Speaker 1: From The Australian. I'm Claire Harvey. We're hoping you're having
Speaker 1: a great holiday break and today we're bringing you one
Speaker 1: of our favorite episodes from the year. This episode originally
Speaker 1: aired on March four as the legal saga, prompted by
Speaker 1: Brittany higgins allegation she was raped by Bruce Lammon, entered
Speaker 1: a new phase. The Front will return with all new
Speaker 1: episodes on Monday, January thirteenth. Just hit follow or subscribe
Speaker 1: to make sure you don't miss an episode.
Speaker 2: The first thing that sort of awoke me was I
Speaker 2: was in a pain. My leg was kind of being crushed.
Speaker 3: The senior staff was on top of me.
Speaker 1: This is the moment that launched a thousand lawsuits. So
Speaker 1: I woke up mid rape. Essentially, this is Britney Higgins's
Speaker 1: claim on Network ten's The Project that as a twenty
Speaker 1: three year old Liberal staffer she was raped by another
Speaker 1: twenty three year old later identified as Bruce Lahman, an
Speaker 1: allegation Lahman completely denies. The Projects story wasn't just an
Speaker 1: allegation of rape. It was about Higgins's sweeping claim that
Speaker 1: the then Coalition government led by Scott Morrison had actively
Speaker 1: silenced her Higgins accused two women of being core to
Speaker 1: the cover up her then boss, Cabinet Minister Linda Reynolds,
Speaker 1: and reynolds then chief of staff Fiona Brown. Both women
Speaker 1: have since said they're devastated by higgins allegation and that
Speaker 1: in fact they encouraged Higgins to go to the police
Speaker 1: and gave her their full support. Fiona Brown, the former staffer,
Speaker 1: has indicated she wants only to move on. Linda Reynolds,
Speaker 1: the former minister, is not going anywhere. She's fighting for
Speaker 1: her reputation, firing defamation lawsuits at everyone who's accused her
Speaker 1: of wrongdoing, including Higgins, her partner David Scharaz and Shane Drumgold,
Speaker 1: the former Chief Prosecutor of the Act, and today the
Speaker 1: Australians revealing Reynolds has had a big win in the
Speaker 1: case against drum Gold. The Act government has quietly settled
Speaker 1: the defamation matter out of court by giving Reynolds a
Speaker 1: substantial payout.
Speaker 2: Lenna Reynolds was and has been for a long time
Speaker 2: now very distressed about the way that she was represented
Speaker 2: and indeed misrepresented through the whole Higgins Luhmann saga.
Speaker 1: Stephen Rice is the Australian's New South Wales editor.
Speaker 2: That, of course states back to the claims by Higgins
Speaker 2: that Reynolds took no care of her, ignored her claims
Speaker 2: of being raped at the hands of British Luhman, did
Speaker 2: little or nothing about it afterwards, and indeed washed the
Speaker 2: hands of it for political reasons at the time. Now,
Speaker 2: those misrepresentations obviously gnawed away at Reynolds, and I guess
Speaker 2: partly because you'll recall that at one point Linda Reynolds
Speaker 2: was forced to apologize to Higgins and indeed pay her
Speaker 2: money because she was discovered to have called her a
Speaker 2: lying cow.
Speaker 1: This comment lying cow is something another political staffer said
Speaker 1: she'd heard Linda Reynolds say while watching that TV interview.
Speaker 1: Reynolds admitted saying those words. But and this goes to
Speaker 1: the heart of Linda reynolds gripe. She says she was
Speaker 1: not denying Higgins had been raped. She was objecting to
Speaker 1: Higgins's claim that Reynolds was part of a politically motivated
Speaker 1: cover up. This is believed to be the fifth successful
Speaker 1: legal action brought by Linda Reynolds. She sued radio hosts
Speaker 1: and others for airing allegations against her, and on Tuesday
Speaker 1: she'll face off with her main accuser.
Speaker 2: There is another case coming up very soon. In fact,
Speaker 2: on Tuesday, Linda Reynolds in mediation will be meeting Britney
Speaker 2: Higgins and David Sharraz over a claim that she's taken
Speaker 2: against them. So this is an ongoing process for Reynolds.
Speaker 2: She's determined to clear her name no matter what it costs,
Speaker 2: no matter how far she has to go. And indeed,
Speaker 2: Higgins and Charraraz have had to fly back from France,
Speaker 2: as I understand it, the first time that they've been
Speaker 2: back to Australia since they left a few months ago
Speaker 2: to take part in this mediation in Perth to try
Speaker 2: of the latest case that Reynolds has brought against them.
Speaker 1: A brief recap for you of the way events unfolded
Speaker 1: after that alleged incident. In the early hours of March
Speaker 1: twenty three, twenty nineteen, after Friday night drinks, Higgins and
Speaker 1: Lemon took an uber to Parliament. Higgins says she fell
Speaker 1: asleep in the Ministerial suite on Reynold's sofa, then woke
Speaker 1: up to find Lemon raping her. Lemon denies any sexual
Speaker 1: contact at all. On the following Tuesday, March twenty six,
Speaker 1: Lemon and Higgins were both in the office when Chief
Speaker 1: of Staff Fiona Brown called Lemon into her room and
Speaker 1: told him he'd breached security by entering Parliament and had
Speaker 1: to pack up his desk and leave. Higgins says that
Speaker 1: day she told Fiona Brown she'd woken up to find
Speaker 1: Lemon on top of her. Brown says Higgins didn't tell
Speaker 1: her this, and when Brown asked, did something happen you
Speaker 1: didn't want Higgins indicated no. Brown says it was only
Speaker 1: later she realized Higgins had been found naked on the
Speaker 1: sofa by a security guard and realized there might be
Speaker 1: something more sinister. Brown says it wasn't until the Thursday
Speaker 1: that Higgins told her Lemon had been on top of her.
Speaker 1: Brown alleges Reynolds and another senior politician, Alex Hawk, wanted
Speaker 1: her to go to police at this stage and report
Speaker 1: that something had happened. Brown said she refused that she
Speaker 1: didn't believe that was right because Higgins was insisting she
Speaker 1: didn't want the police involved. On April one, Brown says
Speaker 1: she and Reynolds met with Higgins and the minister encouraged
Speaker 1: Higgins to go to the police. Brown says she walked
Speaker 1: Higgins to the police office in Parliament House, and that
Speaker 1: subsequently Higgins told her she decided not to pursue a
Speaker 1: formal complaint. During a criminal trial of Bruce Lammon, which
Speaker 1: ended without a verdict and saw the charges dropped, Drumgold
Speaker 1: had taken the dramatic step of asking the trial judge
Speaker 1: Lucy McCallum for permission to question Reynolds as a hostile witness.
Speaker 1: Under Drumgold's questioning, Reynolds said all she knew at the
Speaker 1: time of her April one meeting with Higgins at Brown
Speaker 1: was that there'd been a security breach with the two
Speaker 1: young staff entering the office after hours. At that trial,
Speaker 1: Drumgold put it to Reynolds that she knew there was
Speaker 1: what he called a sexual element to the incident. Reynolds
Speaker 1: denied it that later, Reynolds admitted she did, in fact
Speaker 1: know by the time of that Monday meeting that there
Speaker 1: was an allegation of sexual misconduct. Both Brown and Reynolds
Speaker 1: say Higgins did not tell them at any point she'd
Speaker 1: been raped. Now, the beef between Reynolds and Drumgold seems
Speaker 1: to go pretty deep, and like most things in this matter,
Speaker 1: it's extremely complicated. But boiling it down Ricey, it centers
Speaker 1: on a letter that Drumgold wrote. Who was that to
Speaker 1: and what did he say?
Speaker 2: Well, this is a letter that Shane Drumgold had written
Speaker 2: to the Chief of Police immediately after the criminal trial finished,
Speaker 2: in which he made a number of allegations that the
Speaker 2: police had acted poorly, in fact disgracefully through the trial,
Speaker 2: that they ganged up on him, that they'd instead of
Speaker 2: helping the prosecution, they'd help the defense.
Speaker 1: Drumgold also alleged in the letter that Linda Reynolds had
Speaker 1: been politically motivated throughout the trial and had sought to
Speaker 1: coach Bruce Lemmon's lawyers. Drum Gold was so motivated about
Speaker 1: this ask the act government to call a special inquiry
Speaker 1: into the matter, but that didn't go as it hoped.
Speaker 1: Here's what Drumgold told the inquiry, chaired by eminent jurist
Speaker 1: Walter Sofronoff kc into these allegations of political interference. You'll
Speaker 1: hear him being questioned by counsel assisting the inquiry, Aaron
Speaker 1: Longbottom case. She's asking him about this letter.
Speaker 4: So did you think there was a conspiracy of foot I.
Speaker 3: Had not formed a view solidly one way or another,
Speaker 3: but I thought that there was enough incidences to make
Speaker 3: it possible, if not probable.
Speaker 4: These are very serious allegations you make in this letter.
Speaker 4: Their allegations made for the authority of your office. Do
Speaker 4: you think possible is the right state of mind to
Speaker 4: make those allegations?
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, if you get stuck on adjectives, I
Speaker 3: felt that there was enough evidence there to justify an
Speaker 3: inquiry into it.
Speaker 1: In his final report, Sofronoff was scathing about Drumgold's claims,
Speaker 1: saying they were completely baseless coming up. So was there
Speaker 1: a conspiracy or not? While I've got you, we'd love
Speaker 1: you to subscribe to The Australian this week. We'll have
Speaker 1: more coverage on this matter, plus all the big stories
Speaker 1: and the best analysis. It's about the price of a
Speaker 1: sandwich per week. Check us out at the Australian dot
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Speaker 1: If you've been listening to the front, you'll know there
Speaker 1: are a bunch of other court cases going on, including
Speaker 1: Bruce Lammon suing Network ten for defamation, Shane Drumgold suing
Speaker 1: the Board of Inquiry for effectively ending his career. In
Speaker 1: the defamation case being heard by Justice Michael Lee in
Speaker 1: the Federal cour Network, Ten has denied it ever put
Speaker 1: the imputation there was a political cover up simply that
Speaker 1: it aired higgins belief that this was so. The Commonwealth
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty two paid Britney Higgins two point four
Speaker 1: million dollars over her claims Reynolds and Brown had told
Speaker 1: her to be quiet about the alleged rape. Brown and
Speaker 1: Reynolds have both strongly denied these claims. Russie, You've sat
Speaker 1: through hundreds of hours of various court hearings in relation
Speaker 1: to this matter. What's your instinct about it? You know?
Speaker 1: Was there a grand political conspiracy to cover this matter up?
Speaker 1: Or two? No? Not prosecute Bruce.
Speaker 2: Lean Absolutely not. I mean I couldn't be clear about that.
Speaker 2: And let me make it clear. I am not talking
Speaker 2: about the allegation of a rape. I'm not talking about
Speaker 2: whether or not Bruce Lehman raped Britney Higgins in that suite.
Speaker 2: What I'm talking about is her later allegation that there
Speaker 2: was a political conspiracy involving people like Linda Reynolds and
Speaker 2: her chiefest staff Fiona Brown, to cover the thing up,
Speaker 2: to make it go away because somehow it was going
Speaker 2: to be embarrassing for the Liberal Party in the middle
Speaker 2: of a federal election. Absolute nonsense, And in fact, everybody
Speaker 2: who's examined this case ever since has concluded that Walter Sofronoff,
Speaker 2: who spent months going through all of this, has absolutely
Speaker 2: stated clearly there was no political cover up. And in fact,
Speaker 2: I'd suggest, without wanting to put words in his mouth,
Speaker 2: that when Justice Lee makes his inevitable findings in the
Speaker 2: defamation case bought by Bruce Lherman, that he may also
Speaker 2: find that, regardless of the truth of the rape allegation,
Speaker 2: that there was no political cover up. You know, the
Speaker 2: only political interference, I should say, occurred sometime later when
Speaker 2: the Labor Party seized upon this events and went for her,
Speaker 2: just savaged her as a woman who stood by silently
Speaker 2: after another woman had been raped.
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