the corridors along the route she had taken when she walked with Lehrmann from the security gate to Reynolds’ office.
“I made a point in that first week of counting all the cameras in between, you know, where we entered and where we got to, and there was seven,” she said.
“They [the cameras] had to have seen something.”
After believing she had been rebuffed by Brown she gave up pushing for the vision. “I wasn’t in a position of power to keep pushing it,” she said.
Higgins said she began to feel let down by her employers because they said she could move to Queensland to be near her family, but she would have to terminate her employment.
The minister’s staff did offer her a job in the Western Australian office during the election campaign but she did not want to move to WA, she said.
Higgins said she took a photograph of a bruise on her thigh and she reached out to a colleague to contact the prime minister’s office on her behalf when she lost confidence in Brown’s handling of her case.
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Higgins claims Reynolds said ‘these are things that women go through’ and ‘I didn’t think he was capable of this’ after alleged rape
Brittany Higgins said she was so traumatised when she met Senator Linda Reynolds and her chief of staff Fiona Brown for a meeting on a Monday morning because they were sitting at a table next to the couch on which she was allegedly raped.
She said she was calm going into work but “dissociated” when she entered the ministerial suite.
She recounted what Reynolds had said to her.
The minister apologised … [She] said ‘I’m sorry’.
She said ‘these are things that women go through’.
She said ‘if you go to the police, please keep us informed’.
She said ‘I didn’t think he was capable of this’. And from that I inferred she was talking about Bruce.
I was pretty traumatised being back in that room … I don’t remember specific words she said other than those sort of four key phrases that I really hold on to.
After the meeting Higgins went to see the police in the basement of Parliament House to report the rape, because she believed she had the support of the minister.
She spoke to two female police officers.
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Higgins 'distraught and upset' that someone had found her after alleged rape and hadn't tried to help
Brittany Higgins said her chief of staff Fiona Brown had markedly changed her tone when she had a second meeting with her after disclosing she had allegedly been raped.
It was, at the start, very empathetic and very warm and helpful.
And then I noticed that it was a very clinical change in terms of her tone and it became very procedural and, yeah, it was like night and day, it was different.
Higgins said she re-signed a code of conduct presented to her by Brown at the second meeting and believed it to be a formality.
She told the court she sent text messages to a colleague about how upset she was that someone from security had found her in the middle of the night and not tried to help her.
Because I was really distraught and upset that there had been someone in the middle of the night who had found me just after I’ve been raped and they didn’t try and wake me up and call for help or, I don’t know, I was just – I was upset.
Higgins said she took a day off work on the Friday because she was not coping. Her father and his partner visited her in Canberra on the weekend and she told him something “bad” had happened but not the detail of the alleged assault.
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Higgins says she was ‘shocked’ when Liberal staffer told her she had been found naked by security guard
Brittany Higgins said she was shocked when a senior Liberal staffer told her she had been found naked by a security guard in a Parliament House office in the middle of the night.
Higgins told the court she had a meeting with a department liaison officer, Christopher Payne, who saw she was upset. He had pulled her aside to “check in” and he told her information she had not previously been aware of.
He told me that I had been found naked in the middle of the night at Parliament House.
And I didn’t know that information before. So to me, I’m shocked. I was upset. Fiona [Brown] hadn’t disclosed that to me. And it was the first time I really felt this massive amount of mistrust with the office because he had this information I didn’t know anyone else had known.
Higgins said she also went for a walk with an aide-de-camp who worked in the minister’s office, Nikita Irvine, and told her that Bruce Lehrmann had sexually assaulted her.
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Higgins back in witness box
Brittany Higgins is back in the witness box to continue her evidence after a lunch break.
This morning she was recounting her initial meeting with the chief of staff Fiona Brown when she disclosed for the first time that she had been sexually assaulted.
She broke down when discussing how hard it was to tell her father that she had been raped.
Ten’s silk, Matt Collins KC, is asking her about what happened with Brown in the days after the alleged rape.
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What Brittany Higgins has told the court so far today
Higgins appeared on the witness stand this morning as Network Ten’s and Lisa Wilkinson’s first witness in the defamation trial brought by Bruce Lehrmann against Network Ten and Wilkinson.
Ten and Wilkinson are defending the case – you can read more about their defences here.
Lehrmann has previously told the court he denied sexually assaulting Higgins.
Here’s what we heard during her at-times emotional testimony to court this morning:
Higgins said Bruce Lehrmann snatched her phone “in jest” and told her to stay and have another drink the first night she met him.
Later that night, Lehrmann tried to kiss her on the lips while she was waiting for an Uber, Higgins told the court.
On the night of the alleged rape, Higgins said Lehrmann bought her a drink and treated her like an equal. She said she was drunk and embarrassing herself by slurring and being “messy”, but she didn’t go home “at the insistence” of others.
Higgins said she remembered Lehrmann being “handsy” at the nightclub the night of the alleged rape, and feeling “discomfort but not wanting to vocalise the discomfort”.
Higgins said she was very intoxicated and couldn’t remember taking off her shoes or talking to security when she arrived at Parliament House.
The court heard Higgins’ graphic description of the alleged sexual assault. She said that a pain in her leg is what woke her up, and she found Lehrmann was on top of her “having sex with me”.
Higgins said Lehrmann left her on the couch and she could not physically get herself off the couch. She responded to a text message while still in parliament by saying she was fine because she was still in shock and not ready to talk about what had happened. “I think it was because I was so shocked about being in the minister’s office. And I was freaked out,” she said.
Higgins said on the Monday after the alleged assault Lehrmann was “acting so normal”. She said she was relieved that he was ignoring the incident.
Higgins described telling the chief of staff Fiona Brown that she had been sexually assaulted. Higgins said: “I remember him [Bruce] on top of me”. “And she … used the words ‘Oh, god’,” Higgins told the court.
Higgins is due to continue giving evidence at 2pm.
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Hearing adjourned until 2pm after Higgins breaks down in witness box
Brittany Higgins became so emotional while discussing disclosing her alleged rape that Justice Michael Lee adjourned the hearing for an early lunch break.
She broke down when speaking about her father visiting her in Canberra and how she wanted to tell him she had been raped but it was a very difficult conversation to have.
Higgins: “I think I called him … [and] I said that I was having a really hard time. I was really excited to see him.”
Collins: “Why didn’t you tell him about what had happened?”
Higgins, her voice breaking, replied: “Oh, my dad.”
The court will resume at 2pm with Higgins in the witness box.
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Court hears Higgins’ recount of disclosure of alleged rape to Fiona Brown
Brittany Higgins is recounting her first meeting with the chief of staff Fiona Brown when she disclosed for the first time that she had been sexually assaulted.
Higgins said she had just watched as Bruce Lehrmann finished his meeting with Brown and packed up his office and she believed he may have been fired.
Higgins said Brown told her there had been a security breach and was noticeably shocked when Higgins said “I remember him [Bruce] on top of me”.
“And she … used the words ‘Oh, god’.”
“I was really hysterical crying at that point. And she gave me tissues.”
Higgins told the court she remembers telling Brown she came back to Parliament House with Lehrmann and she was “completely inebriated”.
“And it was the first time I’d ever disclosed the rape to someone,” Higgins said. “I didn’t use the word rape in that first meeting. It was like a confronting word. But I said … that I was assaulted and I said he was on top of me.”
Higgins said Brown offered her support in the form of a phone call to the employee assistance program and said she could go home, but when she called the number on the brochure she could not get an appointment for several months.
Higgins said Brown also showed her a copy of the ministerial statement of standards and said she would have to inform the prime minister Scott Morrison’s office.
The court has taken an early lunch adjournment to give Higgins a break.
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Higgins tells court Lehrmann ‘was acting so normal’ at work
Brittany Higgins is recounting her recollections of her interactions with Bruce Lehrmann after he allegedly raped her on a Friday night in Parliament House.
On Monday morning he brought her a coffee and over the weekend he sent her a work email, she told court.
“He was acting so normal,” Higgins said after Lehrmann brought her a coffee, and sent her emails about work matters but never indicated anything had happened between them.
She said he was surprisingly friendly to her and sent her an email with a smiling emoji which she thought was creepy.
“I think because we’d never had … a friendly social relationship,” Higgins said. “And then suddenly after he raped me there was this familiarity and a smiley face that I felt was undeserved. And it … just gave me the heebie jeebies. I don’t know, it just really freaked me out.”
She said she was relieved that he was ignoring the incident.
“And he wanted to normalise the situation, which I was kind of weirdly relieved at,” she said.
She said she was relieved because it may have meant Lehrmann did not tell people at work they had had consensual sex, which she was afraid he would do.
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Higgins tells court she woke up on minister’s couch hours after alleged sexual assault
Higgins has told the court Bruce Lehrmann left her on the couch in the minister’s office and she could not physically get herself off the couch. She woke up hours later and she was still on the couch.
“I was sick and I felt really gross still,” she said. “So I wanted to get something to eat, to put something in my stomach so I could feel a bit better. So I went to the kitchen and I found a box of Roses chocolates and I sat [and ate the whole box].”
Higgins said she tried to make herself look presentable and she borrowed a jacket from a charity box to cover herself up and left through the security desk and got in an Uber.
Higgins said she responded to a text message while still in parliament by saying she was fine because she was still in shock and not ready to talk about what had happened.
Higgins: “I don’t know [why I said I was fine]. I have no idea. I think I was just scared … I don’t know why I said I was fine.
“I think it was because I was so shocked about being in the minister’s office. And I was freaked out.”
She arrived home after 10am on the Saturday morning and spent all weekend crying in bed and ordering Uber Eats.
“I was in a depressive state and not talking to anyone.”
She arrived at work on Monday morning by 8am and tried to focus on her work and said she coped by “dissociating”.
She saw Bruce Lehrmann when he dropped a long black off at her desk in administration, she told the court.
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Court hears Higgins’ graphic descriptions of alleged sexual assault
A warning for readers: this post contains graphic details of allegations of sexual assault.
The court has heard the next thing Brittany Higgins remembers after being on the window ledge is waking up on the minister’s couch in her private office.
A pain in her leg is what woke her up, with Higgins saying Bruce Lehrmann was on top of her “having sex with me”.
“The first thing I remember when I woke up was a pain in my leg,” Higgins said through tears. “That was the thing that kind of shook me up and Bruce on top of me [and] my head was in the back corner of the couch.
“He was on top of me; his arms were over the top of the couch. He was having sex with me at that point in time.
“And that was when I first woke up to at that point in time, and it’s like the next touch point.”
She said she said no “on a loop” and he ignored her and she wanted to scream but she couldn’t.
“My head was jammed in a corner and he was on top of me … he wasn’t looking at me he was lurched over the top of me.
“I was spread open and exposed. I had one leg open on the side of the couch …”
He did not acknowledge her multiple pleas to stop and he sped up and climaxed, she said.
She said Lehrmann ejaculated inside her and then got up and left without speaking to her.
“I don’t believe he came anywhere else except inside of me.”
Lehrmann has previously told the court he denied sexually assaulting Higgins.
• Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available in Australia at 1800Respect (1800 737 732).
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A warning for readers: this blog contains graphic details of allegations of sexual assault.
Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available in Australia at 1800Respect (1800 737 732).
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Higgins tells court of going through security at Parliament House
Brittany Higgins has told the court Bruce Lehrmann said to her “just be quiet” before they went through the security desk at Parliament House.
“I remember being at security and him saying something to the effect of ‘just be quiet’ and I kind of just remember standing there and letting him handle it.
“I don’t remember the actual words spoken or engagement with security guards, but I remember being there. The next thing I clearly remember... is fiddling with my shoes, but I don’t remember giving up on the shoes altogether [and carrying them through the corridor].
She said she was by herself on a window ledge for a period of time in the ministerial suite wondering where Lehrmann was, and wanting to go home.
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Higgins starts to cry as she tells court of going to Parliament House with Lehrmann
Brittany Higgins has started to cry as she tells the court about Bruce Lehrmann stopping at Parliament House after she recalled him saying he had to pick something up from his office after a night out.
Higgins said she was very drunk and she thought Lehrmann was going to drop her home but he said he had to go to parliament house first to pick something up.
“I remember him getting out and then I had to get out,” Higgins said. “I don’t know why. So we did. And I remember walking up to I think it’s the ministerial entrance. So it’s the entrance to the back of Parliament.”
As the tears flowed, Justice Michael Lee told Higgins she should let him know if she needs a break.
She said she just needs a minute and she continued her evidence.
She said she was very intoxicated but she can’t remember taking her shoes off or talking to security.
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Higgins tells court she remembers Lehrmann being 'handsy' at nightclub
Higgins has told the court Lehrmann was touching her thighs, had his arm around her and was “all over in my space” while sitting close to him at the 88mph nightclub after midnight.
Asked if she had a recollection of any interactions with Lehrmann at the nightclub, she said she remembers him being “handsy” with her and she didn’t like it but she tolerated it.
“Yes. I remember him sitting really close to me. I remember him having his arm around my shoulder. I remember him touching me. And I remember having … a thought process of discomfort but not wanting to vocalise the discomfort.
“So I remember that I called it handsy; and I felt him being handsy with me.”
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Higgins tells court she was drunk but didn’t go home ‘at the insistence’ of others
Brittany Higgins said Bruce Lehrmann was nice to her for the first time at The Dock and she remembers him buying her a drink, chatting and she felt like he was treating her like an equal.
Up until then she had thought he treated her like a secretary by asking her to do menial tasks.
She said she was drunk and embarrassing herself by slurring and being “messy” but she didn’t go home “at the insistence” of others.
She has trouble remembering the details around why she left The Dock at midnight and went to a nightclub.
“I just don’t specifically remember the conversation between the group going ‘let’s go to a different venue’. I don’t remember that chat. I don’t, I don’t specifically remember the conversation in that first Uber or cab ride to [the nightclub] 88mph.”
Higgins said she sat in a booth and “the boys” brought her drinks, including in the form of shots.
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Higgins asked about events leading up to hours of alleged rape
Brittany Higgins is being asked about the events leading up to the early morning hours when she alleges she was raped by Bruce Lehrmann after a night of drinking at Canberra venues.
She told the court she went home after work and took off her cardigan which she had covering her white pencil dress for parliament, drank a glass of wine and packed an evening bag to join colleagues from work at The Dock.
She had arranged to meet a man she had met from a dating app as well as Lehrmann and other colleagues and media advisers.
Higgins says she can’t remember how much she drank but she knows she had 11 drinks at the Dock “either singles or doubles” after she watched the CCTV footage at the criminal trial.
She said she had no more than a sip of water and one slice of pizza.
“We mostly just talked and socialised,” Higgins said. “And there were other people sort of in the vicinity of The Dock that I sort of broadly knew from living in Canberra for a couple months.
“But it was super informal, and it was mostly just about kind of getting to know the person at the other end of your email … [and] putting a face to a name so it was nice.”
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Lehrmann 'tried to kiss me on the lips' while waiting for Uber, Higgins tells court
Brittany Higgins has told the federal court Bruce Lehrmann surprised her when he tried to kiss her on the lips while she was waiting for an Uber.
The two Liberal staffers had left a pub shortly after Higgins joined Reynolds’ ministerial office, Higgins told the court.
“He came into my space and he tried to kiss me on the lips,” Higgins said.
Collins: “By ‘came into space’ just explain what you mean?”
Higgins: “He walked, he took a step forward, so we’re not standing far from each other, he took a step forward and he tried to kiss me on the lips.”
Collins: “And what did you do?”
Higgins: “I apologised. I was shocked. I said no.”
Higgins said she thought perhaps she had “led him on or something” and so she brushed it off and didn’t discuss it with him or anyone else.
“I just naturally thought that maybe I’d done something to give him that impression. So I didn’t think much of it and I felt embarrassed by the whole thing.”
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Bruce Lehrmann has arrived at court this morning:
He is now present in the courtroom as Brittany Higgins gives her evidence – sitting in the front row in the furthest seat from the witness box.
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Lisa Wilkinson is at court again today, photographed arriving with her legal team:
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Higgins tells court Lehrmann snatched her phone 'in jest' on night she first met him
Brittany Higgins said Bruce Lehrmann snatched her phone “in jest” and told her to stay and have another drink on the night she first met him in Canberra at a celebration drinks for Linda Reynolds who had been promoted.
“I was told to stay for another drink,” Higgins said.
Network Ten silk Matt Collins asked: “Who told you to stay for another drink?
Higgins: “Mr Lehrmann.”
Higgins said she got her phone back and eventually did leave and ordered an Uber to meet a friend.
“I could no longer drive because I’d had too much to drink,” Higgins told the court. “So I didn’t have the ability to drive to go to my next appointment to see my friend and then it was like a joke so I couldn’t leave and order an Uber.
“I think that’s why Mr Lehrmann took my phone.”
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Brittany Higgins begins her evidence
Brittany Higgins has begun her evidence. She says she lived in the outer suburbs of Canberra, in Woden, and worked in the office of Steven Ciobo, the former minister for trade in the Morrison government.
She says she actively pursued a job in Linda Reynolds’ office after she realised Ciobo was leaving parliament.
She contacted Reynolds’ staff and indicated her interest in a role in the minister’s office.
At the time she had not met Bruce Lehrmann but was aware of him through Liberal circles.
She joined Reynolds’ staff for drinks at the Kingston Hotel in Canberra to discuss a job and was introduced to Lehrmann, as well as others.
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Here is Brittany Higgins arriving at court this morning
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Court hearing begins
The federal court is live and Justice Michael Lee has reminded members of the public watching via YouTube that they should not record the proceedings.
Lee said “vilifying witnesses or victimising witnesses” who give evidence can amount to a contempt of court.
The hearing should be wrapped up by 14 December, Lee said.
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More on that Walkleys story:
Seven Network journalists Liam Bartlett, Steve Jackson and Mark Llewellyn were finalists in the all media scoop of the year category for the program Trial and Error, which included an exclusive interview with Lehrmann, but the category was won by The Daily Telegraph’s Cooma Taser Scandal.
After the evidence emerged in the federal court, Seven defended the Spotlight program and said the network had disclosed the payment as “accommodation costs”.
“We said at the time we were assisting Bruce Lehrmann with his accommodation costs,” a spokesperson said. “It was well-reported back then.
“The 7NEWS Spotlight report was rightfully judged by the esteemed Walkley Foundation as one of the top three scoops of 2023.”
In May, in answer to a question about payment for an interview, the Seven Network told Guardian Australia: “7NEWS Spotlight made no payment to Bruce Lehrmann for the interview, however the program assisted with accommodation as part of the filming of the report”.
On Tuesday the court heard that under the agreement with Seven, the network would have access to relevant documents, film, video, photographs and “items of assistance reasonably requested”.
Lehrmann agreed with that but said he did not give them anything except the interview.
“No, I just gave an interview,” Lehrmann said.
The Walkley Foundation’s terms and conditions state that entrants must declare any payments or benefits provided.
“This will not necessarily disqualify an entry – transparency is important for the judging process,’’ the rules say.
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Walkeys to investigate Seven's Lehrmann rent deal for award-nominated interview
The Walkley Foundation will examine revelations at Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial that a 7 News report was the result of a commercial deal between Lehrmann and the Seven Network.
The Spotlight program had been nominated for a Walkey award in the category of “scoop of the year”.
“The Walkley Foundation is aware of media reports of evidence given today by Mr Lehrmann regarding payment for accommodation connected with the 7News Spotlight interview that was a finalist for the ‘Scoop of the Year’ Walkley Award,” the Walkley Foundation told Guardian Australia.
“The Walkley Foundation is considering its position.”
The court heard on Tuesday Seven’s Spotlight program had compensated Lehrmann for two interviews by paying for his rental property in Sydney for 12 months.
Lehrmann was asked: “Was it part of that agreement that you were paid for 12 months’ accommodation by Channel Seven?’
Lehrmann replied: “That’s the only part … that’s what I get.”
The total amount was not disclosed and Lehrmann said he didn’t know how much it was because Seven handled the payment.
“Network Seven organised the accommodation,” Lehrmann said about the payment which extends to June 2024.
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Watch hearing live on YouTube
This blog will cover major developments during the day.
In the interests of open justice and due to significant public interest, the federal court is livestreaming this case.
You can follow the Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial live stream on YouTube here.
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Brittany Higgins returns to witness stand to give ‘distressing’ evidence
Brittany Higgins will continue her “graphic and distressing” evidence in the witness box today at the defamation trial brought by Bruce Lehrmann against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson.
Ten and Wilkinson are defending the case and you can read more about their defences here:
Higgins had only five minutes in the box at the end of a long day on Tuesday which saw Lehrmann finish up his cross-examination by Ten silk Matt Collins KC.
Collins told the federal court in his opening for the defence that Higgins would give “graphic and distressing” evidence which Justice Michael Lee would find was true, and it would be supported by 20 witnesses.
“She will also give evidence about her relationship with Mr Lehrmann in the period before that night, and of conduct after the alleged sexual assault that is consistent with that assault having occurred,” Collins said.
Lehrmann has denied raping Higgins and pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual intercourse without consent. His criminal trial was abandoned due to juror misconduct and the second did not proceed due to prosecutors’ fears for Higgins’ mental health.
Higgins began by answering questions about her education and her ambitions to work in politics after volunteering for the Liberals while still at university.
The court will sit at 9.30am today.
