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 inappropriately, this one struck me as particularly odd, having closely observed Ms Cripps giving evidence and being impressed by her experience, competence and acute sensitivity to persons alleging they are victims of sexual assault.

682 As I said during the hearing, I was conscious not to intrude upon what was said during the course of the counselling, except to the extent it was strictly relevant (T1332.30–32); understandably, there was no detailed exploration of the content of sessions, and in the absence of contemporaneous records, I do not consider it safe to make findings as to what was said during this counselling period based only upon snippets of material, subject to what follows.

683 Doing the best I can, and having taken the evidence of Ms Cripps into account, I consider it likely that Ms Higgins maintained her position, that she had articulated almost immediately to Mr Dillaway, that her main concern was that she did not want anyone to know what had happened and she had concerns about "becoming known as the girl who was raped in Parliament, and she was worried about how it could affect her job and her career" (T1223.33–35; T1224.16–26). This makes intuitive sense in circumstances where Ms Higgins told Ms Cripps she wanted to become a Member of Parliament (T1337.7–15).

684 Going back to the meeting on 8 April, consistently with the purpose of a "meet and greet", Detective Harman explained that her role was to explain available support services and to discuss what an investigation would involve, including conducting an Evidence-in-Chief interview, speaking to witnesses, and collecting evidence (T1293.16–44).

685 Detective Harman's evidence was that the day after the "meet and greet", she made some enquiries in relation to available medical services and tried to call Ms Higgins, including to see if she wanted to participate in an Evidence-in-Chief interview (T1298.35–45). Detective Harman tried to call Ms Higgins the next day, but there was no answer (T1299.28–32).

686 But Ms Higgins' intention not to pursue the complaint hardened given what had been conveyed to her. Again, here the contemporaneous records, not ex post facto reconstructions, are telling. She told Mr Dillaway on 9 April 2019, that the AFP "said pursuing it through the legal system usually takes around two years start to finish and is pretty involved" and that she "[h]onestly would rather just move on. Seems way too taxing" (Ex R99 (at 925)). Consistently with this, Major Irvine gave evidence of her "distinct" recollection of a second Lehrmann v Network Ten Pty Limited (Trial Judgment) [2024] FCA 369