Bruce Lehrmann has lodged a notice of appeal with the federal court after a ruling was made earlier this year that, on the balance of probabilities, he did rape Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019.
Lehrmann was not named in the now-infamous The Project interview between Higgins and Lisa Wilkinson, but he claimed that the description was enough to identify him, sparking his defamation proceedings against Network Ten and Wilkinson last year.
Justice Michael Lee, who broke down his 300-plus page verdict in a lengthy hearing that was broadcast on the Federal Court’s YouTube channel in April this year, referred to the defamation trial as an “omnishambles” in which Lehrmann told “deliberate lies” and Higgins was “also an unsatisfactory witness” who made claims that were not backed up.
“Only one man and one woman know the truth, with certitude, of what happened,” he said, adding that those two people were “both, in different ways, unreliable historians”.
Justice Lee found that Lehrmann had lied about not providing material to Network Seven, ultimately undermining his credibility.
“His representations and evidence to the contrary were false to his knowledge on a serious matter, and this conclusion fortifies my assessment of his general credit”.
Higgins, he said, “made some allegations that made her a heroine to one group of partisans. When examined forensically (those allegations) have undermined her general credibility”. But he found her “credible” in her recollections of what happened that night in Parliament House.
Lee also acknowledged that the case had been inevitably wrapped up in the #MeToo movement and was further complicated by myths surrounding the behaviour of rape victims post-trauma.
“For more than a few, this dispute has become a proxy for broader cultural and political conflicts,” he said.
Despite escaping the trial relatively unscathed, Network Ten was not exempt from Lee’s judgement. Lee said that Ten was aware of the “unreliability of the main source” and claimed that attempts to reach Lehrmann for contact were unsatisfactory.
Taking all of this into account, Justice Lee declared that, on the basis of probabilities, Lehrmann did rape Higgins in Parliament House on that fateful night in 2019. Lee claimed that Lehrmann was “hellbent on having sex with a woman he found attractive” and was aware that Higgins was intoxicated and, therefore, not in a state to provide consent.
Based on this, Justice Lee dismissed the case, siding in favour of Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson.
Lehrmann continues to deny all allegations against him.
The Federal Court recently awarded costs against Lehrmann, meaning that he must pay both Network Ten and Wilkinson. It is not yet clear how much Lehrmann’s bill will amount to.
Lehrmann lodged his notice of claim for his appeal on Friday afternoon. No court date has yet been set.
A Member Of The Order Of Australia, as well as a multi-Walkley nominee and Logie-winning journalist, Wilkinson is one of Australia’s most admired and respected media personalities. She is set to give a keynote address at Cannes In Cairns tomorrow.
