1
00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:07,400
Speaker 1: From The Australian. I'm Claire Harvey. A special bonus episode

2
00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:13,440
Speaker 1: of The Front for You Today, Bruce Lamon has been

3
00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:16,160
Speaker 1: ordered to pay the vast majority of Network ten and

4
00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:20,960
Speaker 1: Lisa Wilkinson's whopping costs after unsuccessfully suing them for defamation.

5
00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:26,720
Speaker 1: Just as Michael Lee said Ten's journalism was unreasonable and unjustifiable,

6
00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:31,400
Speaker 1: but he slated Lahman's lies and his decision to have

7
00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:35,040
Speaker 1: his lawyers cross examine a rape victim knowing she was

8
00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:39,279
Speaker 1: telling the truth. In today's episode, Wylee is still furious

9
00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:42,440
Speaker 1: with the Network ten and what he says about Brittany

10
00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:43,600
Speaker 1: higgins conduct.

11
00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:56,959
Speaker 2: Mister Lhermon had sexual intercourse with Miss Higgins and yet

12
00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:00,800
Speaker 2: ran a primary case premised upon the fanciful, knowingly false

13
00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:03,520
Speaker 2: premiss that in the early hours of twenty three March

14
00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:06,760
Speaker 2: twenty nineteen, he was preoccupied with noting up details as

15
00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:08,160
Speaker 2: to French submarine contracts.

16
00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:12,679
Speaker 1: This is justice, Michael Lee delivering what he says he

17
00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:15,520
Speaker 1: hopes are some of his final words on the matter

18
00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:19,479
Speaker 1: that has gripped Australia over four years, the claim that

19
00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:23,360
Speaker 1: Bruce Lehman raped Brittany Higgins on a sofa in Federal

20
00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:24,240
Speaker 1: Parliament House.

21
00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:28,080
Speaker 2: As I said, mister Lehman defended the criminal charge on

22
00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:30,440
Speaker 2: a false basis, lied to police, and then allowed that

23
00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:34,080
Speaker 2: lie to go uncorrected before the jury. He wrongly instructed

24
00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:37,120
Speaker 2: his senior council to cross examine a complaint of sexual assault,

25
00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:41,240
Speaker 2: then two legal proceedings, including relevantly for present purposes in

26
00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:45,399
Speaker 2: this case, on a knowingly false premiss Indeed, this was

27
00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:47,520
Speaker 2: misconduct in the running of the case of such a

28
00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:49,720
Speaker 2: character that even if I had not reached the level

29
00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:52,600
Speaker 2: of satisfaction that mister Lehman raped Miss Higgins, and mister

30
00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,400
Speaker 2: Lehman was therefore entitled to judgment of twenty thousand dollars

31
00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:58,040
Speaker 2: in the count of factual explained in the judgment, I

32
00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:00,639
Speaker 2: would have declined to award costs in mister Lurman's favor.

33
00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:03,760
Speaker 2: This would have been the appropriate exercise of discretion in

34
00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:08,040
Speaker 2: circumstances given mister Lehman had acted in serious breach of

35
00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:11,040
Speaker 2: his unbl obligations under Part five B the Federal Court

36
00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:13,320
Speaker 2: of Australia Act in advancing a case he knew was

37
00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:17,160
Speaker 2: false and which occasion much delay, in efficiency and increased cost.

38
00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:21,320
Speaker 1: The judge has already found on the balance of probabilities

39
00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:26,040
Speaker 1: that Laerman did rape Higgins. Lareman's indicated he may appeal,

40
00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:29,840
Speaker 1: but now he's facing an immense legal bill because the

41
00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:32,880
Speaker 1: federal court judge has ordered him to hand Network ten

42
00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,800
Speaker 1: and its journalist Lisa Wilkinson what's likely to be millions

43
00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:41,000
Speaker 1: of dollars to pay their lawyers. Lahman's own lawyers up

44
00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:43,360
Speaker 1: till now have been working on a no win, no

45
00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:48,000
Speaker 1: fee basis and won't get paid because they lost the

46
00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:50,920
Speaker 1: lawyers earlier this week told the court Laerman does not

47
00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:54,280
Speaker 1: have a secret financial backer out there paying his bills.

48
00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:59,080
Speaker 1: He likely does not have millions of dollars lying around.

49
00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:02,799
Speaker 1: This decision may bankrupt him, and given he now has

50
00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:06,280
Speaker 1: new lawyers who may not be working no win, no fee,

51
00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:09,480
Speaker 1: it could make an appeal less likely.

52
00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:14,519
Speaker 2: There are no real winners in this litigation.

53
00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:19,560
Speaker 1: Something that's been grinding Michael Lee's gears about the epic

54
00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:23,800
Speaker 1: legal storm surrounding Laman and Higgins is the way he says,

55
00:03:23,960 --> 00:03:27,359
Speaker 1: everyone only hears what they want to hear with.

56
00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:31,040
Speaker 2: The predictability of an atomic clock. Partisans have focused solely

57
00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:33,280
Speaker 2: on those parts of the judgment that happened to align

58
00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:37,560
Speaker 2: with preconceived notions, but their reality of mixed findings has

59
00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:40,480
Speaker 2: been somewhat obscured in the public statements of the respondents

60
00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:43,800
Speaker 2: and their submissions as to costs, which advanced an assertion

61
00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:47,280
Speaker 2: that they won the litigation and that costs should axiomatically

62
00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:48,000
Speaker 2: follow the event.

63
00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:52,080
Speaker 1: Here's what he means. Ten won the case, Yes, but

64
00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:55,200
Speaker 1: it wasn't a total win, and they shouldn't assume they

65
00:03:55,240 --> 00:04:00,360
Speaker 1: get to force Bruce Lamon to pay all their legal costs.

66
00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:06,200
Speaker 1: Bruce Lambon sued Network ten and presenter Lisa Wilkinson over

67
00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:09,400
Speaker 1: the Bombshell twenty twenty one story on the project, in

68
00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:13,080
Speaker 1: which Rittney Higgins told her emotional story of being raped

69
00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:17,279
Speaker 1: by Bruce Lammon and then despairing as as she claimed

70
00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:20,640
Speaker 1: her bosses failed to act, and.

71
00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:23,120
Speaker 3: So I would, I would try and raise it, and

72
00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:25,440
Speaker 3: I would try and bring it up. Then it was

73
00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:27,440
Speaker 3: always it always sort of came back to sort of

74
00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:30,360
Speaker 3: being a mere issue and it says, so you can't

75
00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:31,800
Speaker 3: deal with it, then you can leave.

76
00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:35,880
Speaker 1: Lamman said he never had sex of any kind with Higgins,

77
00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:38,119
Speaker 1: and that when the pair came back to Parliament House

78
00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:41,120
Speaker 1: one autumn night in twenty nineteen after a big night

79
00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:43,839
Speaker 1: of drinking. He went to his desk and made some

80
00:04:43,960 --> 00:04:46,719
Speaker 1: notes about French submarine contracts.

81
00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:50,520
Speaker 2: Oh, Bruce Lareman here with Minister Linda Reynolds to then

82
00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:52,680
Speaker 2: request to pick up some documents.

83
00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:58,560
Speaker 1: Have I've forgotten my past? Ten and Wilkinson had two defenses,

84
00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,599
Speaker 1: First that Britney Higgins's claim of being raped was true,

85
00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:08,000
Speaker 1: and second that their story was covered by statutory qualified privilege.

86
00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:12,839
Speaker 1: That's a rule designed to protect well intentioned, careful journalism.

87
00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:16,280
Speaker 1: The qualified privilege defense means a publisher has to prove

88
00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:20,240
Speaker 1: that they made all reasonable efforts to ensure the publication

89
00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:24,560
Speaker 1: was true. In his judgment back in April, Justice Lee

90
00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:28,600
Speaker 1: found Ten and Wilkinson had successfully proven the truth of

91
00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:31,400
Speaker 1: the rape on the balance of probabilities, which is the

92
00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:35,360
Speaker 1: standard in civil cases like this, but he said Ten

93
00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:38,440
Speaker 1: had failed on the qualified privileged defense.

94
00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:42,479
Speaker 2: First, I explained why the conduct of both Network ten

95
00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:46,200
Speaker 2: and miss Wilkinson in publishing the project program its character

96
00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:49,040
Speaker 2: of to feign that defamatory imputations as to mister Lihman

97
00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:53,840
Speaker 2: was unreasonable. Contrary to assertions of Network ten, the examination

98
00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:56,880
Speaker 2: of the respondent's conduct was not devoid of, nor divorce

99
00:05:56,920 --> 00:05:59,880
Speaker 2: from reality, nor did it involve picking a part in

100
00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,359
Speaker 2: secting the respondent's conduct by reference to a standard of perfection.

101
00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:07,320
Speaker 2: For anyone taking the trouble to read the judgment would

102
00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,479
Speaker 2: conclude that I did not consider the evatagey assessment required

103
00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:14,000
Speaker 2: by the statutory qualified privileged defense to be a close

104
00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:14,599
Speaker 2: run thing.

105
00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:19,120
Speaker 1: That there is a big swipe at Network ten over

106
00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:22,040
Speaker 1: something else that has made the judge very cranky. The

107
00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:25,400
Speaker 1: statements made on the court steps and in media interviews

108
00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:29,280
Speaker 1: after the trial by a representative of ten's law firm

109
00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:30,680
Speaker 1: in terms.

110
00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:34,600
Speaker 4: Of Channel ten's reasonable us look the way in which

111
00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:37,520
Speaker 4: judges and barristers, and this is the problem with defamation

112
00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:39,960
Speaker 4: law in Australia. The way in which judges and barristers

113
00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:44,719
Speaker 4: pick apart and dissect what journalists did or didn't do

114
00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:49,400
Speaker 4: in applying a legal threshold or legal test of reasonable

115
00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:52,360
Speaker 4: was is quite often divorced from reality.

116
00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:54,039
Speaker 1: The judge went on.

117
00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:58,600
Speaker 2: I also explained that although the respondents legally justified their

118
00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:02,280
Speaker 2: imputation of rape, their conduct was not justifiable in any

119
00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:05,599
Speaker 2: broader sense. The material in evidence is replete with the

120
00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:08,400
Speaker 2: recognition by the project team that the major theme of

121
00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:11,920
Speaker 2: the broadcast was the publication of what mister Charraz, the

122
00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,680
Speaker 2: promoter of the project and the regular conduit between Miss

123
00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:19,680
Speaker 2: Higgins and mister Llewellyn, had pitched to Miss Wilkinson. The

124
00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:23,000
Speaker 2: credulous approach taken as to the allegations pitched by mister

125
00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:26,280
Speaker 2: Charraz and as to Miss Higgins's credit, generally lacked both

126
00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:30,240
Speaker 2: rigor and objectivity. Contrary to the recent assertions of Network teen,

127
00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:33,920
Speaker 2: a publication is not reasonable simply because it turns out

128
00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:35,880
Speaker 2: to be true in some respects.

129
00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:41,320
Speaker 1: Mister Charraz, that's Britney higgins fiance. He pitched the story

130
00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:45,000
Speaker 1: to Lisa Wilkinson by email under the heading Liberal Party

131
00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:49,720
Speaker 1: Me Too project pitch Scharaz told Wilkinson it was a

132
00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:53,000
Speaker 1: story of a young rape victim being silenced by Scott

133
00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:56,800
Speaker 1: Morrison's federal government. That's something the judge said was not

134
00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:59,440
Speaker 1: borne out by the facts. He found that, in fact,

135
00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:02,600
Speaker 1: Minister Reynolds and a chief of staff Fiona Brown, had

136
00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:05,200
Speaker 1: not tried to cover up the rape or pressure Higgins

137
00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:09,320
Speaker 1: into silence. Ten tried to argue in its submissions that

138
00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:11,840
Speaker 1: it wasn't claiming there was a cover up, just that

139
00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:15,520
Speaker 1: Britney Higgins said. So here's what the judge said about that,

140
00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:17,960
Speaker 1: and it relates to the way he says TEN and

141
00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,480
Speaker 1: its supporters have crowed about their victory.

142
00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:24,840
Speaker 2: The result is best characterized as the respondents overcoming a

143
00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:29,200
Speaker 2: misconceived claim in relation to a broadcast because they were

144
00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:32,800
Speaker 2: able to prove a trial the substantial truth of what

145
00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:36,280
Speaker 2: the contemporaneous material demonstrates that they considered to be the

146
00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:38,760
Speaker 2: less substantial allegation made in the broadcast.

147
00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:42,240
Speaker 1: In other words, the judge says Ten's chosen to ignore

148
00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:44,400
Speaker 1: the fact they did present this as a cover up

149
00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:48,559
Speaker 1: and that that just wasn't true. The judge said, even

150
00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:51,840
Speaker 1: though TEN and Wilkinson's barristers had made very learned submissions,

151
00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:54,600
Speaker 1: there was no hiding the fact that Lisa Wilkinson and

152
00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:59,480
Speaker 1: producer Angus Llewellyn wholly believed Brittney Higgins's story and didn't

153
00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:02,920
Speaker 1: do an enough to establish whether it was true.

154
00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:06,320
Speaker 2: This is a case where extensive contemporaneous records demonstrates a

155
00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,920
Speaker 2: very large gulf between the carefully drafted respondents affidavits and

156
00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:13,360
Speaker 2: the true position as to the immediate and unquestioning belief

157
00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:16,520
Speaker 2: in miss Higgins's acount by mister Llewellyn and miss Wilkinson,

158
00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:19,200
Speaker 2: and as to the project team's lack of interest in

159
00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:22,000
Speaker 2: examining the account properly or obtaining contrary accounts.

160
00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:25,200
Speaker 1: The reason the judge is going through this is that

161
00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:28,720
Speaker 1: Lahman's lawyers sought to argue that because Ten lost on

162
00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:32,040
Speaker 1: the qualified privileged defense, Laman should not have to pay

163
00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:36,640
Speaker 1: tens legal bills for preparing and running that defense. Ultimately,

164
00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:39,160
Speaker 1: the judge didn't agree with that argument. He said the

165
00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:42,080
Speaker 1: two defenses were bound up together. Even if he had

166
00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:45,640
Speaker 1: serious problems with ten's journalism.

167
00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:47,560
Speaker 2: One cannot ignore the fact that the relevant conduct of

168
00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:50,520
Speaker 2: Network ten relating to the publication of the project program

169
00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:54,000
Speaker 2: was far from reasonable, and the statutory qualified privilege case,

170
00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:55,640
Speaker 2: while not hopeless, was weak.

171
00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:01,280
Speaker 1: The judge's other big problem with Network ten's behavior was

172
00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:04,640
Speaker 1: about the Logis speech made in twenty twenty two, in

173
00:10:04,679 --> 00:10:07,320
Speaker 1: which Lisa Wilkinson declared.

174
00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:11,000
Speaker 5: After forty years in journalism, this interview and this story

175
00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:15,720
Speaker 5: is by far the most important work I have ever done.

176
00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:18,200
Speaker 5: And I knew it from the very first phone call

177
00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:21,520
Speaker 5: I had early last year with a young woman whose

178
00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:24,600
Speaker 5: name she told me was Brittany Higgins.

179
00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:28,559
Speaker 1: That was eight days before Bruce Lahman was supposed to

180
00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:31,880
Speaker 1: face the Act Supreme Court in a criminal trial for rape,

181
00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:35,200
Speaker 1: at which Wilkinson was supposed to be a witness. A

182
00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:39,880
Speaker 1: furious Act judge delayed the trial because of the speech. Ultimately,

183
00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:43,120
Speaker 1: the trial was aborted without any finding of guilt against Lamman.

184
00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:47,400
Speaker 1: The judge said the Logis speech was grossly improper and

185
00:10:47,480 --> 00:10:51,480
Speaker 1: his slated Ten for approving it and continuing to defend

186
00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:55,440
Speaker 1: it in this defamation trial. And this brought him back

187
00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:58,800
Speaker 1: to the lawyer's statement on the court steps and subsequent

188
00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:01,600
Speaker 1: interviews where he defended Ten's journalism.

189
00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:05,640
Speaker 2: Following the delivery of judgment, however, a solicitor spokesman retained

190
00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:08,520
Speaker 2: on behalf of Network Ten made what might be described

191
00:11:08,559 --> 00:11:11,719
Speaker 2: as a victory tour and express public comments relevant to

192
00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:14,560
Speaker 2: the relevant findings, and repeatedly expressed the view the Logi

193
00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:16,959
Speaker 2: speech not only did not have the tendency to interfee with

194
00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:20,559
Speaker 2: the administration of justice, but presented no difficulty whatsoever.

195
00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:23,520
Speaker 1: If you've been listening to the front, you'll know. The

196
00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:27,080
Speaker 1: judge demanded an explanation from Ten. He wanted to know

197
00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:29,600
Speaker 1: if Ten thought the Logi speech was still a good

198
00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:33,400
Speaker 1: idea despite the fact he'd slammed it in his judgment.

199
00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:37,920
Speaker 1: This was high stakes stuff for Ten. The risk was

200
00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:40,679
Speaker 1: that if the judge was sufficiently annoyed, he could throw

201
00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:44,680
Speaker 1: out ten's costs claim altogether and it'd be left footing

202
00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:48,640
Speaker 1: its own bill. Ten and its lawyers humbly asked the

203
00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:51,600
Speaker 1: judge for forgiveness, saying the remarks were off the cuff

204
00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:56,480
Speaker 1: and unintentional, and that ten takes its legal obligations very seriously.

205
00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:01,400
Speaker 2: After these issues were raised, further Affidavidson submissions explaining the

206
00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:04,360
Speaker 2: considered a current view of Network ten were provided to

207
00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:09,920
Speaker 2: the court. This material suggests that Soul of Tarsus, like

208
00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:14,320
Speaker 2: the scales, have belatedly fallen from the anthropmomorphic eyes of

209
00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:17,640
Speaker 2: Network ten. In the circumstances, no further comment or action

210
00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:20,199
Speaker 2: from this court is necessary or appropriate.

211
00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:24,880
Speaker 1: So he's given them a scare and we'll leave it there.

212
00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:29,000
Speaker 1: Saul of Tarsus, by the way, is also known as

213
00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:32,760
Speaker 1: Paul the Apostle. He was cured of blindness in the

214
00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:36,120
Speaker 1: Bible when scales like that of a fish fell from

215
00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:40,000
Speaker 1: his eyes and he could suddenly see everything clearly.

216
00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:42,880
Speaker 2: Coming up.

217
00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:46,160
Speaker 1: What the judge said about Brittney Higgins demand Lisa Wilkinson

218
00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:49,520
Speaker 1: sack her lawyer. The best coverage of this and all

219
00:12:49,559 --> 00:12:52,319
Speaker 1: the big trials is at Beaustralian dot com dot a U,

220
00:12:52,480 --> 00:12:56,240
Speaker 1: where our subscribers are always first to know. On Monday,

221
00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:59,120
Speaker 1: the appeal of Christopher Michael Dawson of the Teacher's Pet

222
00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:02,240
Speaker 1: kicks off and will have live blogs and all the

223
00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:05,839
Speaker 1: news as it happens. Join ours subscribers now by going

224
00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:09,000
Speaker 1: to the Australian dot Com dot AU and we'll be

225
00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:24,240
Speaker 1: back after this break. One of the side shows that

226
00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:27,440
Speaker 1: occupied Michael Lee's time during this trial was a cost

227
00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:32,040
Speaker 1: dispute between Lisa Wilkinson and her employer's Network ten. That's

228
00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:34,520
Speaker 1: still raging, by the way, and it will be determined

229
00:13:34,559 --> 00:13:38,160
Speaker 1: by an independent referee who'll decide how much everyone's bills

230
00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:41,400
Speaker 1: are and who pays what later this month. But it's

231
00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:43,840
Speaker 1: thanks to that cross claim that the court heard a

232
00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:46,560
Speaker 1: large amount of evidence about what was going on within

233
00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:52,479
Speaker 1: Network ten as its relationship with its star Lisa Wilkinson deteriorated.

234
00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:56,959
Speaker 1: The LOGI speech cost Wilkinson her role on the project.

235
00:13:57,679 --> 00:14:01,439
Speaker 1: In November twenty twenty two, she made an emotional exit,

236
00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:04,920
Speaker 1: positioning it as her decision rather than ten's.

237
00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:10,200
Speaker 5: I have had a ball, but for me right now

238
00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:13,480
Speaker 5: it's time for a change. To be clear, I'm not

239
00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:16,960
Speaker 5: leaving ten and we're looking at some very exciting work

240
00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:20,800
Speaker 5: ideas ahead. But I also have to be honest with you.

241
00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:22,440
Speaker 3: The last six.

242
00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:27,400
Speaker 5: Months have not been easy and the relentless targeted toxicity

243
00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:30,920
Speaker 5: by some sections of the media has taken a toll,

244
00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:34,320
Speaker 5: not just on me, but on people I love.

245
00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:38,080
Speaker 1: Hiring Wilkinson had been a major coup for Ten back

246
00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:42,480
Speaker 1: in twenty seventeen. That's because Wilkinson, the popular long term

247
00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:46,960
Speaker 1: co host of rival network nine's Today Breakfast program, had

248
00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:49,960
Speaker 1: quit Nine on a point of principle she wasn't earning

249
00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:54,800
Speaker 1: as much as her male co host, Karl Stefanovic. Wilkinson

250
00:14:54,920 --> 00:14:57,960
Speaker 1: then brought in the Higgins story. It had been broken

251
00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,120
Speaker 1: earlier that day by Samantha Maiden of new Um dot Au,

252
00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:04,920
Speaker 1: but the project had Higgins on camera. It was a

253
00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:09,000
Speaker 1: rating success that turned into a social juggernaut as Higgins's

254
00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:13,200
Speaker 1: story captivated Australians angry about violence against women.

255
00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:16,720
Speaker 3: We are all here today not because we want to

256
00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:19,920
Speaker 3: be here, but because we have to be here. We

257
00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:24,920
Speaker 3: fundamentally recognize the system is broken. We are here because

258
00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:28,240
Speaker 3: it's unfathomable. But we are still having to fight the

259
00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:31,120
Speaker 3: same stale, tired fight.

260
00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:36,760
Speaker 1: But the LOGI speech, which should have been a jewel

261
00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:40,600
Speaker 1: in Ten's crown, was tarnished when the act judge reacted

262
00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:45,200
Speaker 1: with such fury and delayed the trial. Wilkinson has not

263
00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:48,320
Speaker 1: returned to an on air role, even though she's still

264
00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:52,760
Speaker 1: employed by Ten. Documents tended to court show Wilkinson felt

265
00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:57,080
Speaker 1: abandoned and betrayed by Ten. She insisted Ten and its

266
00:15:57,120 --> 00:16:00,680
Speaker 1: lawyers had approved the speech and even asked to make

267
00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:04,280
Speaker 1: it as a deliberate show of support for Brittney Higgins.

268
00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:08,680
Speaker 1: Wilkinson was right, and part of tense humiliation in this

269
00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:11,840
Speaker 1: trial was that its treatment of Wilkinson was laid bare.

270
00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:19,520
Speaker 1: When Bruce Lahman first indicated he was suing Lisa, Wilkinson

271
00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:24,200
Speaker 1: hired her own solicitors and barrister Prominent Senior Council Sucris Amfu,

272
00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:28,840
Speaker 1: and that turned into another dispute with Ten. Buried in

273
00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:31,160
Speaker 1: all the documents that surfaced in the cross claim, but

274
00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:34,960
Speaker 1: found by Justice Lee was an unusual request from Brittaney

275
00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:39,000
Speaker 1: Higgins solicitor Leon's wire well before this trial kicked off.

276
00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:42,840
Speaker 6: It is important for your clients to appreciate that Brittany

277
00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:45,360
Speaker 6: is doing so on the basis that your clients will

278
00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:49,040
Speaker 6: not offer Luhman a payment of damages or a retraction

279
00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:53,680
Speaker 6: of the defamatory statements, or an apology or costs or

280
00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:57,240
Speaker 6: any other relief to settle the civil claims commenced by

281
00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:03,040
Speaker 6: Lerhman against your clients. For the avoidance of any misunderstandings,

282
00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:06,720
Speaker 6: Brittany has instructed me not to assist lawyers and counsel

283
00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:12,000
Speaker 6: currently retained by Lisa Wilkinson to defend civil claims commenced

284
00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:16,119
Speaker 6: by Luhmann against Lisa Wilkinson. I am not prepared to

285
00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:20,480
Speaker 6: work with Lisa's current senior counsel under any circumstances.

286
00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:26,080
Speaker 1: There's a complicated backstory. Chrisanfu had acted for Brittany Higgins

287
00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:29,120
Speaker 1: in the past briefly, but some of her other prominent

288
00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:32,679
Speaker 1: cases had included acting for Jeffrey Rush, the actor who

289
00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:36,800
Speaker 1: successfully sued for defamation over sexual harassment claims, and former

290
00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:40,720
Speaker 1: Attorney General Christian Porter, who also faced unproven claims of

291
00:17:40,760 --> 00:17:44,920
Speaker 1: sexual misconduct. But there's a rule barristers have to act

292
00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:48,320
Speaker 1: for any client that asks, unless they've got a conflict

293
00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:52,640
Speaker 1: of interest or are already engaged. So the judge came

294
00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:56,560
Speaker 1: in strongly on the side of Chrisanthu. He noted that

295
00:17:56,640 --> 00:17:59,960
Speaker 1: after Leon's Wire's email, Ten did make Laman an offer

296
00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:03,600
Speaker 1: to settle, but it didn't include any damages or apology

297
00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:08,200
Speaker 1: Justice Higgins had requested. The judge also noted that ten's boss,

298
00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:11,520
Speaker 1: Beverly mcgavey had repeatedly tried to get Lisa Wilkinson to

299
00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:15,840
Speaker 1: drop Suchrisantheu and the solicitors Leon's Wire had objected to.

300
00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:20,480
Speaker 1: Ten denied that acted on the demands in Leon's Wire's letter.

301
00:18:21,119 --> 00:18:23,840
Speaker 1: The judge found that, curious.

302
00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:26,240
Speaker 2: By reason of the fact that Miss mcgavey, on behalf

303
00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:28,919
Speaker 2: of Network ten at least twice expressly referred to the

304
00:18:28,920 --> 00:18:31,719
Speaker 2: conditions as a reason why Miss Wilkinson should replace her

305
00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:35,159
Speaker 2: chosen senior council, it appeared to me available to infer

306
00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:38,159
Speaker 2: that what might be thought to be the appropriate response

307
00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:41,280
Speaker 2: to Miss Higgins solicitor was not conveyed. That would have

308
00:18:41,280 --> 00:18:43,639
Speaker 2: been to say, with respect that if Miss Higgins did

309
00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:46,640
Speaker 2: not wish to operate with Network ten without imposing conditions

310
00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:50,919
Speaker 2: upon representation of a party and potential sediment options, then

311
00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:53,320
Speaker 2: Miss Higgins will need to be subpoened and shall be

312
00:18:53,359 --> 00:18:55,879
Speaker 2: obliged to assist a court of justice in coming along

313
00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:57,920
Speaker 2: to tell the truth until excused.

314
00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:02,399
Speaker 1: Ultimately, the judge said he accepted the reassurances of Ten's counsel,

315
00:19:02,480 --> 00:19:05,840
Speaker 1: Matt Collins Casey that Ten had not felt itself bound

316
00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:12,040
Speaker 1: by the Zoia letter. So here's what the judge ruled

317
00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:15,680
Speaker 1: on costs. Ten and Wilkinson can recover costs from Laman

318
00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:19,520
Speaker 1: on an indemnity basis. That means the vast majority of

319
00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:22,800
Speaker 1: the bill, but that only applies to the truth defense,

320
00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:26,200
Speaker 1: which they won. On the other defense qualified privilege, which

321
00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:29,440
Speaker 1: they lost, Ten and Wilkinson can recover costs on an

322
00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:33,159
Speaker 1: ordinary or party to party basis, which means about seventy

323
00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:36,280
Speaker 1: percent of its costs. There are a couple of exceptions,

324
00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:38,680
Speaker 1: but it's the best result Ten and Wilkinson could have

325
00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:41,600
Speaker 1: hoped for. The matter comes back to court on May

326
00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:43,760
Speaker 1: twenty seven, when the judge will decide the terms of

327
00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:47,160
Speaker 1: reference for the referee. He'll sort out exactly how big

328
00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:50,880
Speaker 1: the bills are and who pays what, And then it

329
00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:54,600
Speaker 1: was over, But for one last Michael Lee Mike.

330
00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:57,880
Speaker 2: Drop I published my reasons call the next matter.

331
00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:10,600
Speaker 1: If you're missing Justice Lee already, don't worry. He'll be

332
00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:12,960
Speaker 1: back in another big court case soon and we'll be

333
00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:16,240
Speaker 1: covering it for our subscribers. This week, there's the Federal

334
00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:19,200
Speaker 1: budget and Chris Dawson's appeal to keep us busy. Join

335
00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:21,960
Speaker 1: our subscribers at the Australian dot com dot a U

336
00:20:22,359 --> 00:20:26,760
Speaker 1: and help us make Australia's best journalism. The front is

337
00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:30,680
Speaker 1: made by Kristin Amiot, Joshua Burton, Tiffany Didymac Lee at Sammaglue,

338
00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:33,760
Speaker 1: Jasper League, Matthew Condon and me Claire Harvey