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Bruce Lehrmann’s $2m headache · The Front

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  Speaker 1: You can listen to the Front on your smart speaker
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  Speaker 1: every morning to hear the latest episode. Just say play
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  Speaker 1: the news from the Australian. From the Australian, here's what's
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  Speaker 1: on the Front. I'm Claire Harvey. It's Friday, June twenty eighth.
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  Speaker 1: Olympic Sports will get a half billion dollar windfall from
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  Speaker 1: taxpayers in the lead up to Brisbane twenty thirty two.
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  Speaker 1: This morning's major funding announcement comes just a month before
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  Speaker 1: kickoff at the Paris Olympics. You can read that story
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  Speaker 1: by John Stenzolt right now at The Australian dot com
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  Speaker 1: dot au. Police have swooped on bombshell claims in The
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  Speaker 1: Australian about the disappearance of Bromwyn Windfield. Unsolved homicide detectives
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  Speaker 1: have done a lengthy formal interview with former neighbor Judy Singh,
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  Speaker 1: who says she saw Bromwin's former husband John Winfield, driving
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  Speaker 1: with something that looked like a corpse in the back
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  Speaker 1: of his car. John Winfield has denied any wrongdoing. A
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  Speaker 1: new episode of Headley Thomas's podcast Bromwin is live now
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  Speaker 1: at bromwynpodcast dot com. Bruce Lammon does not have a
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  Speaker 1: lot of money, but he's just been slapped with a
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  Speaker 1: two million dollar legal bill for his failed defamation action
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  Speaker 1: against Network ten and its exiled star Lisa Wilkinson. Ten's
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  Speaker 1: had to fork over more than half a million dollars
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  Speaker 1: to Wilkinson and Brittaney Higgins's new husband, David Charraz, has
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  Speaker 1: set his sights on Federal Court Justice Michael Lee or
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  Speaker 1: that's in today's episode.
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  Speaker 2: It is common ground that the applicant is a man
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  Speaker 2: of modest means.
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  Speaker 1: Those are the words of Justice Michael Lee talking about
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  Speaker 1: Bruce Lahman, the man he declared was, on the balance
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  Speaker 1: of probabilities, a rapist. Lee tore apart Lahman's reputation in
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  Speaker 1: his judgment, saying the former Liberal staffer was a practiced liar,
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  Speaker 1: so intent upon his own gratification that he had sex
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  Speaker 1: with Britney Higgins without any regard for whether or not
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  Speaker 1: she consented. Lahman is appealing that finding. The judge said,
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  Speaker 1: although Network ten and Lisa Wilkinson's story about Britney higgins
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  Speaker 1: was deeply flawed as journalism, he believed Higgins's account of
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  Speaker 1: the rape and questioned Lairman's judgment in bringing the case
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  Speaker 1: at all, having.
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  Speaker 3: Escaped the lines dead. Mister Lehrmit made the mistake of
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  Speaker 3: coming back for his head.
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  Speaker 1: And now the judge has landed a new blow on Laman,
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  Speaker 1: declaring he will have to meet some of Ten and
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  Speaker 1: Wilkinson's immense legal costs, even if he doesn't appear to
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  Speaker 1: be rolling in cash. We've used a voice actor to
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  Speaker 1: bring you the words as spoken in the Federal Court
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  Speaker 1: on Thursday.
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  Speaker 2: It is not suggested that there is any real likelihood
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  Speaker 2: that he'll be in a position to pay a substantial
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  Speaker 2: costs order.
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  Speaker 1: Lee asked Ten and Wilkinson's lawyers if they could agree
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  Speaker 1: on a lump sum amount Lahman should pay and agree
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  Speaker 1: to restrict their claim to this amount. Ten agreed two
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  Speaker 1: million dollars. Ten told the judge it has spent three
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  Speaker 1: point six million dollars to date on invoices from their solicitors.
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  Speaker 1: Bart had applied a discount partly to reflect the fact
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  Speaker 1: they didn't have a total win. The judge found their
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  Speaker 1: journalism wasn't reasonable. Laman quibbled with Ten's figures, including the
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  Speaker 1: number of solicitors who worked on the case. A voice
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  Speaker 1: actor is reading the words spoken by Lahman's lawyer, Paul's
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  Speaker 1: Violence in court.
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  Speaker 4: Your honor might notice that there's three to four five
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  Speaker 4: solicitors who have been engaged at least three to four
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  Speaker 4: full time in the matter. No explanation is given in
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  Speaker 4: the affidavit as to why three to four solicitors have
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  Speaker 4: been required to run the matter.
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  Speaker 1: Paulse Violence said, when the judges associate sends an email
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  Speaker 1: to the firm representing Ten, it's copied to five solicitors.
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  Speaker 1: He asked, are they all charging the client to read
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  Speaker 1: an email simultaneously. Lehman's lawyers also raise the fees charged
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  Speaker 1: by Ten's leading senior council, Matt Collins KC eleven thousand
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  Speaker 1: dollars per day in court. That's in excess of the
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  Speaker 1: Federal Court's National guide to council fees, which has a
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  Speaker 1: top rate of seven thousand, six hundred and fifty dollars
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  Speaker 1: per day. Remember Suchrisanthu SC the council for Wilkinson, was
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  Speaker 1: charging the comparatively bargain rate of eight thousand dollars per
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  Speaker 1: day in court. The judge said he thought Collins's fee
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  Speaker 1: was reasonable, especially when compared to layde in commercial litigation,
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  Speaker 1: such as disputes between two companies.
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  Speaker 2: The daily rate of mister Collins is at the top
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  Speaker 2: of the range of fees charged by members of the
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  Speaker 2: defamation bar but given his seniority and experience in the area,
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  Speaker 2: this is to be expected.
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  Speaker 1: The judge said this of Colin's rate, it'd.
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  Speaker 2: Be cheap as chips if it were commercial work at
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  Speaker 2: his level of seniority.
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  Speaker 1: Network ten has another bill to pay a portion of
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  Speaker 1: the costs incurred by Lisa Wilkinson on her own legal representation. Remember,
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  Speaker 1: Wilkinson is still an employee of Network ten. Laman sued
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  Speaker 1: Ten and Wilkinson, and although Ten tried to have Wilkinson
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  Speaker 1: agree to be represented by their lawyers, Wilkinson strongly believed
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  Speaker 1: she needed her own. In fact, well before this matter
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  Speaker 1: came to court, she'd engaged one of the country's most
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  Speaker 1: famous defamation barristers, Sue Chrisantho sc and a different firm
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  Speaker 1: of solicitors to the one Ten was using suspicion because
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  Speaker 1: when the litigation was looming, Wilkinson's relationship with Ten had
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  Speaker 1: completely deteriorated. Wilkinson made a speech to the logies in
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  Speaker 1: which she heralded Brittney Higgins bravery and the.
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  Speaker 5: Truth is this honor belongs to Britney. It belongs to
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  Speaker 5: a twenty six year old woman's unwavering courage. It belongs
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  Speaker 5: to a woman who said enough.
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  Speaker 1: That speech caused a furious act Chief Justice Lucy McCallum
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  Speaker 1: to declare Wilkinson had endangered Bruce Lahman's right to a
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  Speaker 1: fair trial. She was removed from her role at current
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  Speaker 1: Affairs show the Project.
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  Speaker 5: I have decided that it's time to reprioritize a few
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  Speaker 5: things in my life. And after almost fifteen years of
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  Speaker 5: the early alarm of Breakfast TV, and now another five
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  Speaker 5: years here at the Project desk, I'm looking at how
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  Speaker 5: I want the coming years to play out, both professionally
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  Speaker 5: and personally. So Frompton I right, I am stepping back
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  Speaker 5: from hosting the show.
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  Speaker 1: And she believed Ten didn't live up to its offer
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  Speaker 1: to find exciting new on air projects for her. The
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  Speaker 1: trust was eroded further when Ten tried to persuade Wilkinson
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  Speaker 1: if she was insisting on having her own lawyers to
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  Speaker 1: drop the ones she'd already chosen. That was because Ten
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  Speaker 1: had been told their likely star witness, Brittney Higgins, wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: cooperate with Chris Hanfu. Here's what Higgins solicitor Leon's Wire
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  Speaker 1: told Ten in an email, it's not his voice.
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  Speaker 6: For the avoidance of any misunderstandings, Brittany has instructed me
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  Speaker 6: not to assist lawyers and counsel currently retained by Lisa
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  Speaker 6: Wilkinson to defend civil claims commenced by Lerman against Lisa Wilkinson.
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  Speaker 6: I am not prepared to work with Lisa's current senior
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  Speaker 6: counsel under any circumstances.
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  Speaker 1: Ten eventually asked Wilkinson to let another senior barrister, Brett Walker,
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  Speaker 1: sc to give her advice on whether she needed her
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  Speaker 1: own lawyer. Walker told Wilkinson to stick to her guns
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  Speaker 1: and to stick with Chris Anthu during the trial. This
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  Speaker 1: question of costs caused Ten serious damage because it was
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  Speaker 1: refusing to pay Wilkinson's bills as they were invoiced. During
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  Speaker 1: the trial, Wilkinson brought a cross claim against Ten, which
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  Speaker 1: was heard by Justice Lee. That cross claim threw up
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  Speaker 1: all sorts of stuff Ten didn't want in the public domain,
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  Speaker 1: including the fact it had given legal advice to Wilkinson
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  Speaker 1: and okayed her Loki speech. Wilkinson was originally seeking more
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  Speaker 1: than one point eight million dollars from Ten. Ten offered
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  Speaker 1: just under six hundred and eight thousand dollars in court
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  Speaker 1: on Thursday, Ten said it had decided that was too
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  Speaker 1: generous and offered to agree on a figure of just
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  Speaker 1: under five hundred and forty nine thousand. The judge and
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  Speaker 1: Wilkinson both agreed. That leaves the court to still decide
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  Speaker 1: how much of Wilkinson's fees Bruce Lamban should have to pay,
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  Speaker 1: and that it's been sent off to an independent referee.
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  Speaker 1: Coming up, what Justice Michael Lee is getting up to
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  Speaker 1: outside the courtroom. Our subscribers are the first to hear
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  Speaker 1: all the updates in this lengthy legal saga. Class there's
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  Speaker 1: expert analysis, exclusive content and a dedicated app. Check us
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  Speaker 1: out at the Australian dot Com dotu and we'll be
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  Speaker 1: back after this break. The defamation action brought by Bruce
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  Speaker 1: Lahman against Network ten and Lisa Wilkinson featured a cast
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  Speaker 1: of colorful characters, but none appear to have intrigued Justice
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  Speaker 1: Michael Lee more than David Schiraz. Breshnia, Higgins's new husband,
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  Speaker 1: was conspicuous by his absence from the lengthy proceedings. He
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  Speaker 1: was never called by the prosecution or the defense to
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  Speaker 1: give evidence. A trial bart his name popped up again
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  Speaker 1: and again. That's because Sharaz was the driving force behind
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  Speaker 1: the Project's interview with Brittany Higgins, in which she alleged
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  Speaker 1: she'd been raped inside Parliament House in twenty nineteen and
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  Speaker 1: that it was covered up by senior members of the
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  Speaker 1: Coalition government. That claim has been vehemently denied by former
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  Speaker 1: ministers and staff.
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  Speaker 2: And so I would, I would try and raise it,
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  Speaker 2: and I would try and bring it up.
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  Speaker 6: Then it was always it always sort of came back
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  Speaker 6: to sort of being a me issue, and I said,
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  Speaker 6: if you can't deal with it, then you can leave.
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  Speaker 1: Sharaz pitched the story to Lisa Wilkinson in an email
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  Speaker 1: with the subject line me too. Liberal Party Project pitch
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  Speaker 1: and so Justice Lee asked counsel repeatedly over the course
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  Speaker 1: of the trial if Sharaz would enter the witness box
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  Speaker 1: and if not, why not. The judge said he was
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  Speaker 1: like Elijah, always welcome but never showing up. The judge
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  Speaker 1: was invoking the Jewish tradition of leaving a cup of
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  Speaker 1: wine and a chair at the passover table for the
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  Speaker 1: ancient prophet who ascended to heaven in a flaming chariot.
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  Speaker 1: The idea is that when Elijah returns, it's a sign
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  Speaker 1: the Messiah is coming.
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  Speaker 3: The motivations of mister Sharaz in selecting the journals to
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  Speaker 3: tell on user story were manifest, and rather than this
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  Speaker 3: motive being a course of some degree of circumspection, mister
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  Speaker 3: Lewellen and Miss Wilkinson indicated their willingness to assist in
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  Speaker 3: the political use of the allegations, as Miss Higgins and
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  Speaker 3: mister Sharaz intended.
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  Speaker 1: That's a snippet of the criticism leveled at David Sharaz
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  Speaker 1: by Michael Lee. On August nine, the Distinguished Judge will
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  Speaker 1: sit down with the former ABC chair Eite Buttrose for
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  Speaker 1: what's being touted as a candid conversation about the intersection
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  Speaker 1: of media, law and society at the national conference of
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  Speaker 1: an organization called Women in Media. Tickets cost almost five
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  Speaker 1: hundred dollars a pop, and David Scharaz has questions about
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  Speaker 1: what attendees are signing up for. According to reporting by
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  Speaker 1: The Australian's Stephen Rice, Scharaz wrote to the conference organizers
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  Speaker 1: demanding to know if the defamation case was on the agenda.
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  Speaker 1: They reportedly told Sharaz they didn't expect Lee to discuss
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  Speaker 1: the case specifically, but Charaz wasn't satisfied. A voice actor
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  Speaker 1: is reading his response.
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  Speaker 4: So he will not discuss the Laman case for which
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  Speaker 4: he has made his name and for what you're looking
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  Speaker 4: him for.
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  Speaker 1: The spokesperson for Women in Media told The Australian what
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  Speaker 1: Justice Lee talks about is up to him. We've used
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  Speaker 1: a voice actor. The content that Justice Lee chooses to
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  Speaker 1: share with attendees is a matter.
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  Speaker 2: For Justice Lee.
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  Speaker 1: While we appreciate people might have their own views about
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  Speaker 1: speakers at the conference, programming decisions are a matter for
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  Speaker 1: Women in Media. You can keep up with the latest
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  Speaker 1: in the Laman legal saga at The Australian dot Com
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  Speaker 1: dot a U thanks for joining us on the front
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  Speaker 1: this week. Our team is Kristen Amiot, Leah sam Mclaw,
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  Speaker 1: Joshua Burton, Jasper League, Tiffany Dimack, Matthew Condon and me
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  Speaker 1: Claire Harvey.