Page:Lehrmann v Network Ten Pty Limited (Trial Judgment).pdf/87

 F.8Ms Wilkinson

304 Ms Wilkinson's evidence did not lack self-assuredness. As one would expect from someone with her professional background, Ms Wilkinson was a polished and articulate witness. Regrettably, however, these not inconsiderable skills were often deployed by her in the witness box to advocate for her views.

305 Her counsel made the point, not unfairly, that Ms Wilkinson has "spent decades in a professional environment which involved conversational style interviews and debates" and in those circumstances it is unsurprising "she had difficulty within the structure of giving evidence for the first time in a Court". This submission may have some merit because when she gave evidence for a second time at the trial, she was a candid and far more responsive witness. Be that as it may, and notwithstanding allowances for her background as a presenter, some aspects of her initial spell in the witness box caused me concern: for present purposes, it is worth mentioning four.

306 First, was her refusal to make the obvious concession in response to her cross-examiner's questions that her speech at the 62nd Annual TV Week Logie Awards on 19 June 2022 conveyed the message that Ms Higgins was credible and to be believed, and therefore, by necessary implication, that her allegation of rape was true.

307 This was a speech given by a proposed Crown witness–eight days before the criminal trial was due to begin–during a televised programme, broadcast in the ACT. In a judgment given two days later, the Chief Justice of the Australian Capital Territory in R v Lehrmann (No 3) (at 279–280 [22]–[25]; 280 [29]–[30]) said this:

[22] … upon receiving the award, Ms Wilkinson gave a speech in which she openly referred to and praised the complainant in the present trial. Unsurprisingly, the award and the content of the speech have been the subject of extensive further commentary.

[23] The recent commentary includes remarks made on the popular morning radio program, "Jonesy and Amanda". The relevant segment from that program in evidence on the present application opened as follows:

Amanda: But there were some really lovely moments last night. One of which was the award that Lisa Wilkinson and The Project picked up for the story they did on Brittany Higgins. They just – it was a phone call that came to Lisa. She answered Brittany Higgins' phone call. Brittany had – the back story here, I'm sure you remember, was raped in Parliament House.

[24] The transcript attributes to "Jonesy" his assent to that recollection. He later

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