The ACT's top prosecutor is set to return to his role on Monday, having been away for the past six weeks after coming under fire at an inquiry into the Parliament House rape case.
Canberra's legal community has been abuzz with rumours one of the top prosecutors in NSW was being lined up to become the ACT's first female Director of Public Prosecutions.
But it seems Shane Drumgold SC will survive, at least for now, the controversy that has surrounded him since he took the witness stand at an independent inquiry in early May.
Mr Drumgold was, ironically, the first person to call for the inquiry into the case against former Liberal Party staffer Bruce Lehrmann, who denies raping Brittany Higgins at Parliament House when the pair worked for Senator Linda Reynolds in 2019.
No findings have been made against Mr Lehrmann, with the rape charge levelled at him abandoned in the wake of a mistrial brought about by juror misconduct.
Mr Drumgold has alleged police improperly pressured him not to prosecute Mr Lehrmann.
He has also claimed investigators aligned themselves with Mr Lehrmann's lawyers once a charge was laid, telling the inquiry he feared federal politicians might have pressured police to make the matter "go away".
Mr Drumgold subsequently conceded he had been "mistaken" about the possibility of a political conspiracy.
He has also admitted misrepresenting a document to Chief Justice Lucy McCallum in court, though he insists he did not do this intentionally.
Further, he conceded he should have given television host Lisa Wilkinson a stronger warning about an infamous speech that resulted in Mr Lehrmann's trial being delayed for months.
Following his series of damaging concessions, Mr Drumgold went on leave in mid-May.
He did not return to the witness box to complete his evidence to the inquiry, which is expected to report to the territory government next month with its findings on the conduct of Mr Drumgold, police and ACT Victims of Crime Commissioner Heidi Yates.
One of Mr Drumgold's deputy directors, Anthony Williamson SC, has been acting in his role during his extended absence.
