Brittany Higgins wore dress she was allegedly raped in to Liberal function weeks later to ‘reclaim it’, court hears

Former Liberal staffer tells federal court defamation trial she initially thought she could ‘disassociate’ from the alleged rape

Brittany Higgins has told a court she wore the white dress she was allegedly raped in six weeks later to a Liberal function in an attempt to “reclaim it” and “disassociate it from the rape”.

But what was once her “favourite” pencil dress that she “used to wear all the time” was not reclaimed and was never worn again, Higgins told the federal court on Friday.

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Lehrmann proceedings day seven – as it happened

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Brittany Higgins says she does not count Linda Reynolds and her chief of staff Fiona Brown as villains in her story.

“Fiona Brown was just following instructions and I’ve never blamed her and I don’t blame her,” Higgins said.

“Linda Reynolds avoided me in my view, and did not meet her duty of care. I felt unsupported. I felt unsupported by both of them, but I don’t count them as villains in this story. I just don’t think they did the right thing by me.”

Higgins said her experience damaged her relationship with the Liberal party and she revealed she is no longer a Liberal.

She denied a suggestion from Whybrow that she leaked her story to the media in order to damage the Liberal party ahead of the election.

“I had no intention of impacting the election, but I did want to change the culture in Parliament House,” Higgins said.

“I was angry at the culture of Parliament House and I was hurt by the Liberal party, but I was still a Liberal.

“No longer, but I was still for a really long time.”

• an earlier version of this post incorrectly identified the election referred to as being in 2019

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Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial live: Brittany Higgins tells court accusation she lied about rape to keep job is ‘insulting’ and ‘incorrect’

A warning for readers: this blog contains graphic details of allegations of sexual assault. Lehrmann is suing Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson in the federal court of Australia over allegations Higgins was raped by a Liberal staffer in Parliament House. Follow the latest news and updates

Higgins questioned about sequence of events

Steve Whybrow SC asked Higgins: “I’m suggesting to you that you alter and evolve your evidence as you find that extra information. Do you accept that?”

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Australia politics live: PM delivers national apology to thalidomide survivors; Pocock and Plibersek strike deal on Murray-Darling

Plan will remove a cap on buybacks and extend deadlines for water recovery targets. Follow the day’s news live

For what kinds of crimes would preventive detention be used?

Preventive detention can be used for terrorists or terrorism suspects already (yes, we already do this) so what other crimes will be added to the list? (Not all of the cohort have committed crimes.)

What I can tell you is that we’ll work through the detail of the law over the coming days. We’ve had a high court decision for about 17 hours now.

But the high court decision actually specifically refers to child sexual abuse as one of the grounds on which preventive detention might also be lawful.

We will work through these issues and will do so in a way that is fast but also constitutional. What we have seen on the other side of politics is a pretty torrid history of rushing laws, doing it improperly and writing things that aren’t constitutional, that are later thrown out by the high court and the consequence is that the Australian community is less safe.

We don’t want to make that mistake. We will work through this carefully.

The most important thing to understand from the high court’s ruling is that the high court has said that politicians don’t get to make that decision (indefinite detention).

And so politicians have previously been allowed to hold people in immigration detention for very long periods of time. The high court has told us that that’s not constitutional under these circumstances.

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Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial live: Brittany Higgins tells court of her alleged rape by Lehrmann at Parliament House

A warning for readers: this blog contains graphic details of allegations of sexual assault.
Lehrmann has sued Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson, alleging they have defamed him. Follow the latest news from the federal court today

Bruce Lehrmann has arrived at court this morning:

He is now present in the courtroom as Brittany Higgins gives her evidence – sitting in the front row in the furthest seat from the witness box.

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Brittany Higgins takes stand in Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial as lawyer warns her evidence will be ‘graphic and distressing’

Court also told Seven Network paid Lehrmann’s rent for 12 months to compensate him for two interviews with the Spotlight program

Brittany Higgins has taken the stand in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson at the start of evidence the defence says will be “graphic and distressing”.

Network Ten’s barrister, Matt Collins KC, said Higgins will tell the court about being allegedly sexually assaulted by Lehrmann in senator Linda Reynolds’ office in 2019 after a night when she had consumed at least 12 vodkas and was “more drunk than she had ever been in her life”.

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Lehrmann proceedings day five – as it happened

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Bruce Lehrmann has admitted his rent was paid by the Seven Network for his interview on the Spotlight program.

Lehrmann agreed under cross-examination that Seven had paid his rent for 12 months as part of the deal.

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Bruce Lehrmann admits in court asking for cocaine on evening Brittany Higgins interview aired and lying twice to boss

Former Liberal staffer’s varying accounts in wake of after-hours visit to Parliament House in 2019 come under intense scrutiny under cross examination at defamation trial

Bruce Lehrmann has admitted under cross-examination in his defamation trial that he lied twice in a letter to his boss and again in an interview he gave to Seven’s Spotlight program.

On the fourth day of proceedings he brought against the Ten Network and Lisa Wilkinson, Lehrmann’s varying accounts of what happened in the wake of his after-hours visit to Parliament House in 2019 came under intense scrutiny.

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Bruce Lehrmann tells court he did not have sex with Brittany Higgins while she was ‘semi-conscious or passed out’

At defamation trial against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson, Lehrmann says two later emails he sent Higgins failed to mention evening because it was ‘uneventful’

Bruce Lehrmann has denied during his defamation trial having sexual intercourse with Brittany Higgins while she was “semi-conscious or passed out” on a couch in Parliament House.

At Lehrmann’s civil case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson, Matt Collins KC for Ten put a series of propositions to him about what happened between 1.48am and 2.30am on 23 March 2019.

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Lies, whisky and an after-hours visit: Bruce Lehrmann admits he didn’t tell police truth during defamation trial cross examination

Former Liberal staffer also tells defamation trial that he didn’t tell Brittany Higgins he was leaving office because he ‘wasn’t even sure she was still there’

Bruce Lehrmann said he must have been “mistaken” when he told the Australian Federal Police he did not have any alcohol in his office – and under cross-examination he conceded he had multiple bottles of whisky and gin at the time.

The former Liberal staffer also admitted telling three different stories – including two that were lies – about the reason for his after-hours visit to Parliament House but denied sexually assaulting Brittany Higgins after they entered the ministerial office together.

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). The crisis support service Lifeline is at 13 11 14.

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Friendlyjordies: NSW police hunt for crime gang after fire at YouTuber’s home

Jordan Shanks-Markovina is being provided with police protection due to suspected gang links to fire attacks

A YouTube personality whose home was targeted in a suspected arson case is being given police protection as detectives hunt the organised criminals believed to be behind the attack.

Investigators hope CCTV footage, released on Wednesday, could spark a breakthrough as they try to find those responsible for the fire at the Bondi house of Jordan Shanks-Markovina, known online as Friendlyjordies.

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Free-to-air group rubbishes claims Australian government wants to ‘control your TV’

Industry feud flares over proposed smart TV laws that will likely mean free local apps feature more prominently than paid services

Australia’s free-to-air broadcasters have hit back at a campaign from the subscription media lobby that claims the federal “government wants to control your TV” through its new laws for smart TVs.

The government’s prominence framework for connected TV devices will likely mean smart TV free-to-air apps such as 10play, 7plus, 9Now, ABC iView and SBS on Demand, are offered ahead of those from paid streaming services such as Netflix, Binge and Stan. It might also affect searches for content.

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Whistleblower David McBride’s trial delayed slightly over key public interest argument

Former military lawyer has pleaded not guilty to five charges in ACT supreme court over decision to leak material that was used as basis for ABC series on war crimes

David McBride’s trial has been slightly delayed to allow him a second chance to argue he was duty-bound to act in the public interest while leaking confidential military information to journalists.

Meanwhile, Australia’s intelligence agencies are supporting an effort to keep some material involved in the case secret, including from jurors, saying its disclosure could jeopardise “the security and defence of Australia”.

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ABC calls for apology after Bronwyn Bishop tells Sky the public broadcaster is ‘aligning’ itself with Nazi policies

Former Howard government minister tells Sharri Markson the ABC is ‘aligning themselves with policies in place with national socialism during world war two’

The ABC has lodged a formal complaint with Sky News Australia after Bronwyn Bishop said the public broadcaster was “aligning themselves with the policy of Germany’s national socialist party for the elimination of Jews” in its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.

A regular guest on Sky, the former Liberal senator was responding to the Sky News host Sharri Markson’s claim that the ABC was “so biased, so one-sided, so anti-Israel”.

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How Bruce Lehrmann’s media interviews cost him his anonymity in Toowoomba rape case

The ‘high-profile man’ has been identified after TV appearances about the Brittany Higgins case came back to burn him

“Let’s light some fires,” said Bruce Lehrmann in June, during the first of his two-part “bombshell” interviews on Channel Seven’s flagship Spotlight program.

“Everything needs to be out there, in the open, so people can assess this for what it is.”

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Anti-Woodside protesters gather at ABC studios amid fears Four Corners will reveal sources

WA police demanded the ABC reveal its sources for an episode featuring a Disrupt Burrup Hub protest against a Woodside gas project

Protesters gathered at ABC studios in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth on Thursday morning amid fears the broadcaster would reveal its confidential sources for a Four Corners program.

An episode of the investigative program that aired earlier this month featured Disrupt Burrup Hub as they planned a protest against Woodside Energy’s enormous gas project on the Pilbara’s Burrup peninsula.

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Defence whistleblower David McBride makes last-ditch request to attorney general to end prosecution

Former military lawyer’s legal team warns public has made its ‘disapproval of the continued prosecution abundantly clear’

David McBride’s legal team has made a last-ditch request to the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, to intervene and end his prosecution, warning the public had made their “disapproval of the continued prosecution abundantly clear”.

McBride, a former military lawyer, is facing trial in the ACT courts next month for his alleged leaking of documents to the ABC, which were used to produce a series of articles exposing alleged war crimes by Australian troops.

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‘Like being buried alive’: Australian journalist Cheng Lei on life in a Chinese prison

Reporter reveals she was arrested for breaking a news embargo, and talks about how she survived months in solitary confinement

Australian journalist Cheng Lei spent almost three years in China’s prison system for breaking an embargo by a few minutes, she has revealed in her first interview after returning home to Melbourne last week.

Cheng, 48, was working as a business reporter for China’s state-run English-language TV station CGTN when she was arrested on 13 August 2020.

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How to watch the Indigenous voice referendum results

Public broadcasters the ABC, SBS and NITV as well as Sky News will follow the count live, as commercial channels keep coverage to a minimum

Voters keen to know the result of the referendum on Saturday night will find blanket coverage on the public broadcasters, ABC, SBS and NITV, as well as on Sky News Australia, but the commercial networks are keeping their reporting to a minimum.

The SBS and NITV presenters, Anton Enus and Natalie Ahmat, a Mudburra and Wagadagam woman, will kick off the four-hour simulcast at 6.30pm with news and live crosses to reporters on the ground.

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News Corp sells stake in gambling startup Betr after initial investment of $70m

Betr chairman says he is grateful for media company’s ‘initial and ongoing support’ but that it is no longer an investor

News Corp has sold its shares in gambling startup Betr less than a year after its launch and having received a record $210,000 fine from regulators in April.

Betr was established with a reported $70m backing from News Corp, the former BetEasy chief executive Matthew Tripp’s TGW and the Las Vegas firm Tekkorp, with the intention of utilising News Corp’s media assets to promote the company.

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