Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial live blog: Ex-Spotlight producer Taylor Auerbach returns to give more evidence

Justice Lee has adjourned - with no clear indication of when his final judgment will be handed down.

“I’ll let you know as quickly as I can early next week is when I consider I’m going to be in a position to be able to deliver charge on after having gone through this not insignificant amount of additional material,” he says.

“Not Monday, Tuesday ... you can you can rest assured.

“I’ll try to give you as much notice as possible, Believe me, there is a symmetry of interest. getting this out as quickly as possible.”

Court is adjourned.

Mr Richardson says in conclusion that Mr Auerbach should not be taken took seriously.

I accept ... if you have already formed views about my client’s credit, that could impact this assessment,” he says.

“Our position in short, is that Mr Auerbach is unreliable. There are gaps in his evidence ... and his evidence that is not enough for an adverse credit finding.”

Mr Richardson also says the allegation that the alleged leaks were calcualted to pressure witnesses is baseless.

“There’s no evidence that anyone was put under pressure in that way, or that any witness felt that kind of pressure - there’s no evidence of any intention,” he says.

“The notion that this evidence discloses some kind of new abuse of process, which could independently reduce damages should be rejected.”

Matthew Richardson now stands up to give his take on Mr Auerbach’s evidence.

And he says it has not “moved the dial”.

He points out that today, it has emerged that the only physical invoice found by Network Seven was for $750.

“Even the least worldly person in this room - which regrettably is probably me - that is a stretch,” Mr Richardson said.

He points to some of Mr Auerbach’s evasive answers to questions.

“There is no document that does support the idea that he got a promotion and a pay rise,” he says.

“There was his denial, his very strange denial, that the (golf clubs) video with the caption and the actions didn’t show him displaying hatred for Mr Jackson.

“I must hurry off to the Federal Court and reveal all ... but that when he was actually asked about when he found the material, and when he knew about it, he was very evasive.”

Lawyers for Lisa Wilkinson have now stood up to add their submissions about the Auerbach evidence.

They say the only conclusion to come to is that Mr Lehrmann could be the only source of the confidential information to Spotlight, inlcuding the “master chronology” apparently prepared by his lawyer Steven Whybrow.

And they go further - saying Mr Lehrmann’s conduct was so discreditable, that it should mean that any damages he could possibly receive in the defamation case should be negligible, or nil.

“That conduct of itself is so disreputable that it significantly reduces damages,” barrister Barry Dean said.

Dr Collins has concluded his submissions.

And Justice Lee has immediately come up with his summation of what he has made of Mr Auerbach’s evidence.

“It is very unusual that you get in the witness box, and you see a witness ... saying they hate people,” Justice Lee said.

“It’s very unusual for that degree of animus that one sees from the golf club video.

“And one could rationally form the view that this is a man who desperately wanted to do as much damage to his previous employer as he as he could conceivably do.

“That doesn’t mean he’s not a truth teller, but don’t put him up as some sort of noble public interested person who was coming along to get something off his chest.

“He’s a man who wanted to make a range of allegations against people under absolute privilege.”

Dr Collins is closing his submissions on the new evidence, and what Ten says it shows.

“What Mr Lehrmann does is he brings a defamation case, goes in the public domain in the period leading up to the defamation case - and then does a deal with Channel Seven for an exclusive interview.

“He breaches his Harman undertaking and causes a broadcast to a national audience riddled with falsehoods ... riddled with allegations about persons who are coming to be witnesses in this case,

“This ... must have been calculated, on that hypothesis, to put pressure on Ms Higgins not to come to this court and give evidence, pressure on Channel 10 and Miss Wilkinson to settle the case

“And pressure on witnesses not to cooperate with Network 10 by coming along and giving an honest account of their recollections.”

Justice Lee points out an alternative hypothesis.

“Him creating ... seeking an audience for his side of the story,” he says.

“Isn’t that equally open?”

Dr Collins presses his point.

The conduct ... that’s been exposed ... over the last day and a half or so goes to the core of Mr Lehrmann’s honesty and integrity,” he says.

“And it shows ... a profound disregard for the orderly administration of justice in the proceedings.”

Dr Collins is now going through an email sent by Mr Auerbach to his bosses, summing up what had fallen out of a meeting with Mr Lehrmann’s media manager John Macgowan.

That rundown included an apparent demand that he do one long sit-down interview with Seven.

And it was also said that he was lining up other some other interviews - with former UK tablod editor Piers Morgan and right-wing Fox News prseneter Tucker Carlson.

Dr Collins sai ultimately the court should find that Mr Lehrmann breached his ‘Harman’ undertaking - that he not use confidential material for any other reason.

And certainly not show and share that material to a journalist.

Dr Collins is now turning to the alleged behaviour of the Spotlight staff while they negotiated with Mr Lehrmann.

He called the atmosphere around the show a “perverse universe” - where Mr Auerbach claimed that he spent $10,000 on “the company credit card on illicit activities” and was not sacked.

But Justice Lee is now questioning why he needs to form a view about evidence he describes as “sordid”.

“It would not be, I don’t think of any particular use to engage in a process of unnecessary factfinding,” Justice Lee said.

“Both sides have made robust submissions that both principal witnesses or persons (Mr Lehrmann and Ms Higgins) are liars.”

And so Dr Collins cuts to the chase.

“A breach ... that is truly discreditable,” he says about Mr Lehrmann’s conduct, pointing out that he denied leaking to Spotlight to the court and repeatedly to his lawyers.

Dr Collins is now beginning his summing up of what he says the evidence of Mr Auerbach means - turning first to the text messages between Ms Higgins and her former boyfriend Mr Dillaway.

“Mr. Auerbach’s evidence is clear and coherent,” Dr Collins said.

“They were in Tasmania. We’ve got the receipts to show that.

“It was a golf trip in Tasmania and Mr. Auerbach’s evidence is that on that golf trip, the document was airdropped.

“He was the one charged with building a rapport with Mr Lehrmann. he had built that rapport.

“And the reason a 32 year old producer of a spotlight has that document on his phone is they were airdropped to him by Mr Lehrmann.”

That was in breach of a court undertaking, he said, and not a trifling or excusable matter.

“It goes squarely to Mr Lehrmann’s attitude towards the administration of justice,” Dr Collins said.