Watch live: Bruce Lehrmann faces cross-examination in defamation trial

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Former federal Liberal political staffer Bruce Lehrmann returns to the witness box on Thursday in his high-stakes defamation case against Network Ten and prominent journalist Lisa Wilkinson, after the court heard he will “submit himself to cross-examination” in a bid to vindicate his reputation.

Lehrmann alleges an interview Wilkinson conducted with his former colleague Brittany Higgins, aired on The Project on February 15, 2021, defamed him by suggesting he raped Higgins in then-defence industry minister Linda Reynolds’ office in March 2019.

Former NSW Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann leaving the Federal Court in Sydney on Thursday.Credit: Steven Siewert

Lehrmann was not named in the interview but Federal Court Justice Michael Lee must decide if he was identified via other means.

If the court finds he was identified, Ten and Wilkinson are seeking to rely in part on a truth defence. The media outlet has previously told the court the network would call 28 witnesses, including Higgins and Wilkinson.

Lip-reading expert engaged

On the first day of the trial in the Federal Court in Sydney on Wednesday, Ten’s barrister, Matt Collins, KC, revealed that the network had engaged a lip-reading expert to analyse CCTV footage showing Lehrmann and Higgins with colleagues at a bar in Canberra in the hours before the alleged rape.

“I propose to put propositions to Mr Lehrmann. In due course I’ll ask Ms Higgins what she thinks she was saying at different points,” Collins said.

Collins said Ten “deliberately chose an expert from the United Kingdom who had no familiarity with either Ms Higgins or Mr Lehrmann”.

‘Seeking vindication’

Lehrmann’s barrister, Matthew Richardson, SC, said in his opening address to the court on Wednesday that his client was “seeking vindication for the defamation that has utterly destroyed him. He comes here for justice”.

“He understands that he can’t persuade everybody but, following the withdrawal of the criminal proceedings against him, he brings these proceedings against his most prominent accusers: Channel Ten, and Lisa Wilkinson and The Project.”

Lisa Wilkinson outside the Federal Court in Sydney on Wednesday with her barrister, Sue Chrysanthou, SC.Credit: Steven Siewert

Lehrmann was named in the media in August 2021, six months after the Ten interview, when he was charged with sexual intercourse without consent. He pleaded not guilty to the charge. His trial was aborted in October last year due to juror misconduct.

The charge was later dropped altogether amid concerns about Higgins’ mental health. Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence.

Cross-examination

Richardson told the court on Wednesday that “for some people, the guilt of our client, Mr Lehrmann, is an article of faith”, while there was “undoubtedly a group of people who have always believed my client’s denial of the allegation”.

Others were “standing in the middle”, Richardson said, and “they understand that when there are no eyewitnesses, no audiovisual recording, no audio recording, no admissions, just two competing versions, that the best society can manage is to weigh that evidence in court in front of an impartial judge”.

“He will say what happened to him,” Richardson said. “He will submit himself to cross-examination.”

Lehrmann started giving his evidence-in-chief on Wednesday afternoon and will continue on Thursday, before Ten’s barrister begins his cross-examination of Lehrmann.

‘Severely isolated’

The former staffer told the court on Wednesday his interactions with friends and acquaintances changed “drastically” after the interview aired on The Project.

“I became severely isolated,” he told the court. “De-friending, cutting me off, removing me from group chats, blocking me, the list goes on.

“It sent me in a deep spiral. This, coupled with mainstream media, what was happening on social media contributed to my … quite significant mental health struggles in the early parts there.

“I worked out who my real friends are, that’s for sure, which are not many.”

Cases settled

Lehrmann has settled cases brought against News Corp and the ABC. The ABC case had been due to go to trial alongside the Ten proceedings.

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