Bruce Lehrmann’s financial state and reputation are so dire that his only chance to earn an income could be starting an account on OnlyFans, his lawyer says.
The former Liberal staffer is fighting a bid by Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson that would force him to pay $200,000 in security to sustain his appeal of a devastating defamation loss.
His lawyer Zali Burrows told a Federal Court hearing today her client was living on Centrelink benefits in part because the broadcaster contributed to his image as a rapist.
“It’s a bit rich (Ten and Wilkinson) asking him to put up $200,000 when they are one of the contributors as to why he’s pretty much unemployable,” she told Justice Wendy Abraham.
“The only shot he’d probably ever (have) in making money is going on OnlyFans or something silly like that.”
The website is known for its adult content, which is provided to paying account subscribers.
Ten’s contributions to Lehrmann’s negative public image included applying with other media organisations to lift a suppression order on his name in a criminal case in Toowoomba, Burrows said.
In that case, Lehrmann faces two charges of sexual intercourse without consent. He has not entered a plea, and his solicitor said he would contest the charges.
Ten has already served a bankruptcy notice on the former Liberal staffer but agreed not to take any further steps until the appeal is resolved.
Burrows said there was a power imbalance between the 29-year-old and Ten, which could make $200,000 on advertising revenue just covering the appeal.
She described the application for security as a “bullying tactic just to hard fist it”.
The publicity behind the case had “smashed” Lehrmann, she said.
He faced mental health issues such that he had chosen to watch today’s hearing on the livestream rather than face the media throng outside court, she said.
The 29-year-old sued over a February 2021 report on The Project interviewing Brittany Higgins about her allegations she was sexually assaulted in Parliament House in March 2019.
In April, Justice Michael Lee ruled that the 29-year-old sexually assaulted Higgins in the office of their then-boss, senator Linda Reynolds, based on the balance of probabilities.
Lehrmann was reckless as to whether Higgins consented to the sexual intercourse, the judge found without declaring that he actually knew she did not consent.
The 29-year-old denies the claim and is not facing criminal charges over the incident after his trial was aborted due to juror misconduct.
Ten’s barrister Matt Collins KC pushed for the $200,000 payment on Monday, saying some of Lehrmann’s grounds of appeal were “hopeless” while others were only “faintly arguable”.
It was not in the public interest to allow the case to go to another hearing as it did not involve clarifying the law or undoing a judge’s error.
“The purpose of an appeal is to correct error, not to give someone a second chance at the O.K. Corral,” Dr Collins said.
Wilkinson’s barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC rejected Lehrmann’s claims he had been blindsided by the way the journalist and Ten’s truth defences had been run during the trial.
His two very experienced senior counsel had not raised any objections about being “taken by surprise” at the time, she said.
Lehrmann launched the defamation case by choice after escaping a criminal conviction or acquittal by jury, Justice Abraham was told.
“His impecuniosity did not deprive him of having his day in court and he’s had it,” Chrysanthou said.
“Why should he get another day in court at the cost of the respondents?”
Lehrmann has been ordered to pay $2 million in legal costs to Ten, which estimates its full legal bill was actually $3.1 million, while his bill for Wilkinson’s defence costs is still being hashed out.
Justice Abraham has also been asked by Lehrmann to stay these costs orders while the appeal is on foot.
She has reserved her decision.
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