Brittany Higgins partly felt inspired to go public with her rape allegations when Grace Tame won Australian of the Year, but newly obtained voice recordings show their relationship may have been strained from the start.
Last Sunday evening, 7News Spotlight played part of a taped phone conversation between Ms Higgins and political journalist Samantha Maiden in a special episode on the fallout from the failed rape trial of Bruce Lehrmann.
The appeal, obtained by Daily Mail Australia, was filed on August 30, 2021 – six months after Ms Maiden first published Ms Higgins’ rape allegations, and less than a month after Mr Lehrmann reported been charged with sexual assault.
The former Liberal staffer alleged his former colleague Mr Lehrmann raped her inside Parliament after a night out in 2019. He has always denied the allegations.
Ms Maiden asked: “Is there anything bothering you that you need to tell me about?”
Ms Higgins replied: ‘Grace Tame pissed me off at the time so I’m a little pissed off but that’s okay.’
Brittany Higgins (left) and Grace Tame (right) spoke together at the National Press Club in February 2022
The comment came as a surprise as they appeared to share a close friendship – regularly attending the same events, posing together on the cover of Marie Claire and speaking to the National Press Club together in February 2022.
Friendship breakdown rumors emerged in June this year, when Ms Tame appeared to delete photos of Ms Higgins from her Instagram profile – including posts where she declared the former staff member “a national hero”, a “warrior” and “my friend”. .
However, voice recordings – obtained by Daily Mail Australia – suggest their friendship may have been strained for around two years.
The rest of the conversation between Ms Maiden and Ms Higgins in August 2021, which was not shown on Spotlight on Sunday, concerned the former Liberal staffer expressing her frustration that Ms Tame had been asked to appear on the program of ABC panel, Q&A.
After Ms Higgins said she was ‘f***ed’ by Ms Tame for agreeing to appear on the show, Ms Maiden asked: ‘What did she do?’
Ms Higgins replied: ‘She’s just going to do this Q&A with (journalist and host) David Spears about internal processes in Parliament.
“It’s like you don’t know what you’re talking about. You have never worked in Parliament and you do not know the internal processes. Like it’s really not your place to comment on that.
Ms Higgins said she would ‘restrain’ from telling Ms Tame how she felt, given that Mr Lehrmann had been charged with sexual assault earlier this month.
At the time, Ms Higgins was advised not to speak publicly about her rape allegations because anything she said could falsely imply that Mr Lehrmann was guilty and could therefore prejudice a jury against him.
Ms Higgins and Ms Tame (pictured together) appeared to be close friends, but new recordings reveal that may not have been the case
Ms Tame is a sexual assault survivor who successfully campaigned to change laws in Tasmania which prevented her rapist – who was her high school maths teacher – from speaking publicly about her experience, but allowed her attacker to do it.
During the phone call, Ms Higgins added that she didn’t mind Ms Tame standing up for victims of sexual assault, but felt it was ‘inappropriate’ for her to speak about issues in Parliament.
Ms Tame appeared on the Q&A in September 2021, but she didn’t directly address the issues in Parliament – instead she spoke about women’s safety and the issues victims face when they report a sexual assault to the police.
In the same conversation, Ms Higgins said speaking with Ms Tame was ‘difficult’ because ‘she doesn’t understand’.
“You have (journalist) Nina Furnell sort of brokering peace whenever we get contentious,” she added.
Ms Higgins and Ms Tame have previously appeared together on the cover of Marie Claire (pictured)
Ms Furnell worked with Ms Tame to create the #LetHerSpeak campaign, which ultimately led to changes in the laws in Tasmania.
This conversation took place in August 2021, more than six months after Ms Tame was named Australian of the Year on January 25, 2021.
In a draft of her memoir, #NotJustADaughter, Ms Higgins said she was “gutted” when she saw former Prime Minister Scott Morrison presenting Ms Tame with her award.
“Drained of pain that I didn’t quite understand, I was reliving 2019,” she wrote.
“When the Prime Minister’s Office staff intimidated me and urged me to remain silent.
“Here he was on stage, the Prime Minister himself, presenting an award to a young woman who championed the #LetUsSpeak campaign.”
Ms Higgins also called herself a ‘Grade B Grace Tame’ and said: “It exists outside and beyond the political bubble. Court case closed, rewarded and revered.
‘Here I am in the mud with the pigs – fighting for control of the daily news cycle. Throwing mud: a WhatsApp here, a voicemail there, a drop to Sam (Maiden).’
In July 2021, months after making the remarks in her book project, Ms Higgins told Ms Maiden that part of the reason she went public with her allegations was inspired by Ms Tame’s award.
Samantha Maiden (pictured) first published Ms Higgins’ rape allegations in February 2021
‘What made you say, ‘I need to talk about this publicly’?’ Ms Maiden asked, in the recorded call.
Ms Higgins thought about it and finally said: ‘Australian of the Year thing played there’.
Ms Maiden then suggested that Ms Higgins wanted to air her allegations because ‘you didn’t want (the sexual assault) to happen to anyone else’ – to which Ms Higgins agreed.
Ms Tame still does not follow Ms Higgins’ public Instagram page.
Mr Lehrmann was tried by the ACT Supreme Court in October last year, but the trial broke down when a juror presented the court with prohibited research material.
ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold dropped the charge altogether in December, citing concerns for Ms Higgins’ mental health.
Ms Lehrmann had pleaded not guilty, but no verdict was returned.
He is currently suing Channel 10, Lisa Wilkinson and the ABC for defamation. The trial is due to begin in November.
Comments were sought from Ms. Higgins and Ms. Tame.
