Category Archives: Defamation law

Claims of government cover-up after Brittany Higgins’ alleged rape ‘completely and utterly false’, Scott Morrison says

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Linda Reynolds suing former staffer over a series of social media posts WA senator believes damaged her reputation

Scott Morrison has defended Linda Reynolds’ handling of Brittany Higgins’ alleged rape and dismissed claims of a government cover-up following the allegations as “completely and utterly false”.

And the former prime minister also told the Western Australian supreme court that he did not remove Reynolds from the defence portfolio because she called Higgins a “lying cow”, but instead because she could not continue in the role due to her mental health.

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Labour donor Dale Vince has libel case against Daily Mail thrown out

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Energy entrepreneur claimed headline about different man used alongside his photograph was defamatory

The millionaire Labour donor Dale Vince’s £100,000 libel case against the Daily Mail has been thrown out after a high court judge ruled it did not have a realistic chance of success.

The green energy businessman and Forest Green Rovers chairman claimed the newspaper libelled him in a June 2023 article titled “Labour repays £100,000 to ‘sex harassment’ donor”.

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Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial live updates: verdict an ‘unmitigated disaster’ for Lehrmann, Ten lawyer says; Wilkinson says she ‘published a true story about rape’

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Justice Lee finds Ten’s defence of truth successful after Lehrmann sued the network and journalist Lisa Wilkinson in the federal court of Australia for defamation. Follow the latest news and updates from the judgment today

Bruce Lehrmann and Lisa Wilkinson have both arrived into courtroom one on the 21st level of the federal court building in central Sydney.

Lehrmann is sitting at the bench, alongside his legal team, while Wilkinson is sitting on the other side of the courtroom in the front row of the gallery, in a row of red reserved seats.

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US climate scientist Michael Mann wins $1m in defamation lawsuit

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Scientist wins award against conservative writers who said his work was ‘fraudulent’ and that he ‘molested and tortured’ data

The high-profile climate scientist Michael Mann has been awarded $1m by a jury in a defamation lawsuit against two conservative writers who compared his depictions of global heating to the work of a convicted child molester.

The case stretches back 12 years. In a statement posted on Mann’s X account, one of his lawyers said: “Today’s verdict vindicates Mike Mann’s good name and reputation. It also is a big victory for truth and scientists everywhere who dedicate their lives answering vital scientific questions impacting human health and the planet.”

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Bruce Lehrmann’s lawyers call for substantial damages despite ‘unsatisfactory’ evidence in defamation case

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Network Ten describes former Liberal staffer as ‘fundamentally dishonest’ in submissions released by federal court

Bruce Lehrmann’s legal team has accepted their client’s evidence in his defamation trial against Network Ten was “in a number of respects unsatisfactory”, but not to the extent that he is a “compulsive liar” or had raped Brittany Higgins, newly released documents reveal.

In written closing submissions released by the federal court on Friday, Lehrmann’s legal team also said the defence “significantly and unfairly” overstated the “acknowledged problems” with parts of his evidence.

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Brittany Higgins told ‘complete falsehoods’ amid ‘political hit job’, Bruce Lehrmann’s lawyers say as defamation trial ends

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Judge concludes case and reserves his decision after more than four weeks of evidence

Bruce Lehrmann’s lawyers have argued on the final day of his high-profile defamation trial that Brittany Higgins told “complete falsehoods” and her allegations were part of a “political hit job” fuelled by her partner.

Justice Michael Lee on Friday concluded the case and reserved his decision after more than four weeks of evidence and submissions.

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Lehrmann proceedings day 21 – as it happened

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Justice Lee describes some of Lehrmann barrister’s suggestions about Higgins’ behaviour as ‘simplistic’

Justice Lee has said it is simplistic to suggest a young woman could not have been sexually assaulted because she carried on in a professional manner.

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Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial: claim Higgins ‘monstrously fabricated’ rape to save job ‘incoherent’, Ten’s barrister says

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Lehrmann has sued Lisa Wilkinson and Network Ten for defamation in the federal court of Australia over Brittany Higgins interview on The Project

Ten’s barrister says network does not have to prove if Higgins had to choose between justice and her job

Collins said it is not the burden of Network Ten to establish that there “were in fact roadblocks to a police investigation, or that Ms Higgins in fact, had to choose between her career and the pursuit of justice”.

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Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial: lip-reader tells court CCTV footage showed Brittany Higgins was being ‘plied with alcohol’ on night of alleged rape

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Lehrmann has sued Lisa Wilkinson and Network Ten for defamation in the federal court of Australia over Brittany Higgins interview on The Project. Follow updates

Justice Lee denies request from Brown’s team to clear court of all but accredited media

Justice Michael Lee has denied a request from Fiona Brown’s legal team that the court be cleared of everyone but accredited media.

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Brittany Higgins told senior colleague she remembered Bruce Lehrmann on top of her, defamation trial hears

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Linda Reynolds’ then chief of staff Fiona Brown was first to interview pair after alleged rape, which Lehrmann has always denied

Former Liberal staffer Fiona Brown was dramatically compelled to give evidence in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial on Monday on the proviso the federal court’s live stream was disabled while she was in the witness box.

Brown was Senator Linda Reynolds’ chief of staff at the time Brittany Higgins claims Lehrmann raped her on the ministerial couch, and was the first person to interview both of them. She took contemporaneous notes.

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Lisa Wilkinson rejects idea she put ‘pride and ego’ before Bruce Lehrmann’s right to a fair trial

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Broadcaster also hits back during defamation trial at suggestion she was ‘captured’ by Brittany Higgins and had no desire to ‘check or scrutinise anything she said’

Lisa Wilkinson has hit back at suggestions she behaved “like a cheap tabloid journalist” in her handling of Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations, saying her team investigated the story “extremely well”.

The broadcaster’s much-anticipated evidence began on Thursday in the federal court, where she is facing lengthy cross-examination by Bruce Lehrmann’s legal team.

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Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial live: judge orders Sky News to produce alleged secret recording of Brittany Higgins’ lawyer

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Lehrmann is suing Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson in the federal court of Australia for defamation. Follow the latest news and updates from the trial today

Project producer says David Sharaz told him Higgins had been to police again

Llewellyn is now being asked about what role, if any, The Project played in Higgins reactivating her complaint about the alleged rape with ACT police in 2021.

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Linda Reynolds sues ACT government and former chief prosecutor

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Liberal senator says widely reported letter by Shane Drumgold to AFP caused significant ‘loss and damage’

Liberal senator Linda Reynolds has launched another high-profile defamation action, this time against the ACT government and former chief prosecutor Shane Drumgold.

A writ lodged in the West Australian supreme court on Monday says Drumgold sent a letter accusing the senator of “disturbing conduct” during Bruce Lehrmann’s rape trial.

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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’

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

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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’

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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

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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’

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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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