Five brutal words Scott Morrison’s press secretary lobbed at Channel Ten executives after Brittany Higgins’ interview went to air

Scott Morrison’s press secretary called Channel Ten as soon as Brittany Higgins’ interview with Lisa Wilkinson ended and asked: “What the hell was that?”

Details of the phone call were revealed in an email uploaded to the Federal Court website on Thursday afternoon following Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial against the network and Wilkinson, which was heard in December.

Mr Lehrmann launched legal action following the interview with Ms Higgins on February 15, 2021, in which she publicly alleged for the first time that she had been raped by “a male colleague” in 2019, when she was a staffer at Parliament House.

He was not named in the episode, but claimed that friends and former colleagues were able to identify him as the alleged rapist. He has consistently denied raping Ms Higgins.

The email was sent by Ten’s director of news content Ross Dagan to Beverley McGarvey – the executive vice president and chief content officer of Paramount, the company that owns the network – on February 15, 2021 at 7.59pm.

Executive producer Sarah Thornton was also copied in the email, along with the network’s senior trial attorney Tasha Smithies.

Wilkinson’s interview with Higgins led to a phone call from the Prime Minister’s press secretary

An email from Ten’s director of news content Ross Dagan to network boss Beverley McGarvey was uploaded to the Federal Court website on Thursday afternoon.

Mr Dagan told the group he received the irate phone call from Andrew Carswell, the former prime minister’s press secretary.

‘Hello everyone, Andrew Carswell from the Prime Minister’s Office called as soon as the program went off air and started with ‘what the hell was that’, he wrote in the email.

“I told him not to talk to me that way and that if he had something to say, he should say it.”

‘He then told me that the interview had destroyed a woman’s life. It wasn’t until a few minutes into the conversation that I realized he was talking about Fiona Brown, not Brittany Higgins.”

Ms Brown was Linda Reynolds’ chief of staff in March 2019, when Ms Higgins worked as an assistant media adviser for her defense industries portfolio.

Ms Higgins told The Project that Ms Brown was the first person she revealed her alleged rape to, but she was ultimately forced to choose between pursuing her rape allegation and keeping her job.

Ms Brown has long insisted she only learned of the alleged rape later, and strongly denied asking Ms Higgins to choose between her career and her complaint.

Brittany Higgins pictured with then Prime Minister Scott Morrison

Mr Dagan received in detail the irate phone call from Andrew Carswell (pictured), the former prime minister’s press secretary

During the defamation trial in December, Ms Brown told the court she had offered to take Ms Higgins to the Australian Federal Police as soon as she found out Ms Higgins was claiming she had been raped.

In the email, Mr Dagan went on to explain that Mr Carswell told him that ‘all correct procedures had been followed’ after Ms Higgins disclosed her allegations to her superiors.

“He said there were several problems with the story – he mentioned legal issues – I said I was not closely involved in the production of the program but that there were opportunities for him to make his position clear,” he said.

Mr Carswell also suggested the Prime Minister’s Office had not been given a full right of reply, but Mr Dagan said this was not the case.

The Project went to Mr. Morrison’s office prior to broadcast and received a lengthy response, which was published on the network’s website but not read on air.

“He finally acknowledged Brittany towards the end of the conversation – at which point I said it was interesting what Fiona was most concerned about,” Dagan said in the email.

‘At least three times during the phone call he mentioned ruining a woman’s life/career – all of those references were in relation to Fiona Brown.’

Mr Dagan said he ended the call by telling Mr Carswell there were “opportunities” where he could follow up on any accuracy issues.

“I then hung up,” he said.

Ms Brown worked at Parliament House for about 11 years before Ms Higgins’ interview on The Project was broadcast.

She is now unemployed.