The Australian Capital Territory chief minister, Andrew Barr, says his cabinet are closely examining whether to launch a “broad-ranging, independent” inquiry into the handling of the Bruce Lehrmann case.
The Guardian revealed last week an explosive letter of complaint, penned by director of public prosecutions Shane Drumgold SC, that alleged police launched a clear campaign of pressure to convince him not to pursue the Lehrmann case.
Drumgold also accused police of bullying Brittany Higgins, forcing her to insulate herself from further contact with them, and of cherry-picking and mischaracterising evidence in an attempt to make the case seem weak.
The police union and the police chief, Neil Gaughan, have since hit back. The former labelled the complaints as unjustified smears, while the latter described Drumgold’s allegations as untested and said he held concerns about the way the letter was released to the Guardian via freedom of information laws.
Police notes, previously revealed by the Australian newspaper, also show police had expressed doubts about the strength of the case and concerns about Higgins’ mental health, prior to the decision to charge Lehrmann.
Lehrmann has consistently maintained his innocence to allegations that he raped Higgins, a fellow political staffer, on a couch in the office of then defence industry minister, Linda Reynolds.
He pleaded not guilty to one charge of sexual intercourse without consent and the collapse of his trial in October due to juror misconduct leaves him with the presumption of innocence.
The allegations and the extraordinary rift between elements of the DPP and ACT Policing, the Australian Federal Police’s local policing arm, has prompted calls for an inquiry and raised concerns about the administration of justice in the territory.
On Monday afternoon, Barr’s cabinet discussed setting up an inquiry of some form. The attorney general, Shane Rattenbury, who has repeatedly backed Drumgold’s handling of the matter, briefed the cabinet on the proposal, alongside the ACT’s justice and community safety directorate.
Barr said the inquiry could be constituted to examine “issues raised by the actions of authorities involved in the Lehrmann trial”.
“The cabinet discussed how a broad-ranging, independent inquiry could help to identify the roles played by the parties involved in the trial and whether these actions were appropriate,” he said. “These discussions also noted that an [Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity] investigation is currently underway.”
Barr said the government would provide further updates in the coming days.
The trial’s collapse has prompted a series of legal threats and complaints. Lehrmann has engaged top defamation lawyer Mark O’Brien and is considering suing multiple media outlets for defamation, including the ABC, the Australian, and Channel 10’s The Project.
Lehrmann is also reportedly considering television interviews. News.com.au reported that he could be paid as much as $250,000 and has held talks with Seven.
Higgins has made a compensation claim, which is expected to go to mediation on Tuesday. She is also still awaiting the results of an internal police investigation into the leaking of police material to Lehrmann’s defence, including a USB stick containing her private counselling notes. Lehrmann’s defence say they did not access the documents.
Meanwhile, Drumgold’s allegations about police conduct are being investigated by the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity, the law enforcement integrity and corruption watchdog. That watchdog typically conducts its investigations away from the public eye.
