Two media companies have detailed plans to prove Bruce Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins, as one also revealed how it challenged him about the alleged sexual assault before broadcasting the claim.
Network Ten and News Life Media - a division of News Corporation - have both outlined truth defences, among others, in documents filed in the Federal Court, where Mr Lehrmann is suing the companies and two journalists for defamation.
Mr Lehrmann denies raping Ms Higgins at Parliament House when the pair were Liberal Party staffers in 2019.
He pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual intercourse without consent, which was dropped after his criminal trial was aborted because of juror misconduct.
Mr Lehrmann has since launched civil action against Ten and presenter Lisa Wilkinson, as well as the publisher of news.com.au and the website's political editor, Samantha Maiden, over their initial coverage of Ms Higgins' claims.
He alleges the journalists were "recklessly indifferent to the truth" in February 2021, when he claims they sought to exploit false rape claims for their own gain.
Mr Lehrmann further claims the journalists, and the publishers of their work, intended to "injure" him by presenting Ms Higgins' allegations in an "over-sensationalised" way.
Ms Wilkinson blasted the suggestion of reckless indifference in her defence, filed on March 1, calling it "baseless" and "unjustified".
She indicated she would argue the court should throw out the lawsuit against her because Mr Lehrmann failed to file it within a year of the allegedly defamatory publications.
If the court grants an extension of the usual 12-month window to make a defamation claim, her defence shows she will defend the case by trying to prove the alleged rape occurred.
On Wednesday, the Federal Court released defence documents that revealed Network Ten, News Life Media and Ms Maiden would also rely on time limit and truth defences.
Ten's legal team, led by barrister Matt Collins KC, alleges Mr Lehrmann was "sexually attracted" to Ms Higgins and that he acted on this by raping her and later lying about it.
The network's defence also responds to Mr Lehrmann's assertion that he was not given a reasonable opportunity to answer Ms Higgins' allegations before they were aired publicly.
It details The Project producer Angus Llewellyn's efforts to contact him many times, starting three days before that program aired Ms Wilkinson's interview with Ms Higgins.
"I'm producing a story for Network Ten's The Project," an email sent to Mr Lehrmann on February 12, 2021, began.
"The Project has been informed of an alleged rape of Brittany Higgins perpetrated by you within a minister's office in Australian Parliament House on the evening of 22 March 2019/morning of 23rd March 2019."
Mr Llewellyn went on to ask Mr Lehrmann to answer 16 "specific queries" by no later than 10am on the day the interview ultimately aired.
One of the questions was: "Did you rape Brittany Higgins as alleged?"
"Lehrmann did not respond to any of Ten's attempts to contact him," the television network's defence states.
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"Had Lehrmann responded to Ten's attempts to contact him, Ten would have included Lehrmann's side of the story, by including his response or the substance of his response, in the matters complained of.
"Depending on the nature of any response from Lehrmann, Ten may have considered offering him the opportunity to participate in an on-camera interview which could have been included in the matters complained of or considered delaying publication of the matters complained of to give him an opportunity to respond."
Mr Lehrmann was not named by mainstream media until he was charged in August 2021.
The joint defence of News Life Media and Ms Maiden argues, as does Ten's response, that he was therefore not identified in the earlier stories he claims defamed him.
Some of the issues at play were discussed in court during a procedural hearing on Wednesday.
These included whether Mr Lehrmann should have to give evidence next week, at a case management hearing, about why he took so long to file his defamation claims.
Mr Lehrmann's barrister, Steven Whybrow SC, indicated there were three reasons, nominating legal advice, the "overlapping" criminal case, and mental health issues.
Mr Whybrow expressed concern about Mr Lehrmann potentially being subjected to cross-examination on multiple occasions, noting the 27-year-old may then have to take the stand again during a defamation trial if the court granted an extension of time.
Justice Michael Lee agreed this would be "undesirable" and signalled he may decide to focus on readying the matter for trial as soon as possible.
In that scenario, the Federal Court judge would deal with the extension of time issue at the same time as the other defences pleaded by the media companies and the two journalists.
The issue is set to be raised again in court next Thursday.
Blake Foden
As a journalist, I've covered everything from a royal tour and a terror attack to international sport. After stints in New Zealand, the UK and the Canary Islands, I returned to Australia in 2018. These days, I cover the ACT and Queanbeyan courts.
As a journalist, I've covered everything from a royal tour and a terror attack to international sport. After stints in New Zealand, the UK and the Canary Islands, I returned to Australia in 2018. These days, I cover the ACT and Queanbeyan courts.
