Network Ten wins bids to reopen Bruce Lehrmann defamation case

The defamation case brought by Bruce Lehrmann after he was accused by Brittany Higgins of rape will be sensationally reopened to hear new evidence — and this week’s scheduled judgment pushed back.

And a portion of the untested evidence that will be let in was then let out by the TV network being sued by Mr Lehrmann — involving allegations of drugs, golf, prostitutes, scallops and a tomahawk steak.

The eleventh-hour application by Network Ten to adduce the new evidence was heard in an early evening sitting at Sydney’s Federal Court on Tuesday.

And, despite his judgment being written and ready to go, Justice Michael Lee decided its unveiling could wait a few more days — so allegations that Mr Lehrmann engaged in “an outrageous contempt of court” could be heard and tested.

Those claims came from Ten’s barrister Matt Collins, who outlined that Mr Lehrmann had been given an “e-brief” of evidence compiled by the AFP ahead of his criminal trial in 2022.

That material included thousands of pages of texts between Ms Higgins and her former boyfriend, as well as audio of a hotel meeting between Ms Higgins and her interviewer Lisa Wilkinson, and CCTV from Parliament House.

And Dr Collins alleged that brief had been passed on by Mr Lehrmann to the Seven Network ahead of an exclusive interview last year.

In a statement on Tuesday night, Seven said it “strongly rejected the false and misleading claims” being put forward.

“The claims in the affidavits are being presented unchallenged,” a Seven Network spokesperson said.

“Seven has never revealed its source or sources and has no intention of doing so. Seven notes Mr Lehrmann’s court testimony last year that he was not the source. Furthermore, Seven did not condone or authorise the alleged payments to Mr Lehrmann referred to in the affidavits.

“As has been previously reported, the person involved admitted to the misuse of a Seven corporate card and all unauthorised expenses were immediately reimbursed. Seven notes that these proceedings remain before the court.”

Earlier Dr Collins told the court the supply of evidence from Mr Lehrmann, if proven, was in breach of a court undertaking, and intended to intimidate and pressure witnesses ahead of the defamation trial which he had been called on.

“Mr Lehrmann’s credit is central,” Dr Collins said.

“He told a series of falsehoods to a national audience on Spotlight. And he (provided) 2300-odd pages of the most intimate, private messages between (Ms Higgins) and a former boyfriend.

“No doubt in the hope that they would be broadcast and disseminated to her embarrassment , all of this done in the immediately up to a defamation trial before you are, you can only have been calculated to put pressure on witnesses and parties. . . It is the definition of an abuse of process. An outrageous contempt of court.”

They said the allegations went not only to Mr Lehrmann’s credit, but also to what damages he might receive.

And they said it also showed he was willing to breach a promise — and lie to his lawyers — in order to put pressure on Ms Higgins and others ahead of the defamation trial.

The new evidence centres on affidavits filed by disgruntled former Network Seven producer Taylor Auerbach.

He was one of the “handlers” who dealt with Mr Lehrmann ahead of his interview with the Spotlight show last year, conducted by Liam Bartlett.

And his affidavits contain several revelations about how that interview was secured, and then how Mr Lehrmann allegedly supplied the confidential material which was aired.

In court, Mr Lehrmann’s barrister Matthew Richardson poured scorn on the relevance of Mr Auerbach’s evidence, saying he had been “dancing in the sunlight” for the past two weeks.

“It’s really a lipstick on a pig in one way or another,” Mr Richardson said. “This stuff is trivial, it is not relevant.”

And he said some of the behaviour from Mr Auerbach had been “bizarre”, bringing up his two-minute press conference in March where he read a statement about Mr Lehrmann but refused to take questions from journalists.

Mr Richardson even suggested the former producer was suffering from a “psychiatric injury” that came because of his separation from Seven.

“Speaking frankly, multiple journalists, including I assume some of the back of the court, have described his appearances in public in recent weeks as bizarre,” he said.

“That is a word that has been used frequently.”

Mr Auerbach alleged not only was Seven paying for one apartment for Mr Lehrmann, they rented another in his name — and let Mr Lehrmann live there as well. That was said to total about $12,000.

Barrister Sue Chrysanthou hinted that would be astonishingly proved by a reflection of another producer in a photograph taken of text messages on a laptop.

And there were also mentions of high-end meals including scallops, and a tomahawk steak.

Even as the hearing continued, a broadcast on Network Ten revealed more of the untested contents of the affidavit.

They included claims that Mr Lehrmann had been treated to dinners at Sydney restaurants for about $900, a round of golf in Tasmania for about $400, and massages amounting to more than $10,000.

It was also alleged that Mr Lehrmann was reimbursed via a daily work allowance — some of which went towards “illicit drugs and prostitutes” at a Sydney brothel in January 2023.

Mr Richardson’s argument the new evidence was “trivial” was rejected by Justice Lee — who said the evidence would be heard in public. And Mr Auerbach would be called to court on Thursday to answer questions about it.

“This is clearly fresh evidence,” he said.

“I think the delay ... will be relatively minimal in the scheme of things. Although it would mean that I’ve been able I will be unable to deliver a judgment until at least next week.

Justice Lee also ordered the Seven Network to answer subpoenas. They will have to answer them on Thursday as well.

Mr Lehrmann is suing Ten and Wilkinson for defamation over an interview with Ms Higgins which aired on The Project in February 2021.

During the broadcast, Ms Higgins alleged she was raped by her former colleague inside Senator Linda Reynolds’ office in Parliament House after a night out drinking in the early hours of March 23, 2019.

Mr Lehrmann has maintained he did not have sexual intercourse with Ms Higgins after they travelled together back to Parliament House.

He claims he was defamed by the broadcast, despite it not naming him.

Mr Lehrmann stood trial in the ACT Supreme Court after pleading not guilty to sexually assaulting Ms Higgins, but the trial was aborted due to juror misconduct.

The charges were later dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions due to concerns about Ms Higgins’ mental health before Mr Lehrmann sued Ten and Ms Wilkinson in the Federal Court.