☕️ Why the Lehrmann case is back in court today

Good morning!

What a treat to be here! I’ve been particularly excited this week about the launch of Picture This - it’s been epic to see everyone enjoying the game and starting to turn it into a workplace or family ritual.

I’ve learned a few new swear words watching people in our office try and solve it each morning!

P.S. A huge congratulations to my co-founder, Zara, on her wedding last week to her gorgeous husband, Olly. The TDA family has grown! Here’s to love - the good-est of all good news stories.

I’ve got 10 seconds

Quote of the day

“Many participants said that they would reconsider or take less of the substances they had in their possession, which is an excellent outcome… [pill testing] will save lives and keep people safe.”
Queensland Health Minister Shannon Fentiman on the state’s first pill testing service at a music festival over the long weekend.

Stat of the day

141
How many people became billionaires in 2023, according to Forbes magazine. New billionaires included multiple executives at fast fashion giant Shein, ‘Law & Order’ producer Dick Wolf, and Taylor Swift.

Today in history

1986
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. King was standing on the balcony of his motel room at the time. Violence broke out across the U.S. in response to news of his death.

I’ve got 30 seconds

Some headlines from this morning:

• A coronial inquest into WA’s first recorded death in juvenile detention has commenced, with hearings expected to last more than a week. 16-year-old Cleveland Dodd died in a juvenile detention cell at a maximum security adult prison in October. A coroner is now investigating the circumstances that led to the teenager’s death. The inquest will also examine WA’s juvenile detention system and the treatment of youth offenders more broadly. The inquest is expected to finish on 12 April.

• Aviation firefighters will go on strike at airports around the country these school holidays, amid an ongoing dispute over resourcing and staff shortages. The United Firefighters Union of Australia announced its members will stop work for “an unlimited number” of four-hour intervals on 15 April. A shortage of emergency crews in airports could lead to flights during the busy school holiday travel period being cancelled. The union is striking over a dispute with industry regulator Airservices Australia.

I’ve got 1 minute

Taiwan has experienced its strongest earthquake in 25 years

At least nine people have died in a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Taiwan yesterday. Hundreds more have been injured.

The earthquake destroyed buildings after it hit the eastern Taiwanese city of Hualien on Wednesday morning.

It was Taiwan’s strongest earthquake since 1999, when a 7.6-magnitude quake killed 2,400 people in the island’s deadliest natural disaster.

Tsunamis can be triggered by powerful earthquakes.

Further details

Nearly 90,000 homes were without power after the quake, according to Taiwan’s electricity operator.

Tsunami warnings for Japan have been cancelled.

Aftershocks

Aftershocks – smaller quakes that follow a nearby/larger "mainshock" event – have been reported since the Taiwan earthquake.

Buildings in its capital Taipei have continued to shake, according to global news agency Reuters. Taipei is about 120kms north of the site of the original quake in Hualien.

I’ve got 2 minutes

Why does the Bruce Lehrmann defamation case re-open today?

Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation lawsuit against Network Ten journalist Lisa Wilkinson is back in the news this week.

The final judgment of the case was due to be handed down today. However, the judge has instead agreed to re-open the trial, at the request of Ten, due to new evidence.

Here’s what you need to know.

Background

In February 2021, former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins alleged she had been raped in Parliament House by a colleague. 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.

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

Defamation

After the criminal trial was abandoned, Lehrmann launched defamation proceedings in 2023.

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) for defamation. However, news.com.au and the ABC have since settled out of court with him.

Trial so far

The defamation trial against Ten and Wilkinson began in November and ended in December last year.

To determine if Lehrmann had been defamed, the judge had to answer two main questions:

• Was Bruce Lehrmann identifiable in Network Ten’s broadcast?

• If he was identifiable, were Higgins’ allegations truthful?

The judge was due to deliver his verdict today.

New evidence

Over the long weekend, Ten's lawyers asked the judge to re-open the trial in light of new evidence.

This new evidence centres around an interview that Lehrmann did with Channel 7's investigative program ‘Spotlight’ in June last year.

The request to re-open the trial is based on two main issues. The first is around the financial benefits Channel 7 offered Lehrmann to do the interview. The second is the alleged leaking of confidential information to Channel 7.

Expenses paid

Evidence submitted to the court last year confirmed Channel 7 paid Lehrmann’s rent for a year in Sydney.

Last month, news.com.au also published an allegation that Seven paid for a massage for Lehrmann, which he denied.

Former ‘Spotlight’ producer Taylor Auerbach has since alleged there were other payments, including reimbursing Lehrmann for “illicit drugs and prostitutes”. Auerbach alleges one Thai massage for Lehrmann and a friend totalled $10,315.

These allegations have not been tested in court.

Leaking

The ‘Spotlight’ program contained confidential information including audio from a meeting between Higgins, Wilkinson and a producer at The Project.

This material was part of an Australian Federal Police brief given to the ACT Supreme Court for the criminal trial. It was not in the public domain before Channel 7 aired it.

During the trial, Lehrmann denied being the source of the leak, but Network Ten and Wilkinson’s lawyers have suggested new evidence contradicts this.

These are only allegations and have not been tested in court.

Why now?

Auerbach, who was heavily involved behind the scenes of the Lehrmann interview, has only recently come forward with these allegations.

Auerbach signed an affidavit (a written statement for use of evidence in court) to be entered into the case.

On Tuesday, less than 48 hours before a verdict was due, the judge allowed the case to be re-opened so Auerbach can appear in court today. This means the judgment has been delayed.

Lehrmann’s lawyers

Lehrmann’s lawyers strongly opposed the re-opening of the trial.

“Just to be clear, obviously a lie under oath is an exceptionally serious matter. It’s just that, in this case, both the principal witnesses are alleged by both sides to have told dozens of lies under oath,” Matthew Richardson, the barrister representing Lehrmann, said.

He added: “This stuff is trivial, it’s just not relevant. And to ... reopen [the case] on that sort of material, Your Honour, would be inappropriate.”

Note: TDA’s Editor-in-Chief is Billi FitzSimons, who is 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.

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Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation lawsuit against Network Ten journalist Lisa Wilkinson is back in the news this week.

The final judgment of the case was due to be handed down today. However, the judge has agreed to re-open the trial, at the request of Network Ten, due to new evidence. Today on the podcast, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about the new developments in the case.

Give me some good news

England’s National Health Service has launched a ‘world-first’ rollout of a device for diabetes patients.

The technology, dubbed an ‘artificial pancreas’, can automatically pump the correct amount of insulin into a patient by continually monitoring their blood glucose levels.

Tens of thousands of children and adults with diabetes are expected to receive the device over the next five years in the world-first rollout.

TDA tidbit

A hunk of space junk crashed into a Florida home last month. At the time, homeowner Alejandro Otero had no idea what it was, or where it had come from.

It wasn’t until astronomer Jonathan McDowell made a social media post about a rogue pallet of space waste that Otero began to connect the dots. McDowell said the pellet had re-entered Earth’s atmosphere after it was thrown off the International Space Station three years ago.

A few days later, Otero responded to McDowell, saying: “Hello. Looks like one of those pieces… landed in my house”. He said the object tore through his roof and two floors of his house, narrowly missing his son.

I wonder what he told his insurance company?

TDA asks