Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann has admitted to giving false answers to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in 2021 about why he came back to Parliament House on the night that Brittany Higgins was allegedly raped.
Lehrmann admitted to giving a false answer during day two of the proceedings into his defamation case against Channel Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson.
Higgins claimed that Lehrmann had sexually assaulted her in the office of Senator Linda Reynolds on March 23, 2019.
Three days later, Lehrmann had a meeting with Fiona Brown, Reynold’s chief of staff at the time, about a “security incident” at Parliament House. During that meeting, Lehrmann said that he returned to the office in the early hours to have a couple of glasses of whiskey.
However, in an interview with the AFP in April 2021, Lehrmann denied that he ever told Brown that whiskey was his reason for returning to Parliament House so late in the evening.
This prompted barrister Matthew Collins KC who is representing Channel Ten to question whether his response to the AFP was actually incorrect.
“Those answers to the Australian Federal Police were false?” Collins asked, per Nine News.
To which Lehrmann replied “Yes”.
“And you knew them to be false?” Collins replied.
“Not at the time,” Lehrmann responded.
During the court proceedings on Wednesday, Lehrmann claimed that he returned to Parliament House after leaving his keys. He also said that he wanted to work on some Question Time folders but as he forgot his pass, he had to lie to security guards so they’d allow him entry.
Lehrmann is currently in court suing Channel Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson for defamation over a report which featured on The Project in February 2021. In the report, Wilkinson interviewed Higgins about the alleged sexual assault.
During the opening arguments, Lehrmann’s barrister Matthew Richardson SC claimed that Lehrmann had come “seeking vindication for the defamation that has utterly destroyed him”.
Initially, the lawsuit was due to include the ABC alongside Channel Ten, until the network reached a settlement with Lehrmann outside of the court.
Lehrmann has always denied the allegations against him.
The trial continues.
