A suppression order has lifted in the Parliament House rape trial
- The trial of Bruce Lehrmann at the Supreme Court in Canberra has been under a suppression order for the past week.
- Brittany Higgins has been unavailable. In her absence 22 witnesses were called.
This story contains allegations of sexual assault and may be distressing to some readers.
The trial of Bruce Lehrmann, 27, at the Supreme Court in Canberra has been under a suppression order for the past week, as Brittany Higgins had been unavailable to give evidence.
Bruce Lehrmann has pleaded not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent.
The suppression order has now lifted, as Ms Higgins returned to the ACT court on Friday and finalised her testimony.
In her absence, the court heard from 22 witnesses, including cleaner Carlos Ramos, who testified he was called to Parliament House on the morning of Saturday 23 March 2019, to clean the office of then-Defence Industry Minister Linda Reynolds.
He told the court his boss told him “to look for something like a party, like condoms.” He emptied the rubbish, but said he found no evidence.
“It was totally just [a] routine clean,” he said.
The court heard that earlier that morning Brittany Higgins had been found, allegedly naked, by security guard Nikola Anderson.
Former Liberal Party staffer Bruce Lehrmann is accused of raping colleague Brittany Higgins at Parliament House in 2019. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
When she opened the door of the ministerial suite, she said “Ms Higgins was laying on her back completely naked.”
“I've opened the door… she's opened her eyes, she's looked at me, and then she's proceeded to roll over into the foetal position,” Ms Anderson told the court.
Her colleague on the night in question was Mark Fairweather. He watched Mr Lehrmann leave Parliament, at 2.30am, allegedly in a hurry.
“I said: 'Are you coming back?' and he replied hastily 'no' and flicked the pass onto the desk,” Mr Fairweather told the court.
“Before I could ask him anymore, he'd already walked out.”
Brittany Higgins’ contemporaneous reports of assault
The court heard, in the fortnight after Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann were seen in Parliament House overnight, Brittany Higgins disclosed the alleged assault to at least five colleagues and two police officers.
Departmental official Christopher Payne told the court his conversation with Ms Higgins was clear.
“I recall saying: ‘Can I ask you a very direct question?’” he told the Supreme Court.
“I said: ‘Did he rape you?’ She said: ‘I could not have consented … it would have been like f****** a log.’”
The first person Brittany Higgins said she disclosed her alleged rape to was her former boss Fiona Brown, the then chief of staff to Senator Linda Reynolds.
Former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins had been unavailable to give evidence for a number of days. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
“She said: ‘I remember him on top of me,’” Ms Brown said.
“I said: ‘Are you alright?’”
“She just sort of looks at me … she’s shaking her head as a ‘no.’”
The court was shown the letters Ms Brown drafted on behalf of Senator Reynolds to Mr Lehrmann, after learning about the rape allegation.
Mr Lehrmann's contract was due to expire, but Fiona Brown said with help from Human Resources, she decided to terminate his contract, meaning he wouldn’t get a payout for his years of service.
She told the court her reason was serious misconduct, including entering Parliament House after hours under “false pretences” and an earlier incident relating to the mishandling of secret Defence documents.
The jury has previously heard audio from the intercom outside Parliament House, where Mr Lehrmann asked to enter in order to pick up documents.
Fiona Brown told the court Mr Lehmann told her he “came back to the office [that night] to drink some whiskey.”
The different reasons Bruce Lehrmann gave for entering Parliament House on the night of the alleged rape are central to the prosecution's case.
As well as telling security he was picking up documents and Ms Brown he was there to drink, in a three-hour police interview, played to the court, Mr Lehrmann gave a third reason. He told officers he needed to pick up his apartment keys.
Bruce Lehrmann’s version of events heard for the first time
On Monday, the court heard from Bruce Lehrmann in his own words.
In the police interview, played to court, he flatly denied the rape allegation. He said it “simply didn’t happen.”
The accused told officers it was “common for people to go back to Parliament at all hours of the night” for both socialising and work.
“Brittany also indicated she had to attend Parliament for something…I thought I was being a gentleman,” Mr Lehrmann said.
Once inside the ministerial suite, Mr Lehrmann said he turned to the left to his desk and Brittany Higgins turned right into the ministerial office.
“I didn’t see her again,” he said.
“I went to my desk, my briefcase was there... I attended to some Question Time folders.”
In the video recording, Bruce Lehrmann told police he found out about the allegation from a journalist, and it pushed him to the brink.
“I’d wound up everything, I was ready to go. My single mum was going to be okay; she was going to get my super [superannuation].”
The trial is moving faster than first anticipated. The prosecution is expected to wrap up its case early next week.
One of its final witnesses will be Senator Linda Reynolds, who is expected to be called on Tuesday.
If allegations set out in this story raise issues for you, or you or someone you know needs support - you can seek 24 hour help through 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.
