- Network Ten seeks to overturn defamation ruling
- The station demanded Bruce Lehrmann pay a fee of $200,000
- READ MORE: Lisa Wilkinson’s last chance
Network Ten has demanded Bruce Lehrmann pay a $200,000 security payment before his defamation appeal can proceed, but he has refused to pay.
In a Federal Court filing on Friday, the broadcaster argued that Judge Michael Lee’s decision in Lehrmann’s lawsuit against Ten and The Project should be upheld.
Lehrmann had sued networker and TV host Lisa Wilkinson over a 2021 episode of The Project, during which her former colleague Brittany Higgins publicly alleged that he raped her in Parliament in 2019.
But in April, Judge Lee found, on a balance of probabilities, that Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins in the way she described in the interview with Wilkinson, meaning Ten and Wilkinson won the case on its main defense of the truth.
Bruce Lehrmann (pictured outside court) lost his defamation trial in the Federal Court in April
They lost the defense of qualified secondary privilege, meaning they did not act fairly or reasonably before or after the story aired.
Lehrmann filed an appeal to annul the convictions against him, for which the television network asked him to pay the guarantee amount.
He had already received a bill for $2 million to cover the costs of the defamation case in December.
There were doubts about whether he could pay the bill. He did not have a financier to finance the case, his lawyers worked for no profit and without receiving fees, and he will represent himself in the appeal.
Network Ten is believed to have made the demand to Lehrmann via email.
Lehrmann responded to Ten: ‘I am firmly convinced that the grounds for my appeal have significant legal merit and are of great public interest.
“I reject your request.”
Network Ten is expected to make a formal application for security payment to the court.
Lisa Wilkinson is pictured outside the Federal Court in February. She asked the court to overturn the sentences against her.
Brittany Higgins (pictured) first said she was raped by a former colleague during a television interview with Lisa Wilkinson in 2021.
In his appeal, Lehrmann asked that a new judge overturn Judge Lee’s decision and rule in his favor, and that Ten and Wilkinson pay for the primary proceeding and the appeal.
Four grounds for appeal were identified in the notice, including that Judge Lee denied Lehrmann’s procedural fairness and that the findings regarding the truth defense were contrary to the evidence.
Lisa Wilkinson filed a notice of challenge earlier this week, arguing that the Full Court should uphold her defense of qualified privilege.