Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann has lost the appeal of his failed defamation case against Network 10 and its journalist Lisa Wilkinson.
Last year, the Federal Court ruled it was more likely than not that Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins at Parliament House in 2019.
It accepted Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson’s truth defence, meaning he was not found to have been defamed.
Today, Lehrmann failed to overturn that decision.
Background
Lehrmann launched defamation proceedings over an interview broadcast on Ten’s ‘The Project’ in 2021.
During the interview, Higgins alleged to Wilkinson that Lehrmann raped her in Parliament House in March 2019.
Lehrmann maintains his innocence.
He was not named in the interview, but alleged his reputation was damaged because he was identifiable.
One of the ways to defend a defamation case is to prove that the claims made were truthful.
In his judgment at the time, Justice Michael Lee ruled the claims laid out by Wilkinson and Ten that Lehrmann raped Higgins were true on the balance of probabilities (more likely than not), a lower standard of proof than a criminal case.
Lee’s ruling stated Lehrmann could not have been defamed because the allegations were truthful.
The court ordered Lehrmann to pay $2 million in legal costs.
Appeal
Last year, Lehrmann filed an appeal against Lee’s ruling on four grounds.
This included contending he was denied fairness on some of the claims made against him, and that Justice Lee had “erred” in accepting the truth defence.
A full bench of the Federal Court – three judges not involved in the original case – heard the appeal.
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Lehrmann’s lawyer Zali Burrows told the court he is “probably Australia’s most hated man,” citing abusive social media posts directed at him.
She argued Justice Lee had turned the defamation case into an unfair “quasi-rape trial”.
The hearing wrapped up early at the end of the second day, after the panel of Federal Court judges said they “struggled to understand” Burrows’ argument.
Judgment
In court on Wednesday, Justice Michael Wigney explained the panel of judges’ reasoning for dismissing Lehrmann’s appeal.
Wigney said the judges found Lee had not denied Lehrmann fairness in the defamation case.
He added that the judges had concluded that Lehrmann knew Higgins had not consented to sex.
Lehrmann’s appeal was dismissed and he was ordered to pay the other side’s costs.
What now?
Lehrmann could try to appeal this decision in Australia’s top court, the High Court.
It does not automatically consider appeals, meaning Lehrmann would first need to seek permission for his appeal to be heard.
If the High Court declines to hear his appeal, the Federal Court’s judgment is final.
Lehrmann is also due to face court in Tasmania for a separate case this week.
Police allege he stole a car from the Huon Valley, south of Hobart, in November last year.
Additionally, Lehrmann has been accused of rape in Toowoomba, Queensland.
These charges were first heard in court in January 2023, and a trial is forthcoming.
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