Former political staffer Bruce Lehrmann has insisted he did not rape fellow staffer Brittany Higgins and says he has not ruled out suing her.
Speaking to the Seven Network’s Spotlight program in his first TV interview since the accusation came to light, Lehrmann offered his version of events, saying the assault “simply didn’t happen”.
Higgins has alleged Lehrmann raped her inside Parliament House after a night out drinking with colleagues in February 2019.
He has consistently denied the accusations against him. The initial trial was aborted last year due to jury misconduct and prosecutors dropped the charges against Lehrmann earlier this year amid concerns about the impact a second trial could have on Higgins’ mental health.
On the morning of 23 March 2019, the pair went back to Parliament House, where they both worked as staffers for former minister Linda Reynolds.
In the interview, Lehrmann said Higgins joined him in the Uber after leaving colleagues because she said she also needed to get something from the office.
“From my recollection, she indicated she also needed to go back to Parliament House – who am I to question that?” he said.
“I thought I was being a gentleman in assisting her to do that.”
CCTV footage showed the pair entering Parliament House at 1:47am and being escorted to the lift.
Lehrmann said when they entered the office they went in opposite directions, with Higgins going towards the minister’s office while he went to his desk. He told police he did not see her again until Monday morning when they were both back at work.
In the 40 minutes they were both in the office Lehrmann said he made notes of the conversations he had had with defence staff earlier that night, and he left without saying goodbye.
Higgins was found later that morning by a parliament security guard, who had been sent in for a welfare check after Lehrmann’s departure.
“I don’t know what happened later,” Lehrmann said. “This is the point. Because I didn’t see her, so I can’t comment about what was going on in that office.”
Lehrmann gave evidence to police in 2021 after the allegations were made public, but he did not give evidence during the criminal trial.
The ACT government subsequently launched an inquiry into how the justice system responded to Higgins’ allegations, with the final report to be delivered to the government by 31 July.
Lehrmann said the pair had been “close” that evening but denied they had kissed while at a club, a claim made by an eyewitness.
“That eyewitness gave her statement two years after the fact,” he said.
Lehrmann previously offered three different reasons for going back to Parliament House that evening. He told security on the evening he had been sent to get documents, later he told police he needed to get his keys, and when questioned by then chief of staff Fiona Brown he said the pair had gone to the office to drink whiskey.
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“The fact of the matter is, the version I told the federal police is the truth,” he said.
He claimed “media elites” had latched on to Higgins’ allegation “to weaponise it, and advance a movement really”.
In the interview, Lehrmann said he had been “kicked to a kerb” by the situation and was blocked by friends and colleagues as soon as Higgins’ first interview with Lisa Wilkinson aired on The Project.
“I’m seeing friends of mine block me on Facebook and remove me from group chats,” he said.
“That was one of the worst things to see that people were dropping me because I was politically inconvenient to be associated with.”
He said after The Project interview aired, his mental health spiralled.
“An allegation as serious as this, made so public, and with the networks that I had, and they were just disappearing it, it all just became too much. I felt that I couldn’t recover.”
After the allegations aired, Lehrmann launched defamation proceedings against News Life Media, Network 10 and ABC over their coverage. He reached a settlement with News, but the two other cases are ongoing.
Higgins has said she was willing to “defend the truth” as a witness in any civil case brought by Lehrmann.
Asked if he was considering defamation action against Higgins, Lehrmann said he was “not ruling it out” but admitted it was “not a good look”.
“It’s not a good look, [if] you kick someone when they’re down,” he said.
In finishing, Lehrmann admitted his lawyers had told him not to do the interview, but said he had no regrets.
“Beware the man who’s got nothing to lose,” he said. “There’s a bit more to come yet.”
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