Brittany Higgins has faced questions in the federal court about the dress she was wearing when she was allegedly raped by her then colleague Bruce Lehrmann at parliament house. Ms Higgins wore the garment to a liberal party function months later and told the court she did so to reclaim it. No findings have been made against Mr Lehrmann after a criminal trial was aborted. Ms Higgins is now a key witness in a defamation case against network ten as it seeks to prove the truth of its reporting.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00 The dress remained the focus of evidence as the hearing resumed.
00:06 A photo of Brittany Higgins with her then boss Senator Linda Reynolds shows her wearing
00:11 the dress again on the election campaign weeks later.
00:15 It was my favourite dress.
00:17 I used to wear it all the time and I guess I was trying to reclaim it.
00:22 I thought maybe I could disassociate it from the rape, but I never could.
00:27 Ms Higgins has been giving evidence to support Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson, who Bruce Lehrman
00:33 is suing over an interview on the project when Ms Higgins revealed her allegation she'd
00:39 been raped at Parliament House in Senator Reynolds' office.
00:43 Today the court heard a recording of discussions between Lisa Wilkinson and Ms Higgins about
00:48 when the story should run for maximum effect.
00:51 I did want it to go before a sitting week.
00:54 I wanted it to get as much traction as possible.
00:58 I was really concerned that I had blown up my life for a story that would run for a day.
01:04 Mr Lehrman's lawyer Steve Weibrow also suggested to Brittany Higgins that her aim had been
01:10 to damage the Liberal Party and cause disruption before the next election.
01:15 No, I was a Liberal through and through, but I did want to change the culture in Parliament
01:20 House.
01:21 I didn't have that big of an ego to think that I could change the course of an election.
01:27 Brittany Higgins has denied she deliberately went to the media before the police as a strategy
01:33 because after it was reported she wouldn't be able to talk about it.
01:37 Today she said she hadn't known about that restriction until afterwards and it wasn't
01:42 preconceived.
01:44 The cross-examination will continue on Tuesday.
01:47 [BLANK_AUDIO]