Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann will face Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson in the Federal Court in Sydney on Wednesday, as the high-profile defamation case gets underway.
Lehrmann is suing Network Ten and Wilkinson over their coverage of allegations that raped Brittany Higgins in parliament house.
There have been no findings against Lehrmann, who has always denied the allegations. A criminal trial in the ACT collapsed due to juror misconduct, and a retrial was also abandoned over concern for Higgins’ health.
Wilkinson was the journalist who first interviewed Higgins for Network Ten’s The Project in February 2021 when she first went public with the allegations.
Lehrmann was not named in the interview, but Lehrmann has argued his name was widely searched on the internet and social media after the interview took place, and that it was known within parliament and elsewhere that he was the man at the centre of the claims.
Lehrmann has alleged that Wilkinson’s interview conveyed a series of false, defamatory meanings, including that he raped Higgins.
According to reports, Network Ten will seek to establish that its reporting on the matter was true and rely on the defence of qualified privilege.
It’s been reported that Wilkinson and Higgins may be called as witnesses during the case.
Lehrmann was also due to face the ABC in Federal Court over its broadcasting of a speech made by Higgins and Grace Tame at the National Press Club in February 2022. However, it’s been reported this morning that Lehrmann has settled the defamation case with the ABC.
The case against Network Ten and Wilkinson will be heard by Federal Court judge Michael Lee and it is expected the case will run for four weeks.