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A judge ruled that Brittany Higgins won her $2.445 million settlement payment from the Commonwealth despite making a series of false claims.
Ms Higgins was successful in her multi-million pound claim over the way she was allegedly treated by her former bosses, Coalition senators Linda Reynolds and Michaelia Cash, after she revealed her rape to them.
She received the agreement on December 13, 2022, just ten days after the ACT’s top prosecutor dropped the sexual assault charge against Bruce Lehrmann, who was accused of raping her in Parliament on March 23, 2019.
Her rape allegations were unproven at the time of the settlement and her former bosses were banned from participating in mediation talks, despite many claims made about them.
On Monday, Federal Court Judge Michael Lee concluded, on a balance of probabilities, that Ms Higgins had been raped by Lehrmann in much the way she described on television, in published articles, in two courts and to the police.
The finding marked the end of Lehrmann’s defamation case against Network Ten and TV presenter Lisa Wilkinson, which was launched following the initial broadcast of Ms Higgins’ rape allegations in 2021.
During the hearing, Ms Higgins’ $2.445 million confidential deed, including all the unproven claims she made to earn the money, was presented to the court.
Brittany Higgins is pictured with her fiancé, David Sharaz, on vacation in the Maldives.
Brittany Higgins appears in the Parliament security chamber on the night of the rape.
Why false claims were dismissed
Judge Lee said in his findings that Ms Higgins made a number of statements in the agreement that were false, but he did not give them much weight because she herself was not at the trial.
He stressed his role was to determine whether Network Ten had defamed Lehrmann, which meant assessing whether Ms Higgins was telling the truth about her rape allegations.
The judge said it was not his place to comment on the amount of money he won, the way the settlement was reached or the scope of his claim; his focus was solely on whether his evidence was credible.
He said: ‘I do not consider it necessary or appropriate for me to attempt to characterize or reach any legal conclusion about Mrs Higgins’ conduct in giving the guarantees contained in the Commonwealth Deed.
“I only deal with credit issues.”
Judge Lee said her core allegations of rape had remained “materially the same” each time she retold the story.
Fiona Brown, former chief of staff to Linda Reynolds, pictured outside the Federal Court in December.
Ms Higgins claimed she received no support, but managed to crack a smile when she took a photo with Ms Reynolds at a campaign dinner (pictured together, bottom left).
The false claims
While Judge Lee concluded that her central rape allegations were true, he did find that several of her other claims outlined in the deed were false, including allegations of a political cover-up by her bosses.
The false claims largely revolved around the then defense industry minister, Linda Reynolds, in whose office she was raped, and her chief of staff, Fiona Brown.
She had primarily accused them of not supporting her after she told them she had been raped, within the days and weeks of her assault.
The judge noted a claim in writing about CCTV in Parliament House, captured on the night Higgins and Lehrmann entered the ministerial suite.
In the document, Ms Higgins had said that Ms Brown told her that CCTV showed she was “visibly drunk” when she entered the ministerial wing and that Lehrmann had not been drinking.
He also claimed that Ms Brown “refused” his request to see the images.
Judge Lee found these claims to be incorrect. Additionally, there are security cameras of Lehrmann drinking in the pub earlier in the evening.
Ms Higgins had also incorrectly stated that Yaron Finklestein, who was the Prime Minister’s principal secretary, had a “regular presence” in Senator Reynolds’ office.
She further claimed that Mr Finklestein was advising Ms Brown on “how to deal” with Ms Higgins about her rape, which the judge did not accept.
Other claims spoke of Ms Brown’s lack of support over her rape, including that she was told she would lose her job if she came forward with her rape complaint, and that Ms Reynolds ignored her during an interstate election campaign trip.
Ms. Brown was one of the only witnesses in the case to receive a great deal of praise from Judge Lee.
It found she had demonstrated “integrity” in her handling of Ms Higgins’ case and resisted political pressure to report the incident to the Australian Federal Police.
“Despite Ms Brown facing sustained pressure from her minister and one of the minister’s colleagues to report the incident to the AFP, although she was not sure whether a rape allegation was being made at the time and Regardless of Mrs Higgins’ wishes, she refused,’ the judgment said.
Bruce Lehrmann (right) is pictured arriving at the Federal Court of Australia in Sydney on Wednesday, December 6, 2023.
The payment of 2,445 million dollars
Most of the $2.445 million payment was for approximately 40 years of lost wages.
The writing reads: “Other than one day, the claimant has not worked since February 8, 2021.”
“Plaintiff has been diagnosed as medically unfit for any type of employment and has been given a very poor prognosis for future employment.”
Higgins also landed a $325,000 book deal with Penguin Random House the following month.
He received an advance worth $108,000 at the time and was promised the rest upon completion.
The book, tentatively titled #notjustaDaughter, was written but shelved due to legal proceedings.
It is unclear whether the book will go forward following the defamation ruling.
The trial
Lehrmann filed a lawsuit over Ms. Higgins’ interview on The Project in February 2021.
He was not named in that broadcast, but claimed friends and colleagues were able to identify him as Ms Higgins’ rapist. He strongly denied raping Mrs Higgins and launched a defamation action in a bid to clear her name.
However, on Monday, Judge Lee found that Lehrmann took Ms Higgins back to a “secluded place”, the ministerial suite, after a night out with colleagues in order to have sex with her.
He said Lehrmann was “intent” on having sex with Ms Higgins, knew she was very drunk and did not consider whether she consented to sex.
In his judgment, Judge Lee said Ms Reynolds and her chief of staff, Fiona Brown, did not attempt to cover up Ms Higgins’ rape allegations.