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 And when he stopped, do you have a recollection of what he did?---I remember him getting up. And I didn't say anything at that point. And he looked at me and then he left.

Did any – was there any words spoken?---No, we didn't say anything.

487 Ms Higgins then recalled Mr Lehrmann leaving (either through the back exit or the back slip door) and after Mr Lehrmann had left that she: "couldn't get up off the couch. I don't know if it was, like, shock, or if I was just so drunk that I physically couldn't get up, but I couldn't pick up my body off the couch. And then I passed out" (T630.38–40; T631.31–32). She did not want to be there, but she could not get up and did not know why (T630.42–44).

488 Ms Higgins said that her breasts and bottom half were exposed. She was not sure where her dress was, but it was conceivable that it was around her waist, or it may have been taken off (T631.18-20; T631.27–29).

VConsideration of the Account of Ms Higgins

489 The first thing to be said about Ms Higgins' account is that it involves a grave allegation by a witness with general credibility problems and whose contentious evidence, in accordance with the fact-finding principles explained above in Section E, must be approached with great care. But by reference to my findings as to the circumstances in which Mr Lehrmann and Ms Higgins found themselves, taken as a whole, it does not strike me as inherently implausible (unlike the account of Mr Lehrmann).

490 Before drawing conclusions as to the extent to which this account should be accepted, three matters merit particular focus. This is despite these matters not being the subject of detailed submissions from Mr Lehrmann (because of the case theory of no contact adopted by him).

491 First, as my findings establish, Ms Higgins' account commences with a false characterisation of how it is she came back to the Ministerial Suite in the first place. As Ms Gain made plain, she had "hooked up" with Mr Lehrmann, and what occurred thereafter must be viewed in the light of the fact that Ms Higgins had been in a nightclub being intimate with Mr Lehrmann and had then agreed to accompany him.

492 Secondly, and relatedly, is the pretext of coming back, being what Mr Lehrmann had said to her about whisky–she did not accompany Mr Lehrmann to the Suite just to sit passively on a ledge for a very long period (or a short period, or something in between) for no apparent Lehrmann v Network Ten Pty Limited (Trial Judgment) [2024] FCA 369