Media outlets are seemingly complicit in an "orchestrated campaign" to "abuse" Brittany Higgins, who may be unable to testify in a defamation trial as a result, a court has been told.
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Television presenter Lisa Wilkinson's barrister made that allegation on Friday in the Federal Court, where Bruce Lehrmann is suing the high-profile journalist and her employer, Network Ten, for defamation.
Mr Lehrmann claims he was defamed on The Project when fellow former Liberal Party staffer Ms Higgins accused him of raping her at Parliament House in March 2019.
He also alleges he was defamed by the ABC when it ran a live broadcast of Ms Higgins repeating the allegation, albeit without naming him, in a speech to the National Press Club.
Mr Lehrmann, who insists the alleged sexual assault "simply didn't happen", gave a tell-all television interview that aired on 7News Spotlight last Sunday, six months after his criminal case was abandoned.
In the days that have followed, media outlets have been publishing a series of stories based primarily on the contents of Ms Higgins' phone and a five-hour audio recording of her discussing all manner of topics with Ms Wilkinson and others ahead of her appearance on The Project.
Matthew Collins KC, a barrister for Network Ten, took issue with this on Friday, as did Sue Chrysanthou SC on behalf of Ms Wilkinson.
Dr Collins, who said "one would have to be living under a rock not to know what has happened this week", listed pieces of evidence that were produced under subpoena in Mr Lehrmann's criminal case but never tendered
Ten's barrister said these things had made their way into the media regardless in recent days.
He suggested that could only have happened if someone had breached a legal undertaking, which limits the use of material obtained under compulsory processes.
In this instance, the undertaking would mean material produced under subpoena in relation to Mr Lehrmann's criminal case could not be deployed elsewhere without first being tendered in evidence.
"The publicity of the last few days ... can only have been calculated to put pressure on witnesses," Dr Collins claimed, referring to people Ten and Ms Wilkinson may wish to call as part of their defences.
She told the court the story on 7NewsSpotlight had been selectively edited to paint Ms Wilkinson and others, including Ms Higgins, "as villains".
Ms Chrysanthou said the program had not contacted Ms Wilkinson for a response before putting its story to air, claiming "the whole purpose of the broadcast was just to impugn her".
"It was a deliberate attack on my client's professionalism as a journalist," she told the court.
The high-profile barrister tendered physical copies of two newspapers published on Friday by News Corp, and noted what she described as a "dishonestly edited" segment that had aired on Sky News the previous night.
She said these outlets were "wholly publishing one side of the story", to the benefit of Mr Lehrmann.
"It seems to us that someone is engaging in a concerted campaign to produce misleading information to the media," Ms Chrysanthou said.
She went on to express fears "witnesses wouldn't come" to court if called upon by the respondents if they were going to be continually attacked by sections of the media.
Ms Chrysanthou was particularly worried about Ms Higgins, whose text messages have been leaked and reported on extensively by News Corp in recent days.
She took the view Ms Higgins, a potential witness in the defamation trial, was being "abused in advance of giving her evidence".
The situation may escalate, Ms Chrysanthou said, to a point where Ms Higgins was medically unable to give that evidence.
Mr Lehrmann's barrister, Matthew Richardson SC, said his client "absolutely" denied providing material to the media in breach of a legal undertaking.
He added that Dr Collins and Ms Chrysanthou had "no idea" who had leaked the material in question, saying they were "fishing around in the dark" by casting suspicion on Mr Lehrmann when there was "a significant pool of people that could have done this".
Justice Michael Lee agreed administering interrogatories at this stage would amount to "fishing".
He also responded to Ms Chrysanthou's fears about witnesses not turning up by saying he would issue subpoenas requiring their attendance at the defamation trial if necessary.
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Justice Lee had earlier ruled Mr Lehrmann's case against Network Ten and Ms Wilkinson would be a judge-alone trial, with the ongoing publicity surrounding the matter providing "decisive".
He said he was not satisfied there could be a jury trial without "an appreciable risk of prejudice".
The judge is yet to decide whether to join Mr Lehrmann's case against the ABC with the proceedings relating to Network Ten and Ms Wilkinson.
He indicated his current preference was to have the matters heard together in November.
Dr Collins, who also represents the ABC, told the court he wanted the cases to be run separately.
