Bruce Lehrmann has finally revealed what he really thinks about Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations against him in his first-ever TV interview – which included explosive claims the former colleagues were seen ‘kissing’ on a couch at a nightclub.
Mr Lehrmann broke his two-year media silence in an interview with 7News Spotlight on Sunday night, with Liam Bartlett grilling him over his version of events.
Ms Higgins alleges she was raped by Mr Lehrmann in Parliament House after a night out in 2019. Mr Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence.
The former parliamentary staffer has remained quiet about the night in question, speaking only in a recorded interview with police in 2021 – which was played before the ACT Supreme Court during his criminal trial in October last year.
Now, Mr Lehrmann has responded to a number of direct questions, including: Did you rape Brittany Higgins? Did you have consensual sex? Did you kiss her? Were you intimate with her at all?
To each question, Mr Lehrmann replied ‘no’.
Bruce Lehrmann (pictured) has broken his silence in a TV interview two years after Brittany Higgins accused him of raping her in Parliament House
Ms Higgins (pictured outside court with her partner David Sharaz) alleged Mr Lehrmann, her former colleague, sexually assaulted her in Parliament House after a night out in 2019
The network also aired never-before-seen security footage from Parliament House on the night of the alleged assault, along with claims from an eyewitness who supposedly saw the pair kissing earlier that evening.
A recording of a five-hour lunch Ms Higgins had with Lisa Wilkinson and two others was also played – during which Wilkinson said her motivation to air Ms Higgins’ allegations was driven by ‘people who deserve to be heard, not being heard’.
Mr Lehrmann also accused Ms Higgins of ‘lying’ about a large bruise on her leg.
Lisa Wilkinson’s secret meeting
Brittany Higgins and her boyfriend David Sharaz had a five-hour lunch with Lisa Wilkinson and Channel 10 producer Angus Llewellyn a few days prior to her interview on The Project on February 15, 2021 – when she first aired her rape allegations.
The lunch was recorded, and subsequently played during the Spotlight special on Sunday night.
In the recording, the group could be heard laughing and joking about the inner workings of Parliament House, a former colleague’s last name, and calling Mr Lehrmann a ‘predator’ – despite the unproven allegations.
Mr Sharaz also asked Wilkinson what she wanted out of the interview, to which she replied: ‘The inequality that exists out there, whether it’s white privilege, whether it’s male domination, whether it’s you know criminal activity that is suppressed.
‘I’m a girl from the western suburbs of Sydney. I’ll always be motivated by exactly the same thing. People who deserve to be heard, not being heard.’
Lisa Wilkinson (pictured leaving a café hours before Bruce Lehrmann’s Spotlight interview aired) had a five-hour lunch with Brittany Higgins and her boyfriend David Sharaz a few days prior to Ms Higgins’ interview on The Project – when she first aired her rape allegations
At one point during the lengthy meeting, Wilkinson told Ms Higgins she didn’t want to ‘to put words in your mouth’ but continued on to say she wanted her to discuss the culture of Parliament House.
‘I have every confidence that you will answer that very eloquently, but it’s one you just need to really think about,’ Wilkinson could be heard saying.
‘I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but if you can enunciate the fact that this place is all about suppression of people’s natural sense of justice.’
Ms Higgins could be heard saying she was worried about the prospects of conviction, but believed she might win if Mr Lehrmann took her to civil court.
‘If he wants to go after me, like on a civil basis, I think, on the balance of probabilities, I think I could win. I think it’s – if the onus of proof is beyond a reasonable doubt, I think that would be different. I don’t think I could win that,’ Ms Higgins said.
In an extract of the recording that was played at the trial, Mr Sharaz said that if the story broke in a parliamentary sitting week, ‘they have to answer questions at question time, it’s a mess for them’.
‘I’ve got a friend in Labor, Katie Gallagher on the Labor side, who will probe and continue it going,’ Mr Sharaz said.
Wilkinson could also be heard criticising former deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop.
‘The biggest frustration that I have with Julie is that she had so many opportunities to speak out against the culture,’ she said.
‘And for one woman too, what was she, deputy to 13 different prime ministers over the course of her time in parliament?’
Mr Sharaz interjected: ‘Always loyal too. Bridesmaid, never the bride.’
The lunch with Ms Wilkinson, Ms Higgins, Mr Sharaz and Channel 10 producer Angus Llewellyn was recorded, and subsequently played during the Spotlight special on Sunday night
In the recording, the group could be heard laughing and joking about the inner workings of Parliament House, a former colleague’s last name, and calling Mr Lehrmann a ‘predator’
Wilkinson replied: ‘The minute she was out of there [she said], “Oh, it’s really sexist.” I tried to get her on the record with that so many times when she could’ve actually affected change, and she wouldn’t.’
The group then started speaking about whether Ms Bishop would speak out, or whether she would back Michaelia Cash and Linda Reynolds.
‘They’re all Perth girls,’ Ms Wilkinson said, but Ms Higgins offered, ‘They were never friends.’
‘I don’t know why, but they never liked each other,’ Ms Higgins could be heard saying.
Mr Sharaz then added: ‘Julie doesn’t have any friends.’
During the criminal trial in the ACT Supreme Court last year, Ms Higgins was questioned about the five-hour conversation: ‘That wasn’t the actual interview itself and I didn’t sign a stat dec [statutory declaration] on this. This is just us talking.’
The bruise on Ms Higgins’ leg
In 2021, The Project aired a photo of a large bruise on Ms Higgins leg. She said the bruise came from the night she was allegedly assaulted, and was allegedly caused by Mr Lehrmann’s knee against her leg.
During Mr Lehrmann’s interview on Sunday night, Mr Bartlett said: ‘This bruise suggested in no uncertain terms that you had pinned her down.’
Mr Lehrmann interjected: ‘Well, it was fabricated.’
‘That’s the only explanation, is that it was fabricated or it’s a bruise from much later.’
Photos of the bruise were shown to the ACT Supreme Court last year, after investigating police officers extracted the contents of her phone to conduct a metadata analysis.
Experts were unable find evidence of the photo prior to January 2021.
During the explosive interview, Mr Lehrmann accused Ms Higgins of lying about the alleged assault to keep her job.
This photo of a bruise on Ms Higgins’ leg was aired on The Project in February 2021. Mr Lehrmann claimed the image was ‘fabricated’ or ‘a bruise from much later’
A security breach was triggered on the night Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann entered Parliament House in the early hours of March 24, 2019, while intoxicated.
Mr Lehrmann lost his job over the breach, and Ms Higgins was called into a meeting and questioned by her superiors.
He told Spotlight that, during that meeting, he believes she told a ‘white lie’ because she thought her job was in jeopardy.
‘I think that a white lie to save a job occurred,’ Mr Lehrmann claimed.
‘She saw me getting the turf and she is come into contact with media elites that have latched onto this, given the environment, at the time, in 2021, to weaponise it.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Higgins for comment.
‘Kissing’ on a couch
It was also aired for the first time that a former colleague, Lauren Gain, who was at the venue where they attended prior to the alleged assault, claimed she saw Mr Lehrmann and Ms Higgins kissing passionately.
Channel Seven played a recording of her police interview, during which Ms Gain said, ‘I remember them kissing on the couch.
‘And I, it was at that point then, I don’t really remember much after that, I’ll be honest. My memory is quite hazy because we did have a lot of alcohol to drink.’
On Sunday, Mr Bartlett said to Mr Lehrmann: ‘One of your colleagues, one of your friends who was there at the time drinking with you, a woman called Lauren, she told police, and I quote, you and Brittany Higgins were sitting very close kissing and passionate.’
Mr Lehrmann replied, unflinching: ‘Rubbish.’
CCTV footage captured the pair at a Canberra bar earlier that night. During his interview, Mr Lehrmann was grilled over an alleged eyewitness account of him and Ms Higgins kissing at the venue – but he denied anything of the sort took place
Mr Bartlett continued: ‘But it makes a lot of sense – canoodling, snogging, call it what you like, you’d had a bellyful of grog.
‘Things were getting a bit hot. So 1.30 in the morning, on a Saturday, a nice, quiet, private place to Parliament House.’
Mr Lehrmann firmly said that was not that case at all, and maintained he only went back to Parliament House to collect his keys and collect some question time briefs, before going home to his girlfriend at 2.30am.
It marked the first time he directly responded to the kissing claim, which was abandoned during the trial.
Ms Gain was called as a witness, but she wasn’t asked about the claim during the trial.
Footage from the night in question
Security footage also emerged of the night Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann entered Parliament House in the early hours of March 24, 2019 – the night she was allegedly raped.
During the trial last year, Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann both said they agreed to split a taxi back from a nightclub – which was to drop them at their respective homes.
However, Mr Lehrmann said he had to collect his keys and some question time briefs from Parliament House on the way.
He says Ms Higgins also said she needed to go back to the office, but Ms Higgins told a court she only went back to the office because the taxi dropped her there – not because she needed to go back.
In the footage, Ms Higgins could clearly be seen in her white Kookai dress, carrying her shoes as she entered went through security screening at the doors of the nation’s highest office.
She removed her shoes to go through the metal detector, and tried momentarily to put them back on but ended up carrying them through the halls of Parliament.
The two were led into the defence suite, which is where the footage stopped.
Ms Higgins is seen here after making her way through Parliament House security
The episode also aired, for the first time, vision of Mr Lehrmann and Ms Higgins arriving at Parliament House moments before she alleges he raped her
Ms Higgins said she was highly intoxicated and fell asleep on a couch Senator Reynolds office. She alleged she woke up to Mr Lehrmann having sex with her.
However, Mr Lehrmann said they both walked in opposite directions once they were inside the defence suite. He says he caught a taxi home by himself, whereas Ms Higgins said she waited for him.
‘I didn’t see her again,’ Mr Lehrmann told Mr Bartlett on Sunday.
Mr Bartlett quizzed him on why he didn’t check on Ms Higgins in the 40 minutes he was in the ministerial suite.
‘That doesn’t add up – you’re sitting in that office for something like 40 minutes working on material for a minister in the couple of days afterwards,’ he started.
Mr Lehrmann interjected: ‘But it was her first question time that she was about to step into.’
Mr Bartlett pointed out Senator Reynolds wouldn’t need those notes for another week, but Mr Lehrmann was insistent it was essential that he work on the briefs.
Mr Lehrmann was tried in a 12-day hearing in October last year, but a mistrial was declared after a jury member brought banned reading material into the court.
Shane Drumgold, the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions, dropped the case altogether in December due to concerns over Ms Higgins’ mental health.
Why Mr Lehrmann lied about a crucial detail
Mr Lehrmann admits he gave three different reasons for returning to Parliament House with Ms Higgins about 2am after the pair shared an Uber.
He told investigators he needed to pick up the keys to his apartment and jot down contemporaneous notes for Ms Reynolds after meeting defence staffers earlier in the night.
But when passing through security to the building, Mr Lehrmann told the guards he was there to collect documents.
Chief of staff to former Minister Reynolds, Fiona Brown, was told he arrived at the office ‘to drink whisky’.
Ms Higgins woke up in the ministerial suite (pictured) naked
‘You’ll admit then that doesn’t look good, does it, Bruce?’ Bartlett asked Mr Lehrmann.
‘Of course not,’ he responded.
‘But the fact of the matter is, the version I told the federal police is the truth,’ Mr Lehrmann said.
He claims he told security that he was picking up documents because getting into parliament late at night ‘is a bit of a process’.
‘So, I needed to ensure that we could get in first to get my keys at that time, because it was a late time. In order to do that, to gain access, I had to say that to get in,’ he added.
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