Alert – Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial LIVE updates: Brittany Higgins ‘thought quickly on her feet’ during security breach disciplinary meeting after she was found naked in Parliament House, witness claims

Fiona Brown had a meeting with Brittany Higgins in the afternoon of March 26, 2019 – three days after the alleged assault.

Ms Brown had already dismissed Bruce Lehrmann from his role in Linda Reynolds’ office by that stage over a security breach, triggered when the former staffers entered Parliament House while drunk early on the Saturday morning.

Lisa Wilkinson’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC asked if Ms Higgins’ demeanor changed after their meeting that day.

Ms Brown told the court Ms Higgins’ demeanor only changed when she walked into her office and saw the ministerial code of conduct on her desk, along with the employees assistance handbook.

‘She saw the papers on my desk and I could see her eyes shifting,’ Ms Brown said.

‘She was thinking quickly on her feet.’

Ms Brown said she specifically recalled that detail.

When asked why she didn’t write it in her notes, Ms Brown said ‘I regret it, actually’.

She maintained that Ms Higgins did not disclose her alleged assault during that meeting.

Fiona Brown and Brittany Higgins had a text exchange in March 2019, in the days after the alleged rape.

Ms Brown had allowed Ms Higgins to take a few days off because she was found naked in Linda Reynolds’ office.

Lisa Wilkinson’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC put to Ms Brown that she gave Ms Higgins time off because she disclosed her alleged assault.

Ms Brown said she gave her time off because she was found in a ‘state of nakedness’ and felt humiliated.

Within her days off, Ms Brown had texted Ms Higgins to ask if she was OK.

Ms Higgins replied: ‘Just vocalising things in such a way is quite confronting’.

Ms Chrysanthou said: ‘I suggest to you that you understood she was referring to the fact that she had just been assaulted.’

Ms Brown said that wasn’t the case.

Ms Chrysanthou said: ‘I suggest to you … You had to think of an explanation for the receipt of this text message and an explanation given is that you told her she was found naked.’

Ms Brown said she did not invent that explanation.

Ms Chrysanthou suggested it would have been obvious to Ms Brown that ‘something serious had happened’ to Ms Higgins, given the situation.

Ms Brown said she would have expected Ms Higgins to tell her if anything had happened.

‘It was a friendly environment,’ she said.

‘As of March 2019, were you aware that sometimes victims of sexual assault don’t tell their loved ones about it for years, sometimes decades?’ Ms Chrysanthou asked.

Ms Brown said she had no reason to believe there had been a sexual offence.

Fiona Brown has categorically denied that Brittany Higgins disclosed her alleged rape during a meeting on March 26, 2019 – three days after the fact.

Lisa Wilkinson’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC made a series of suggestions to Ms Brown about what was said during that meeting.

Ms Chrysanthou said: ‘I suggest she said “Bruce was on top of me”.’

Ms Brown said: ‘Nope.’

Ms Chrysanthou said: ‘All she remembers was waking up and he was on top of her.’

Ms Brown said: ‘No.’

She recalled Ms Higgins saying she woke up semi-naked on the couch, but that was it.

When it was suggested to her that Ms Higgins was crying hysterically, Ms Brown said there was ‘water in her eyes’ but she wasn’t in tears.

Ms Brown said she offered Ms Higgins a tissue and gave her an employees assistance pamphlet – ‘not as callously as you’re suggesting,’ she added.

Ms Chrysanthou said the reason she gave Ms Higgins the pamphlet was because she knew there was an assault.

Ms Brown denied that suggestion.

Bruce Lehrmann had a meeting with Fiona Brown on March 26, 2021, about a security breach that was triggered when he entered Parliament House three days earlier with Ms Higgins, at about 1.30am.

Mr Lehrmann told her that he went back to drink whisky, but he later told police he went back because he left his keys in the office.

In court on Monday, Ms Brown was asked whether she believed Mr Lehrmann’s version of events.

‘I had no reason not to,’ she said.

Mr Lehrmann was fired over the security breach after that meeting. She had asked him to collect his things and see her before he left to hand his security pass back in.

However, he didn’t follow instructions and left the building.

Ms Brown said Mr Lehrmann was ’23 [years old] and immature’ and she didn’t think there was anything sinister about his actions.

‘I was puzzled,’ she said.

She was asked whether she sought advice before speaking with Ms Higgins, knowing she had been found naked in Linda Reynolds’ office the previous weekend.

Ms Brown said she waited for instruction from the Department of Finance, but she didn’t hear anything so proceeded with the meeting anyway.

The Department of Finance told Ms Brown that they entered Parliament after hours because, at that time, it was a security breach.

Fiona Brown told the court she thought Brittany Higgins and Bruce Lehrmann may have had sex in Parliament House after they entered the building while drunk on March 23, 2019.

She is being cross-examined by Lisa Wilkinson’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou.

Ms Chrysanthou asked whether she was concerned when she found out Mr Lehrmann left at about 2.30am and Ms Higgins was found naked on Linda Reynolds’ couch at about 4am on a Saturday morning.

Ms Brown said she was concerned.

Ms Chrysanthou said: ‘You suspected they may have had sexual intercourse?’

Ms Brown said: ‘It was not unreasonable to have that thought.’

She acknowledged that she hadn’t dealt with a matter like that before and agreed she didn’t have the training to deal with it.

Ms Brown held meetings with both staffers the following week, on March 26, because their entry into the building after hours triggered a security breach.

She maintained that she didn’t know it was an alleged sexual assault at that time, and had sought advice from the department of finance about how to deal with it.

Ms Chrysanthou said: ‘So a man and a woman came in, one of them left, the other was found naked on the couch.’

Ms Brown said: ‘It was 2019 and it wasn’t considered an assault – it was a matter of people coming in after hours.’

Key witness Fiona Brown told the Federal Court on Monday afternoon that she kept handwritten notes of HR-style meetings with Parliament House staffers.

However, the original copies of those about Brittany Higgins and Bruce Lehrmann have been destroyed.

Ms Brown had meetings with Brittany Higgins and Bruce Lehrmann in the days after March 23, 2019, when Ms Higgins alleges that she was assaulted.

She kept handwritten notes of those conversations. However, in court on Monday, Ms Brown said those originals have been ‘destroyed’ because it’s impossible to keep large volumes of notes when moving between offices.

However, she typed up a version of the notes up in more detail and was able to find the metadata to prove they were made shortly after those meetings took place.

Ms Brown told the court she gave those notes to former Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s press secretary Andrew Carswell in February 2021, after she received a text from The Project producer Angus Llewellyn.

The text was sent just days before Brittany Higgins’ allegations were broadcast on program. She told the court she was ‘deeply upset’ upon receiving that text.

Ms Brown explained she gave her personal notes and texts to Mr Carswell to explain her position after the alleged assault.

She maintained she didn’t know he would use that information to respond to Network Ten.

Lisa Wilkinson’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou asked Ms Brown if she knew Mr Carswell would respond to The Project on her behalf.

‘No,’ she replied.

Ms Chrysanthou said: ‘I suggest it was reasonable that he would have.’

Ms Brown said she didn’t know he was going to do that.

She recalled feeling traumatised when The Project was aired on February 15, 2021.

‘I have no recollection other than trauma,’ she said.

‘I was in my office and I was deeply upset.’

Fiona Brown will give evidence in court, but the livestream will be temporarily disabled.

Justice Lee and senior counsel agreed that was the best way to proceed, given the fragile state of Ms Brown’s mental health.

Media will be allowed to remain in the courtroom and report on her evidence, but members of the public have been asked to leave.

The court has adjourned until 4.30pm.

Justice Michael Lee will decide how Fiona Brown, Linda Reynolds’ former chief-of-staff, will give evidence.

Ms Brown’s lawyers have asked for her subpoena to be discharged, relying on two medical reports that say her condition will worsen if she gives evidence.

Those reports have been suppressed while submissions are heard.

Justice Lee said there is ‘quite strong’ evidence as to why it would be difficult for her to appear on the witness stand in a public courtroom.

She was cross-examined by Bruce Lehrmann’s barrister Steven Whybrow SC at the criminal trial last year and faces that same prospect again in the defamation hearing.

Justice Lee suggested she could record her evidence-in-chief in a conference room, which would then be played before the court so she doesn’t have to do it in person.

She would then be cross-examined on her evidence on the witness stand, but it would limit the amount of time she has to spend in the courtroom.

He said Ms Brown’s situation was ‘unique’ and that he would deal with any other witness the same way, if he received similar medical evidence.

The court adjourned while lawyers sought advice from Ms Brown about how to handle the situation.

Ms Brown is a key witness because she took notes following meetings with Brittany Higgins in March and April 2019 – in the days and weeks after the alleged rape.

She is the only witness who has contemporaneous notes from those conversations.

A forensic toxicologist has scrutinised the footage of Brittany Higgins entering Parliament House with Bruce Lehrmann in the early hours of March 23, 2019.

Michael Robertson was asked to prepare a report for the court, based on the number of drinks Ms Higgins consumed that night, at least 11, and her weight which she previously estimated at about 60kg.

He estimated her blood alcohol level to be around 0.23 per cent, which is relatively high and normally results in confusion and disorientation.

Dr Robertson told the Federal Court that an intoxicated person often struggles with balance and coordination.

He was then shown footage of Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann walking through Parliament House security after a night of drinking.

The footage showed Ms Higgins appeared to walk through the scanner without trouble, before she appeared to balance while bending down to take her high heels off.

Dr Robertson said she did not appear to struggle with balance while she removed her shoes, but noted she may have been leaning on a bench at that time.

He said it was hard to tell how much she relied on the bench to hold herself up.

The doctor also told the court a person’s body mass index is a primary way to identify a person’s blood alcohol reading.

People with a higher metabolism will normally have a higher blood alcohol reading than someone with a slower metabolism, after the same amount of alcohol.

However, that can change depending on how often a person drinks, and how much they would normally consume.

Dr Robertson was able to assess Ms Higgins’ level of intoxication based on her BMI, but not on other factors.

Brittany Higgins took to Instagram to explain a text message she sent to Queensland MP Sam O’Connor in March 2021 about a Four Corners episode she ‘worked’ on.

The text, sent a month after her rape allegations aired on The Project was read in the Federal Court on Monday morning.

It read: ‘I have been working with Four Corners behind the scenes to help piece it all together.

‘I’ve been staying with Lisa Wilkinson and Peter FitzSimons in Sydney for the past few days.

‘They have been so wonderful.’

It was suggested in court that she may have helped with one of two programs – one was about general misconduct in Parliament House.

The other was about historic sexual assault allegations against former Attorney General Christian Porter.

On Monday afternoon, she uploaded an Instagram story to explain she didn’t help with either of those episodes.

‘Daily fact check,’ she wrote.

‘I spoke on background to the producers of the ABC Four Corners episode about me in 2021.

‘Nothing more.’

Four Corners broadcast an episode about Ms Higgins’ rape allegations in March 2021, called ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’.

She previously told the court she felt inspired to go public with her own alleged allegations after watching the episode about Christian Porter.

Peter Meakin was asked whether everyone named on The Project episode was offered an interview in relation to Brittany Higgins’ allegations.

At the end of the episode, there was a statement saying everyone who was named in the broadcast declined the opportunity for an interview.

Senator Michaelia Cash – who was Ms Higgins’ boss between 2019 and 2021 – was contacted for comment on February 10, 2021, but she was not offered an interview.

In court on Monday, Mr Meakin said: ‘All I can assume is they didn’t take my advice.’

‘It wouldn’t be the first time that happens.’

Former TV boss Peter Meakin told the court The Project believed Brittany Higgins’ story, even after the government provided new information.

Andrew Carswell, Scott Morrison’s then-press secretary, sent a response to Network Ten on February 14, 2021 – the night before Ms Higgins’ interview with Lisa Wilkinson aired.

That response said that Ms Higgins was told there would be no impact on her career if she went to the police about her rape allegations.

Bruce Lehrmann’s barrister Matthew Richardson SC asked Mr Meakin about Wilkinson’s introductory lines for the broadcast: ‘a young woman forced to choose between her career and the pursuit of justice’.

He asked Mr Meakin if he saw any issue with Wilkinson’s introduction, in light of the information provided by Mr Carswell.

Mr Meakin told the court: ‘That’s what her employer implied and the only inference I can draw from it is that we’re believing her story more than the government’s.’

Former Ten boss Peter Meakin raised concerns about Brittany Higgins’ inconsistent statements about her ex-boss Linda Reynolds.

The court heard on Monday that Mr Meakin sent The Project producer Angus Llewellyn an email on February 6, 2021 – nine days before broadcast.

The email read: ‘I did notice a small point about Linda Reynolds’ reaction.

‘Brittany says her initial words were kind and supportive, but a moment later were told she was uncomfortable with her.’

Mr Llewellyn responded: ‘Thanks Peter, I reckon once you see the way B says all this stuff, you’ll have a far better idea of the feel and the shifts in tone.’

Mr Meakin (pictured below, ourside court on Monday) was asked by Bruce Lehrmann’s barrister Matthew Richardson SC whether he recalled if he, or anyone else, had done anything further about it.

‘I’m not aware that anyone did,’ Mr Meakin said.

Former Network Ten boss Peter Meakin is being cross-examined by Bruce Lehrmann’s barrister Matthew Richardson SC.

Mr Richardson asked him about a series of emails sent between him and staff members who worked on The Project.

One email, read to the court, said: ‘Are we happy to commit to a Monday air date? We know Lisa [Wilkinson] had her heart set on a Sunday.’

Brittany Higgins previously told a court Wilkinson was ‘furious’ the episode aired on a Monday, because that was her day off.

The court also heard that Wilkinson and The Project producer Angus Llewellyn sent Mr Meakin a text at 8.34pm on February 14, 2021 – the day before broadcast.

The text comprised a selfie of them both smiling in front of Parliament House, with the caption: ‘Mission complete.’

Wilkinson and Mr Llewellyn had driven to Canberra that day to get more information for the episode.

Mr Meakin responded: ‘Not just yet, we have to still see how the pigeons will react.’

In court on Monday, Mr Meakin could not recall what he meant by ‘pigeons’, but he assumed he meant the people in Canberra who were contacted for comment prior to broadcast.

Mr Richardson said: ‘Sounds like a bit of a game, doesn’t it?’

Mr Meakin said: ‘No, I sometimes use jocular language but I assure you it isn’t a game.’

Mr Richardson asked whether he knew Mr Lehrmann would have been identifiable as Ms Higgins’ alleged rapist.

He referred to a news.com.au article by Samantha Maiden that was published earlier on February 15, 2021, detailing the same allegations.

The barrister asked: /Was The Project relying on Ms Maiden to promote The Project’s interview?’

Mr Meakin replied: ‘Yes we were.’

Mr Richardson said: ‘You knew it would increase the ratings for The Project that night?’

Mr Meakin said: ‘That was one of the motives for doing it, yes.’

Mr Richardson then asked if he knew The Project was going to reveal more of Mr Lehrmann’s personal details than Ms Maiden did.

The Project reported that Mr Lehrmann worked in Sydney at the time – which was not outlined in the news.com.au report.

Mr Richardson asked if he knew Mr Lehrmann would be identified as an alleged rapist with those additional details.

Mr Meakin said he didn’t think Mr Lehrmann would be identified.

Former Network Ten boss Peter Meakin was called to the witness stand on Monday morning.

Bruce Lehrmann’s barrister Matthew Richardson SC directed his attention to a series of emails between him and various members of the crew on The Project.

Mr Meakin emailed a video editor on February 8, 2019 – seven days before broadcast – to say ‘this story is a legal minefield’.

Mr Richardson asked: You suspected there would be a lot of changes to the original cut?’

Mr Meakin agreed and said he knew the story was legally contentious.

He told the court he didn’t know when the parties mentioned in the story, including Mr Lehrmann, would be contacted for comment.

Texts between Queensland MP Sam O’Connor and Brittany Higgins have been read to the court.

One message was sent in March 2021 – a month after her rape allegations aired on The Project – when she referenced a Four Corners episode, broadcast on the ABC.

The text read: ‘I have been working with Four Corners behind the scenes to help piece it all together.

‘I’ve been staying with Lisa Wilkinson and Peter FitzSimons in Sydney for the past few days.

‘They have been so wonderful.’

There were two episodes regarding Parliament House that aired during that period – the first was about general misconduct in 2020.

The second was aired on March 8, 2021, and detailed historic sexual assault allegations against then-Attorney General Christian Porter.

Mr O’Connor (pictured below, left, with Ms Higgins, centre, in 2018) couldn’t recall which episode Ms Higgins referred to, but said it was likely the Christian Porter one.

Bruce Lehrmann’s barrister Steven Whybrown SC asked: ‘Do you have recollection of any further discussion of what her behind the scenes involvement was?’

Mr O’Connor said: ‘I don’t, sorry.’

Sam O’Connor told the Federal Court on Monday that and Brittany Higgins discussed the possibility of going to the police with her rape allegations, but she didn’t want to due to publicity.

The Queensland MP is being cross-examined by Bruce Lehrmann’s barrister Steven Whybrow SC.

Mr Whybrow asked about various phone conversations and texts he and Ms Higgins sent in March and April 2019 – in the weeks after the alleged assault.

He has lost all their texts, but was able to recall the substance of various phone calls they had at around that period.

Mr O’Connor distinctly recalled Ms Higgins was resistant to going to police because ‘she was concerned about being known’ for her rape allegations.

She didn’t want it to ‘define’ her and she didn’t want to be ‘in the public eye’.

He said: ‘That was her concern because knew it would be a major story.’

Mr O’Connor couldn’t recall Ms Higgins telling him a security guard found her naked in Linda Reynolds’ office in the early hours of March 23, 2019.

He also couldn’t recall Ms Higgins telling him Ms Reynolds regarded her as ‘toxic’ while they were in Perth together for the 2019 federal election.

Queensland MP Samuel O’Connor knew Brittany Higgins before she moved to Canberra to work for the Liberal party. They are pictured together below.

He told the Federal Court on Monday that Ms Higgins sent him a text on April 19, 2019 – a few weeks after the alleged rape – that said: ‘This super f***ed up thing happened.’

They then had a phone conversation during which she detailed her allegations.

Mr O’Connor told the court Ms Higgins explained she was out with colleagues when Mr Lehrmann ‘took her back to Parliament and he raped her’.

‘I absolutely remember the word “rape” – that’s not something you forget,’ he said.

‘And she absolutely did say that.’

He had worked in Parliament before and told the court he thought it was strange to return to the building that early on a Saturday morning, particularly when it wasn’t close to budget week or Question Time.

‘In subsequent conversations we talked about reporting it to police but she was concerned about the implications of that,’ he said.

Mr O’Connor told the court she felt as though she had been ‘punted’ to Western with her boss, Linda Reynolds, for the federal election in 2019 because she was ‘away from the action’.

He recalled her saying she didn’t want to go public with her allegations and was very surprised when, in early 2021, she told him she was going to detail her claims on television.

Justice Michael Lee ordered Google LLC, which is based in the US, to provide subscriber details and logins to the ‘Feminism Debuked’ YouTube channel.

The channel has shared nine videos with footage from the case, which is unlawful.

If Google provides those details, Justice Lee will identify the person behind the channel and they will have to front court and explain why they should not be charged with contempt of court.

The public is allowed to watch the court proceedings but they are not allowed to record the live stream.

Fiona Brown, Linda Reynolds’ former chief of staff, will evidence this week.

Ms Brown’s doctors advised her not to give evidence due to mental health struggles, but her barrister told the court she would like to contribute.

The court’s livestream may be temporarily disabled while she is cross-examined.

Ms Brown was working for Ms Reynolds when she took over the defence industry portfolio in early 2019.

Brittany Higgins and Bruce Lehrmann were working as advisors for Ms Reynolds at that time.

Ms Higgins claims Ms Brown was the first person she disclosed her alleged rape to, in a private meeting in the last week of March that year.

Ms Brown was the only person who took notes immediately after those meetings and was once called ‘the most important person in this case’ due to that fact.

She previously told a court that Ms Higgins said Mr Lehrmann was allegedly on top of her, but that she didn’t use the word ‘rape’.

Ms Brown has continually denied that she failed to support Ms Higgins after she made her rape allegations.

She gave evidence at Mr Lehrmann’s criminal trial last year but ran out of the courtroom in tears.

Veteran television boss Peter Meakin is set to give evidence on Monday, along with The Project producer Chris Bendall and Queensland MP Sam O’Connor.

The case is expected to end this week, with final submissions expected on Thursday or Friday.

Bruce Lehrmann is suing Lisa Wilkinson and Network 10 in the Federal Court over her 2021 interview with Brittany Higgins where she alleged he raped her in Parliament House in 2019.

He was not named, but claims friends and former colleagues were able to identify him as the alleged rapist.

He has continually maintained his innocence.

Lisa Wilkinson finished her evidence on Friday.