WEBVTT - Bruce Lehrmann’s $2m headache 0:00:06.000 --> 0:00:08.400 You can listen to the Front on your smart speaker 0:00:08.520 --> 0:00:12.639 every morning to hear the latest episode. Just say play 0:00:12.680 --> 0:00:23.000 the news from the Australian. From the Australian, here's what's 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:26.400 on the Front. I'm Claire Harvey. It's Friday, June twenty eighth. 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:32.879 Olympic Sports will get a half billion dollar windfall from 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:36.360 taxpayers in the lead up to Brisbane twenty thirty two. 0:00:36.400 --> 0:00:40.000 This morning's major funding announcement comes just a month before 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:43.440 kickoff at the Paris Olympics. You can read that story 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:47.120 by John Stenzolt right now at The Australian dot com 0:00:47.159 --> 0:00:54.080 dot au. Police have swooped on bombshell claims in The 0:00:54.120 --> 0:00:59.480 Australian about the disappearance of Bromwyn Windfield. Unsolved homicide detectives 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:03.680 have done a lengthy formal interview with former neighbor Judy Singh, 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:08.280 who says she saw Bromwin's former husband John Winfield, driving 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:11.280 with something that looked like a corpse in the back 0:01:11.319 --> 0:01:15.440 of his car. John Winfield has denied any wrongdoing. A 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:19.520 new episode of Headley Thomas's podcast Bromwin is live now 0:01:19.720 --> 0:01:27.000 at bromwynpodcast dot com. Bruce Lammon does not have a 0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:29.319 lot of money, but he's just been slapped with a 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:32.800 two million dollar legal bill for his failed defamation action 0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:37.720 against Network ten and its exiled star Lisa Wilkinson. Ten's 0:01:37.760 --> 0:01:40.399 had to fork over more than half a million dollars 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:44.520 to Wilkinson and Brittaney Higgins's new husband, David Charraz, has 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:48.040 set his sights on Federal Court Justice Michael Lee or 0:01:48.120 --> 0:01:53.160 that's in today's episode. 0:01:59.440 --> 0:02:01.640 It is common ground that the applicant is a man 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:02.720 of modest means. 0:02:03.600 --> 0:02:06.639 Those are the words of Justice Michael Lee talking about 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:10.280 Bruce Lahman, the man he declared was, on the balance 0:02:10.320 --> 0:02:15.120 of probabilities, a rapist. Lee tore apart Lahman's reputation in 0:02:15.160 --> 0:02:19.200 his judgment, saying the former Liberal staffer was a practiced liar, 0:02:19.560 --> 0:02:22.880 so intent upon his own gratification that he had sex 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:26.440 with Britney Higgins without any regard for whether or not 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:31.480 she consented. Lahman is appealing that finding. The judge said, 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:34.800 although Network ten and Lisa Wilkinson's story about Britney higgins 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:39.160 was deeply flawed as journalism, he believed Higgins's account of 0:02:39.200 --> 0:02:43.400 the rape and questioned Lairman's judgment in bringing the case 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:45.280 at all, having. 0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:47.760 Escaped the lines dead. Mister Lehrmit made the mistake of 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:49.040 coming back for his head. 0:02:50.120 --> 0:02:53.040 And now the judge has landed a new blow on Laman, 0:02:53.360 --> 0:02:56.000 declaring he will have to meet some of Ten and 0:02:56.080 --> 0:03:00.720 Wilkinson's immense legal costs, even if he doesn't appear to 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:03.840 be rolling in cash. We've used a voice actor to 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:06.760 bring you the words as spoken in the Federal Court 0:03:06.960 --> 0:03:07.720 on Thursday. 0:03:08.440 --> 0:03:11.200 It is not suggested that there is any real likelihood 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:13.640 that he'll be in a position to pay a substantial 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:14.320 costs order. 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:19.160 Lee asked Ten and Wilkinson's lawyers if they could agree 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:22.799 on a lump sum amount Lahman should pay and agree 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:26.679 to restrict their claim to this amount. Ten agreed two 0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:30.640 million dollars. Ten told the judge it has spent three 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:34.840 point six million dollars to date on invoices from their solicitors. 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:38.360 Bart had applied a discount partly to reflect the fact 0:03:38.400 --> 0:03:42.160 they didn't have a total win. The judge found their 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:48.600 journalism wasn't reasonable. Laman quibbled with Ten's figures, including the 0:03:48.680 --> 0:03:52.600 number of solicitors who worked on the case. A voice 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:56.320 actor is reading the words spoken by Lahman's lawyer, Paul's 0:03:56.400 --> 0:03:57.880 Violence in court. 0:03:58.720 --> 0:04:01.600 Your honor might notice that there's three to four five 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:04.760 solicitors who have been engaged at least three to four 0:04:04.840 --> 0:04:08.040 full time in the matter. No explanation is given in 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:10.720 the affidavit as to why three to four solicitors have 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:12.360 been required to run the matter. 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:16.880 Paulse Violence said, when the judges associate sends an email 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:21.280 to the firm representing Ten, it's copied to five solicitors. 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:24.200 He asked, are they all charging the client to read 0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:29.400 an email simultaneously. Lehman's lawyers also raise the fees charged 0:04:29.440 --> 0:04:34.760 by Ten's leading senior council, Matt Collins KC eleven thousand 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:38.560 dollars per day in court. That's in excess of the 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:42.040 Federal Court's National guide to council fees, which has a 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:45.240 top rate of seven thousand, six hundred and fifty dollars 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:49.760 per day. Remember Suchrisanthu SC the council for Wilkinson, was 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:53.600 charging the comparatively bargain rate of eight thousand dollars per 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:57.200 day in court. The judge said he thought Collins's fee 0:04:57.520 --> 0:05:01.359 was reasonable, especially when compared to layde in commercial litigation, 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:04.039 such as disputes between two companies. 0:05:04.720 --> 0:05:07.000 The daily rate of mister Collins is at the top 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:09.400 of the range of fees charged by members of the 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:14.040 defamation bar but given his seniority and experience in the area, 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:15.360 this is to be expected. 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:19.600 The judge said this of Colin's rate, it'd. 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:21.720 Be cheap as chips if it were commercial work at 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:23.080 his level of seniority. 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:28.600 Network ten has another bill to pay a portion of 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:33.760 the costs incurred by Lisa Wilkinson on her own legal representation. Remember, 0:05:33.800 --> 0:05:37.560 Wilkinson is still an employee of Network ten. Laman sued 0:05:37.600 --> 0:05:41.039 Ten and Wilkinson, and although Ten tried to have Wilkinson 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:45.440 agree to be represented by their lawyers, Wilkinson strongly believed 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:48.800 she needed her own. In fact, well before this matter 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:51.599 came to court, she'd engaged one of the country's most 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:56.360 famous defamation barristers, Sue Chrisantho sc and a different firm 0:05:56.400 --> 0:06:01.440 of solicitors to the one Ten was using suspicion because 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:05.320 when the litigation was looming, Wilkinson's relationship with Ten had 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:09.520 completely deteriorated. Wilkinson made a speech to the logies in 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:13.360 which she heralded Brittney Higgins bravery and the. 0:06:13.360 --> 0:06:19.479 Truth is this honor belongs to Britney. It belongs to 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:23.719 a twenty six year old woman's unwavering courage. It belongs 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:26.000 to a woman who said enough. 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:30.760 That speech caused a furious act Chief Justice Lucy McCallum 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:34.400 to declare Wilkinson had endangered Bruce Lahman's right to a 0:06:34.480 --> 0:06:38.520 fair trial. She was removed from her role at current 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:40.040 Affairs show the Project. 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:44.200 I have decided that it's time to reprioritize a few 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:47.720 things in my life. And after almost fifteen years of 0:06:47.720 --> 0:06:50.840 the early alarm of Breakfast TV, and now another five 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:54.600 years here at the Project desk, I'm looking at how 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:57.240 I want the coming years to play out, both professionally 0:06:57.760 --> 0:07:01.720 and personally. So Frompton I right, I am stepping back 0:07:01.960 --> 0:07:03.400 from hosting the show. 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:06.280 And she believed Ten didn't live up to its offer 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:09.720 to find exciting new on air projects for her. The 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:13.840 trust was eroded further when Ten tried to persuade Wilkinson 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:16.640 if she was insisting on having her own lawyers to 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:20.280 drop the ones she'd already chosen. That was because Ten 0:07:20.320 --> 0:07:24.440 had been told their likely star witness, Brittney Higgins, wouldn't 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:29.280 cooperate with Chris Hanfu. Here's what Higgins solicitor Leon's Wire 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:32.840 told Ten in an email, it's not his voice. 0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:37.720 For the avoidance of any misunderstandings, Brittany has instructed me 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:42.160 not to assist lawyers and counsel currently retained by Lisa 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:47.600 Wilkinson to defend civil claims commenced by Lerman against Lisa Wilkinson. 0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:51.320 I am not prepared to work with Lisa's current senior 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:53.680 counsel under any circumstances. 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:58.360 Ten eventually asked Wilkinson to let another senior barrister, Brett Walker, 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:01.640 sc to give her advice on whether she needed her 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:05.239 own lawyer. Walker told Wilkinson to stick to her guns 0:08:05.440 --> 0:08:09.360 and to stick with Chris Anthu during the trial. This 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:13.560 question of costs caused Ten serious damage because it was 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:17.080 refusing to pay Wilkinson's bills as they were invoiced. During 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:21.200 the trial, Wilkinson brought a cross claim against Ten, which 0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:24.720 was heard by Justice Lee. That cross claim threw up 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:27.760 all sorts of stuff Ten didn't want in the public domain, 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:31.680 including the fact it had given legal advice to Wilkinson 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:37.000 and okayed her Loki speech. Wilkinson was originally seeking more 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:40.080 than one point eight million dollars from Ten. Ten offered 0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:43.160 just under six hundred and eight thousand dollars in court 0:08:43.200 --> 0:08:45.840 on Thursday, Ten said it had decided that was too 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:48.520 generous and offered to agree on a figure of just 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:52.040 under five hundred and forty nine thousand. The judge and 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:55.800 Wilkinson both agreed. That leaves the court to still decide 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:59.160 how much of Wilkinson's fees Bruce Lamban should have to pay, 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:04.520 and that it's been sent off to an independent referee. 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:08.360 Coming up, what Justice Michael Lee is getting up to 0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:11.680 outside the courtroom. Our subscribers are the first to hear 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:15.560 all the updates in this lengthy legal saga. Class there's 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:19.960 expert analysis, exclusive content and a dedicated app. Check us 0:09:20.000 --> 0:09:22.920 out at the Australian dot Com dotu and we'll be 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:37.839 back after this break. The defamation action brought by Bruce 0:09:37.920 --> 0:09:41.480 Lahman against Network ten and Lisa Wilkinson featured a cast 0:09:41.520 --> 0:09:45.560 of colorful characters, but none appear to have intrigued Justice 0:09:45.559 --> 0:09:50.120 Michael Lee more than David Schiraz. Breshnia, Higgins's new husband, 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:54.200 was conspicuous by his absence from the lengthy proceedings. He 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:57.000 was never called by the prosecution or the defense to 0:09:57.000 --> 0:10:00.480 give evidence. A trial bart his name popped up again 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:05.240 and again. That's because Sharaz was the driving force behind 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:08.960 the Project's interview with Brittany Higgins, in which she alleged 0:10:09.040 --> 0:10:12.400 she'd been raped inside Parliament House in twenty nineteen and 0:10:12.440 --> 0:10:14.720 that it was covered up by senior members of the 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:19.160 Coalition government. That claim has been vehemently denied by former 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:20.960 ministers and staff. 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:24.240 And so I would, I would try and raise it, 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:25.440 and I would try and bring it up. 0:10:25.480 --> 0:10:28.240 Then it was always it always sort of came back 0:10:28.240 --> 0:10:31.120 to sort of being a me issue, and I said, 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:33.040 if you can't deal with it, then you can leave. 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:37.240 Sharaz pitched the story to Lisa Wilkinson in an email 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:41.040 with the subject line me too. Liberal Party Project pitch 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:45.080 and so Justice Lee asked counsel repeatedly over the course 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:47.400 of the trial if Sharaz would enter the witness box 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:50.960 and if not, why not. The judge said he was 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:55.800 like Elijah, always welcome but never showing up. The judge 0:10:55.880 --> 0:10:59.160 was invoking the Jewish tradition of leaving a cup of 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:02.000 wine and a chair at the passover table for the 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:06.160 ancient prophet who ascended to heaven in a flaming chariot. 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:10.040 The idea is that when Elijah returns, it's a sign 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:11.640 the Messiah is coming. 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:17.280 The motivations of mister Sharaz in selecting the journals to 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:20.120 tell on user story were manifest, and rather than this 0:11:20.240 --> 0:11:23.760 motive being a course of some degree of circumspection, mister 0:11:23.800 --> 0:11:26.760 Lewellen and Miss Wilkinson indicated their willingness to assist in 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:29.480 the political use of the allegations, as Miss Higgins and 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:30.760 mister Sharaz intended. 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:34.280 That's a snippet of the criticism leveled at David Sharaz 0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:38.839 by Michael Lee. On August nine, the Distinguished Judge will 0:11:38.840 --> 0:11:41.840 sit down with the former ABC chair Eite Buttrose for 0:11:41.880 --> 0:11:45.679 what's being touted as a candid conversation about the intersection 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:49.480 of media, law and society at the national conference of 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:54.080 an organization called Women in Media. Tickets cost almost five 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:57.680 hundred dollars a pop, and David Scharaz has questions about 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:02.480 what attendees are signing up for. According to reporting by 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:06.640 The Australian's Stephen Rice, Scharaz wrote to the conference organizers 0:12:06.679 --> 0:12:10.280 demanding to know if the defamation case was on the agenda. 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:14.560 They reportedly told Sharaz they didn't expect Lee to discuss 0:12:14.640 --> 0:12:20.400 the case specifically, but Charaz wasn't satisfied. A voice actor 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:22.840 is reading his response. 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:25.439 So he will not discuss the Laman case for which 0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:27.760 he has made his name and for what you're looking 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:28.080 him for. 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:31.640 The spokesperson for Women in Media told The Australian what 0:12:31.840 --> 0:12:35.000 Justice Lee talks about is up to him. We've used 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:38.680 a voice actor. The content that Justice Lee chooses to 0:12:38.679 --> 0:12:40.520 share with attendees is a matter. 0:12:40.320 --> 0:12:41.120 For Justice Lee. 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:44.200 While we appreciate people might have their own views about 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:47.240 speakers at the conference, programming decisions are a matter for 0:12:47.280 --> 0:12:51.720 Women in Media. You can keep up with the latest 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:54.800 in the Laman legal saga at The Australian dot Com 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:59.240 dot a U thanks for joining us on the front 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:02.560 this week. Our team is Kristen Amiot, Leah sam Mclaw, 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:06.679 Joshua Burton, Jasper League, Tiffany Dimack, Matthew Condon and me 0:13:07.000 --> 0:13:07.680 Claire Harvey.