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 have referred to anyone else (T1125.24–41). He agreed it was fair to characterise the identity of the alleged perpetrator referred to in the Maiden article as an "open secret" within Parliament House (T1126.14–22).

73 Major Nikita Irvine watched the Project programme. She gave evidence she received questions about it from colleagues in the military but did not want to discuss it (T1207.1–36). Major Irvine identified Mr Lehrmann because (as we will see) Ms Higgins had disclosed details of the incident to her in March 2019 (T1207.35–36) (Irvine (at [60]–[61])).

74 Mr Dillaway gave evidence he read the Maiden article. He knew the allegations concerned Mr Lehrmann because Ms Higgins had told him in March 2019 that Mr Lehrmann had sexually assaulted her (Dillaway (at [42]–[50])). He gave evidence "what was in that story was consistent with what she had told me previously" (T1276.11–25) and that he had a vague recollection of watching the Project programme (T1277.13).

75 Mr Lehrmann himself gave evidence of the actions of various acquaintances (with whom he had not remained in contact) following the broadcast (see, for example, Ex 8). In particular, he referred to a screenshot of a Facebook Messenger group chat (which had included Mr Lehrmann) which showed an image of an "EJECT" button, followed by several members leaving the group chat (Ex 11).

D.4Identification Established

76 While there is necessarily some degree of overlap, given it is in issue, it is best not to elide the two stages of the relevant inquiry.

77 As to the first, it is plain as a pikestaff the Project programme was capable of identifying Mr Lehrmann. As noted earlier, there were several tell-tales, being (Ex 1, Annexure A):


 * (1) he was a "senior male advisor" to Senator Reynolds who had a "special bond" with her (lines 7–8), and was "a bit of a favourite [of the Senator]" (line 9);


 * (2) he "had been advising her in the home affairs portfolio prior to [working in the Defence Industry portfolio]" (line 10);


 * (3) he attended drinks with colleagues in Defence on 22 March 2019 (line 11);


 * (4) the following Tuesday morning, Ms Brown called the alleged perpetrator in for a meeting, following which he "immediately walked out of the office and started packing up his things" (lines 53–55); and

Lehrmann v Network Ten Pty Limited (Trial Judgment) [2024] FCA 369