☕️ Bruce Lehrmann loses defamation case

Good morning.

I wanted to pop in here to remind you that during a news cycle like this, it’s especially important to be mindful of how you’re consuming news.

While it’s really important to stay on top of the facts, there is a lot of noise, as well as misinformation and disinformation online.

Be kind to yourself as you navigate the news this week. We’ll be here to guide you through the facts.

I’ve got 10 seconds

Quote of the day

“It’s obvious to me, it’s obvious to detectives… that the offender focused on women and avoided the men.”
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb during a press conference yesterday. Five women and one man were killed in Saturday’s stabbings.

Stat of the day

8.6 million
The number of people believed to be displaced in Sudan's year-long civil war.

Today in history

2007
33 people were killed in a deadly mass shooting at the Virginia Tech University campus in the U.S.

I’ve got 30 seconds

Some headlines from this morning:

• A church leader and several worshippers were stabbed at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Sydney’s west last night. The event was live-streamed. According to NSW Police, the injured people suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics before being sent to hospital. Following the incident, crowds gathered at the location and police launched a wide-scale public order operation. Two police officers were injured, including one who was hit with a brick, and a number of police vehicles sustained damage.

• Donald Trump has become the first U.S. President to face a criminal trial, as proceedings began overnight in New York. The trial relates to an alleged cover-up of hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election. Trump is accused of falsifying his business records to conceal the hush money as legal costs, which he has denied.

I’ve got 1 minute

TW: sexual assault

The Federal Court has found Lisa Wilkinson and Network Ten did not defame Bruce Lehrmann.

A Federal Court judge has found it’s ‘more likely than not’ that Bruce Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins, meaning he wasn’t defamed by journalist Lisa Wilkinson and Network Ten.

Justice Michael Lee found even though Lehrmann was identifiable in an interview on ‘The Project’, the claims made by Wilkinson and Network Ten that Higgins was raped by him were, on the balance of probabilities, true.

Lehrmann continues to maintain his innocence.

Background

In February 2021, former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins alleged she had been raped in Parliament House by a colleague in 2019. Higgins made the allegation in an article in news.com.au and an interview with journalist Lisa Wilkinson on Network Ten’s The Project.

Lehrmann was not named in the interview, but he argues he was still identifiable.

He has always denied the allegations and denied any sexual contact took place.

In 2022, a criminal trial was declared a mistrial due to juror misconduct and a re-trial was abandoned.

After the criminal trial was abandoned, Lehrmann launched defamation proceedings in 2023 over the interview on The Project.

Under defamation law, people can sue if they believe published material has unfairly harmed their reputation. Alongside Network Ten, Lehrmann also sued news.com.au and the ABC (over its broadcast of a speech by Higgins). He has since settled those cases.

Yesterday’s findings

Justice Lee found Lehrmann was identified in Wilkinson’s interview. Network Ten and Wilkinson had argued that even if Lehrmann was identified, they did not defame him because Higgins’ allegation was truthful.

Because this was a civil case, not a criminal case, this meant Lee then needed to decide whether or not Lehrmann had raped Higgins “on the balance of probabilities”.

In yesterday’s findings, Justice Lee found it was more likely than not that Lehrmann did rape Higgins, and thus could not have been defamed.

”I consider it more likely than not, in those early hours... Mr Lehrmann was hellbent on having sex with a woman he found sexually attractive...

“In his pursuit of gratification, he did not care one way or another whether Miss Higgins knew what was going on... Mr Lehrmann raped Miss Higgins.” — Justice Michael.

1800 RESPECT: 1800 737 732

Note: TDA’s editor-in-chief is Billi FitzSimons, Lisa Wilkinson’s daughter. Billi had no editorial oversight or involvement with this story or any post we’ve made about this story’s developments.

I’ve got 2 minutes

Iran launched over 300 drones and missiles towards Israel over the weekend, most of which were stopped by air defences. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said about 99% of the air missiles and drones were intercepted.

Many world leaders and countries have condemned Iran’s strikes, but are urging Israel not to retaliate.

Context

Israel’s war in Gaza since the Hamas attack on 7 October has sparked broader regional tensions between Israel and Iranian-backed forces, including Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Earlier this month, Iran accused Israel of striking its embassy in Syria’s capital, Damascus.

Iran said seven people, including three senior commanders, were killed in the strikes.

Iran has vowed to retaliate against Israel since the strike. Israel hasn’t commented on the attack.

Israel and Iran have been adversaries in the Middle East for decades.

Since the 1979 revolution which installed a conservative Muslim dictatorship, Iran has questioned the legitimacy of a Jewish state, and called for its destruction.

The strikes

On Saturday, Iran and its proxies (groups connected to the Iranian regime) launched more than 300 airstrikes on Israel.

The airstrikes involved a mix of unmanned drones, ballistic, and cruise missiles.

According to the U.S. and Israel, these were launched from locations scattered across Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen.

The IDF said it struck down the majority of the missiles with support from the U.S, the UK, and France.

It said only a few ballistic missiles crossed into Israeli territory and caused minor damage to an air force base in southern Israel. Authorities said one child was injured.

Response

Australia joined multiple countries in condemning Iran’s attack. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Iran had “ignored our call, and those of many other countries, not to proceed with these reckless attacks”.

The Group of Seven (G7) – the U.S, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the UK, as well as the European Union – issued a joint statement condemning the strikes.

G7 leaders said the attack “risks provoking an uncontrollable regional escalation”.

Israel’s response

Israel’s senior ministers are considering the country’s next steps in response to Iran’s strikes.

Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz said there was a “coalition” of countries prepared to stand against Iran, and vowed to “collect the price from Iran in a way and at a time that suits us”.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Whoever harms us, we will harm them.”

Iran

Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hossein Amirabdollahian, said if Israel retaliates, Iran’s response will be “swift, decisive, and far-reaching”.

He added: “Should our regional interests come under threat from [Israel], and an attack is launched against our interests, the response of [Iran] will diverge from past actions.”

Regional response

Neighbouring countries Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have urged restraint to avoid further escalation of the conflict into the Middle East.

In a statement, the foreign ministry of Saudi Arabia said Israel and Iran, along with their allies, need to “protect the region and its people from the dangers of war”.

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Yesterday, Justice Michael Lee handed down his judgment in the defamation case Bruce Lehrmann brought against journalist Lisa Wilkinson and Network Ten, finding that it was more likely than not Lehrmann raped fellow Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins in 2019 and therefore wasn’t defamed. In today's podcast, we'll explain the outcome of the civil case and what it means.

Remember you can always call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732.

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Give me some good news

Over the weekend, the A-League Women made history, setting a new Australian record for the most attended season of women’s sport.

In the semi final between the Newcastle Jets and the Central Coast Mariners over the weekend, the cumulative number of spectators reached nearly 300,000 people, surpassing the previous record held by the 2023 AFL Women’s regular season.

TDA tidbit

Over the weekend, Nike unveiled several official kits for Olympic athletes, and the feedback has been…mixed.

In particular, a lot of commentary has focused on the track and field uniforms designed for the U.S. team (which is in the photo above).

The women’s kit has been criticised for its high-cut design. Laura Fleshman, an American long-distance runner, said: “This is not an elite athletic kit for track and field.”

She added: “Professional athletes should be able to compete without dedicating brain space to constant pube vigilance or the mental gymnastics of having every vulnerable piece of your body on display.”

Nike pushed back against the criticism and said the outfits are the “most athlete-informed” kits the “company has ever produced.”

TDA asks