Wilkinson 'thrilled by riveting commercial appeal' of Higgins' rape claim, trial told

"You were thrilled by the riveting commercial appeal of the story that she told," Matthew Richardson SC, representing Bruce Lehrmann, accused.

Ms Wilkinson, who vehemently denied the accusation, responded: "Please don't make me sound like a cheap tabloid journalist, Mr Richardson."

During her cross-examination, she told the court she believed a federal minister had taken part in a "systemic cover-up" of the allegation.

She also denied her Logies acceptance speech, which praised Ms Higgins for her "unwavering courage", was "reckless and ill-advised".

Ms Wilkinson sat in the Federal Court witness box on Thursday during the defamation proceedings brought against her and Network Ten, after watching from the public gallery for the past three weeks.

While it was the first time the trial heard directly from the high-profile journalist, she has loomed over proceedings with her communications, reporting and recordings repeatedly played for Justice Michael Lee.

Mr Lehrmann is suing Ms Wilkinson and Ten for their broadcast of Ms Higgins' rape allegation in a February 2021 The Project interview which he claims identified and defamed him.

Mr Richardson read out a text message Ms Wilkinson sent Ms Higgins following their recording of the television interview.

"Brittany, just wanted to say thank you once again for your openness, honesty and eloquence. You did something truly magnificent today. Thank you for trusting us," the message said.

"I promise that we are going to do everything in our power to ensure this will bring change."

Following the reading of this message, the barrister put to the journalist she was completely committed to supporting Ms Higgins. She agreed.

"You had no intention of challenging her on anything ... you had no desire to check or scrutinise anything," he said.

She strongly disagreed.

"You were entirely captured by your source ... entirely committed to supporting her version of events."

She responded: "With scrutiny."

Later in her cross-examination, Ms Wilkinson did not mince words when asked about Senator Linda Reynolds, Ms Higgins' boss at the time of the alleged rape.

Referred to a recording of herself stating she had Ms Reynolds "in my sights", Ms Wilkinson said she found some of the senator's previous public comments about her to have been "cheap and nasty ... undignified".

The journalist also described the then-defence industry minister bringing Ms Higgins into her office, the location where the sexual assault was alleged to have occurred, to discuss the matter, as "deplorable".

But Ms Wilkinson denied being predisposed to believing criticism of the politician.

As he did a number of times throughout the day, Justice Lee interjected to clarify evidence from the witness, leading Ms Wilkinson to state she believed there had been a "systemic coverup" of the rape allegation.

"Yes, I believe there was a lot of damage control going on within the prime minister's office to keep this whole thing under wraps," she said.

She soon after told the judge she believed Ms Reynolds and her then-chief of staff, Fiona Brown, were involved in this cover-up.

"I think they were taking orders from the Prime Minister's office. Whatever those orders were," she responded.

Justice Lee asked: "You'd agree, that would be wicked conduct?"

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"Yeah. It was about keeping the details away from the media," she responded.

Ms Wilkinson said Senator Michaelia Cash, another of Ms Higgins' bosses, knew of a media enquiry into the allegation, "so it was starting to get out".

"They managed to quieten the story down. The story disappeared. That sounds to me like a cover-up," the journalist said.

"Was there any part of you that thought, 'This is not an especially brilliant idea'?" Mr Richardson earlier asked the journalist about her Logies acceptance speech, citing sub-judice contempt.

Ms Wilkinson responded: "I did appropriate checks. So, no."

Her June 19, 2022, speech, which she dedicated to Ms Higgins, ultimately delayed Mr Lehrmann's ACT trial.

The criminal proceedings had been set to begin eight days later.

"You put your pride and your ego ahead of my client's right to a fair trial when you gave that speech," the barrister said during cross-examination.

She, again, disagreed.

The speech was played for the court on Thursday morning.

"[The award] belongs to a woman who inspired more than 100,000 similarly pissed off, exhausted, fierce women - and men - to take to the streets right across this country to roar in numbers too big to ignore," she said in the speech.

Ms Wilkinson said she did not have the power to affect the minds of "the entire nation" and initially denied her words heavily implied her belief in Mr Lehrmann's guilt.

"It's absolutely plain you are expressing a fervent belief in [Ms Higgins] and what she's saying," the barrister put to the witness.

Justice Lee interjected: "Would you accept, Ms Wilkinson, that a woman would not be showing unwavering courage if she made a false allegation of rape."

She responded: "Yes, I accept that."

Justice Lee: "Well, doesn't it follow that you say someone's showing unwavering courage, it means they're making a true allegation of rape?"

Ms Wilkinson: "Yes."

Mr Richardson claimed Ms Wilkinson ought to have known her speech was not something she should have been making a week out from the ACT criminal trial beginning.

"No, because I had sought advice before I got up on that stage," she said.

Ms Wilkinson and Ten are attempting to prove the allegation made by Ms Higgins is substantially true and they acted reasonably and professionally in reporting it for public interest reasons.

Mr Lehrmann has always denied raping or that any sexual conduct occurred with Ms Higgins in March 2019, when the pair worked as staffers for the then-defence industry minister.

No findings have been made against him.

His criminal trial was aborted last October due to juror misconduct, with the charge levelled at him later discontinued over concerns for Ms Higgins' mental health.

The defamation trial continues.