Lisa Wilkinson’s daughter of The Daily Aus editor is forced to confront her mother’s role in the chaotic Bruce Lehrmann case after extraordinary findings in the Sofronoff investigation

A news website edited by Lisa Wilkinson’s daughter has defended itself with a disclaimer on articles about Bruce Lehrmann stating that she “has no input” in their publication.

Billi FitzSimons, 25, the daughter of Wilkinson and fellow journalist Peter FitzSimons, has been editor of the social media first outlet The Daily Aus since March 2022.

The publication focuses on the role of FitzSimons’ mother in Mr Lehrmann’s disorderly prosecution for the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins following damning findings in the Sofronoff Inquiry.

The Daily Aus co-founders Zara Seidler and Sam Koslowski said that “declaring personal connections to a story is an important pillar of our journalistic integrity.”

“We are incredibly proud of Billi’s significant contribution as an editor,” Seidler and Koslowski told Daily Mail Australia.

Billi FitzSimons, 25, the daughter of Lisa Wilkinson and fellow journalist Peter FitzSimons. The new disclaimer on the Daily Aus publication is pictured

Walter Sofronoff investigated the conduct of police and prosecutors in Mr Lehrmann’s ACT Supreme Court trial, which was dropped due to juror misconduct.

Mr Sofronoff felt Wilkinson’s ’45 years of experience’ in journalism should have led her to know what would jeopardize a jury trial – a reference to the trial being postponed after her speech when she won a Logie for reporting about the case.

The former Queensland Supreme Court judge also noted that Wilkinson, who was working for Network 10 at the time, clearly had no shortage of legal advice.

There were calls to charge Wilkinson with contempt of court after she mentioned Higgins in her speech for winning the Outstanding News Coverage Logie award for her 2021 interview with the former ministerial staffer.

Ms Higgins alleged that Mr Lehrmann raped her at Parliament House in Canberra in 2019 when they were colleagues – which he has always vehemently denied.

ACT Chief Justice Lucy McCallum expressed concern over Wilkinson’s comments at the Logies that could penalize jurors.

Network 10 then announced that it had hired high-profile lawyer Matthew Collins on behalf of the channel and Wilkinson just hours after Dr. Collins had criticized Wilkinson’s speech on rival Chanel Seven’s morning show Sunrise.

“It is certainly possible that the authorities will look at the speech she gave to the Logies and judge (whether) that speech went against the standard applicable in this branch of the law,” Dr Collins said.

“That benchmark is, does anything she did tend to distort the administration of justice?”

Ms McCallum decided to postpone the trial ‘unfortunately and with gritted teeth’ because ‘somewhere in this debate the distinction between an untested accusation and the fact of guilt has been lost’.

She said public interest in the case had to die before Mr Lehrmann could have access to a fair jury.

Charges against him were dropped in full last December over concerns about Ms Higgins’ mental health.

Billi FitzSimons (pictured) has been editor of the ‘social media first’ outlet The Daily Aus since March 2022

Mr Sofronoff’s 839-page report referred to the ACT’s then Director of Public Prosecutions, Shane Drumgold, who scrutinized some of Ms Higgins’s speeches and checked them for words that might jeopardize the trial – including that of Logies.

“This was exactly what Mrs. Wilkinson wanted Mr. Drumgold to do,” Mr. Sofronoff said.

“Nevertheless, to explain his failure, he later characterized Mrs. Wilkinson’s request as a request for legal advice.”

Mr Sofronoff also said Mr Drumgold was ‘picky’ about who he advised, as he assisted Ms Higgins on three occasions with matters that could affect the trial, but refused to do the same for Wilkinson.

Billi FitzSimons (right) is pictured with her mother, fellow journalist Lisa Wilkinson

Billi FitzSimons (right) is pictured with her mother Lisa Wilkinson (left) and father Peter FitzSimons (center)

Mr Drumgold resigned after the report was released, but issued a scathing statement on his way out, saying: “Having read the report, I dispute many of the negative findings about me.”

He admitted to making “mistakes” during the trial, but “strongly disputed” that he was “unfair” and “engaged in deliberate or underhanded conduct during the trial.”

“While I accept that my conduct was not perfect, my decisions were all made in good faith, under intense and at times crippling pressure, carried out within increasingly difficult workloads,” said Mr Drumgold.

Full statement from The Daily Aus on the use of a disclaimer on articles about Bruce Lehrmann that says Billi FitzSimons has ‘no input’

Billi FitzSimons is pictured in Sydney

‘The Daily Aus is a news platform based on quality journalism and transparency.

“Declaring personal connections to a story is an important pillar of our journalistic integrity and ensures that we maintain the high level of trust we have successfully built with our audiences.

“We are incredibly proud of Billi’s significant contribution as editor of The Daily Aus every day.”

— from The Daily Aus co-founders Zara Seidler and Sam Koslowski