Happy December!

Happy Summer!

The quote
“If somebody’s going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money? Go f**k yourself. Go. F**k. Yourself. Is that clear?” — X owner Elon Musk in response to major companies pulling advertisements from the platform following a post by Musk that endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory.

The stat
$921 million
The estimated value of Christmas presents that will go to waste this year, according to a survey of 1,400 people by the Australia Institute.

Today in history
1955: Rosa Parks was arrested for disobeying an Alabama law after not giving up her seat on a bus. Parks, already a well-respected civil rights activist in her community, was supposed to let a white passenger take the seat at the front of the bus and move to the back - but she refused. Her arrest sparked a boycott of buses in Montgomery for over a year, until the Supreme Court ruled segregated buses were illegal.

Some headlines from this morning:

Former U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger has died aged 100.

A key figure in U.S. politics, Kissinger served under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

He was credited for his efforts towards ending America's involvement in the Vietnam War.

Kissinger was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 with North Vietnam negotiator Le Duc Tho for brokering a ceasefire in the Vietnam War. Le Duc Tho declined the award.

He was criticised for his role in destabilising a democratically-elected Chilean government, approving Indonesia's invasion of East Timor, and supporting Pakistan's genocide in Bangladesh, during his time in office.

In the 2010s, Kissinger served on the board of Theranos, the start-up that falsely claimed to be able to test for multiple diseases with a small amount of blood.

CW: Sexual assault

The defamation case brought by Bruce Lehrmann against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson is nearing the end of its second week.

Lehrmann is suing Network Ten and Wilkinson for defamation over a story that aired on The Project in February 2021.

Here's your two-minute explainer on the case.

The allegation
On 15 February 2021, former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins alleged she had been raped in an office in Parliament House by a male colleague in 2019. Higgins made the allegation in an article on news.com.au and in an interview with journalist Lisa Wilkinson on Network Ten's The Project.

The article and the interview did not name Bruce Lehrmann. He was publicly named in August 2021 after criminal charges were filed against him.

Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence.

Court case(s)
Last year, there was a criminal trial brought forward by ACT police against Lehrmann. It failed (meaning there was no outcome) due to juror misconduct. A re-trial was abandoned due to concerns for Higgins’ mental health.

The current case in court is a civil trial brought forward by Lehrmann. He is suing for defamation — the act of damaging someone's reputation. Lehrmann was initially suing news.com.au, Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson, and the ABC (for airing a speech made by Brittany last year).

He has since settled with the ABC and news.com.au, but the case remains ongoing with Network Ten and Wilkinson.

Defamation
Despite not being named, Lehrmann is alleging he was still identifiable in The Project's interview by friends, former colleagues, and social media users. He claims the interview "utterly destroyed" his reputation.

There are several defences that can be used in a defamation trial. The main one Network Ten and Wilkinson are relying on is the 'truth defence'. Essentially, they claim the allegation at the centre of the interview was substantially true and therefore not defamatory.

Unlike the criminal trial, this case will be decided by a judge, not a jury.

Lehrmann’s testimony
This trial is the first time Lehrmann has been in the witness box. He was not required to do this in the criminal trial.

During Lehrmann's cross-examination, he denied ever having any sexual contact with Higgins.

Lehrmann said he was admitted to Royal North Shore hospital one day after The Project interview aired because he had become suicidal.

On why he needed to go to Parliament House after-hours on the night of the alleged rape, Lehrmann admitted he has told three different stories, and agreed that two of these stories were lies.

It was also revealed in court that Channel 7 is paying for Lehrmann's rent at a property in Sydney's northern beaches until June 2024, as compensation for appearing in two interviews for the network's 'Spotlight' program.

Higgins’ testimony
Brittany Higgins appeared as a witness in the case. She recounted the events leading up to, including, and after 23 March 2019, when she alleges Lehrmann raped her.

In doing so, she said she didn't initially want to disclose the alleged rape publicly.

"I was terrified of becoming the story, of being a staffer who this had happened to," Higgins told the court.

She said it was because "my job meant everything to me and I really loved it, and I wanted to keep it and it was of primary importance."

In her evidence yesterday, Higgins admitted to giving a false claim to police in the immediate days after the alleged assault that she had sought a medical examination, when she hadn't. When pressed on why she hadn't, Higgins said “I didn’t have support around me, I was by myself in Canberra, I was so scared.”

What happens next?
The trial will continue next week.

Network Ten's lawyers have said they will call on more than 20 witnesses as part of its defence.

Lisa Wilkinson will testify later in the trial.

1800 RESPECT
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LIFELINE
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Founder’s note: TDA's Editor is Billi FitzSimons, who is the daughter of Lisa Wilkinson. Billi had no involvement in this piece.

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Two kiwis have been born in the wild near New Zealand’s capital city, Wellington, for the first time in over a century.

The two baby kiwis were found by the Capital Kiwi Project, who said in their post that “there will likely be other chicks out there on our hills from here onwards.”

There are about 62,000 wild kiwis left in New Zealand – a number that is declining by about 2% every year.

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If Spotify Wrapped hasn’t taken over your Instagram stories, it’s now in your favourite newsletter.

So what did Australia’s listening look like over the past year?

Miley Cyrus’ song “Flowers” was the most listened to song in Australia in 2023, followed by:

For anyone who went through a breakup this year, you weren’t alone. Over 200,000 breakup playlists were made this year, and these were streamed the most on Valentine’s Day.

If you’re interested in the story behind the world’s smartest marketing tool (ie Spotify Wrapped) check out this video by TDA journalist Chloe Christie.

What a coincidence! That’s exactly who The Daily Aus reaches. Get in touch with us to see how we can work together.