From 2h agoKey events1h agoWhat we’ve heard so far today2h agoWilkinson sent producer text saying Linda Reynolds was ‘lying through her teeth’5h agoLisa Wilkinson told Brittany Higgins she could cause Coalition to lose federal election5h agoWhat we can expect todayFilters BETAKey events (4)Lisa Wilkinson (10)Bruce Lehrmann (8)Brittany Higgins (8)Matthew Richardson SC (7)Linda Reynolds (7)1h ago21.57 ESTWhat we’ve heard so far today
Today in the witness box the court has heard more evidence from Ten journalist Lisa Wilkinson, going into details of her investigation and reporting of Brittany Higgins’ claims.
Bruce Lehrmann is suing Network Ten and Wilkinson for defamation over an interview with Higgins broadcast on The Project and online, which did not name him but alleged she had been raped by a Liberal staffer in 2019.
Lehrmann has denied raping Higgins and pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual intercourse without consent. His criminal trial was abandoned due to juror misconduct and the second did not proceed due to prosecutors’ fears for Higgins’ mental health.
Here’s what we’ve heard:
Overnight, a transcript was released of a five-hour conversation between Wilkinson, Higgins and others, which was part of the preparations for the Project interview. It included comments by Wilkinson about the Canberra political scene, which she called “sick” and “ugly as sin”.
Lehrmann’s legal team said they would not be making any legal applications over the so-called “secret” recording of a conversation at a bar between Higgins’ lawyer and her fiance, David Sharaz, while she was giving evidence earlier this month.
Wilkinson was challenged over her claim that she didn’t know what metadata was, in relation to an image shown to her by Higgins. She was shown tweets dating to 2015 where she referred to metadata but said that she didn’t know photographs had metadata.
Wilkinson said 80 hours was a “very fair and reasonable” amount of time to give Lehrmann to respond to questions before the interview was broadcast.
Lehrmann’s barrister asked Wilkinson whether his client was identifiable to some people from information in The Project’s broadcast, and Wilkinson said she had trusted Ten’s legal department in that area.
Wilkinson said she was “in the hair and makeup department” and “largely out of the picture” when the prime minister’s office responded to questions from The Project.
Wilkinson was asked about a text to her producer on the day of the broadcast, in which she commented that Senator Linda Reynolds was “lying through her teeth” during a parliamentary question time exchange. Wilkinson disagreed that she had not been objective about Reynolds’ role in the Higgins affair.
The court is taking a lunch break. Wilkinson will be back in the witness box around 2.15pm to face more questions about that text message.
Updated at 22.02 EST2h ago21.19 EST
Wilkinson asked to identify in Hansard where she thought…
2023-12-14 22:43:45
Source from www.theguardian.com
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