Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson’s conspiracy theories about Bruce Lehrmann’s secret financier
EXCLUSIVE
Handwritten notes show that Lisa Wilkinson and Network Ten appeared to wrongly believe that Bruce Lehrmann’s legal costs were being covered by mining billionaire Gina Rinehart and a men’s rights activist.
The notes were tendered to the Federal Court in Wilkinson’s civil dispute against the network for approximately $1 million in his own legal costs.
They were written by the network’s senior trial lawyer, Tasha Smithies, following a conversation with Wilkinson on December 7, 2022 – six days after Mr Lehrmann’s rape charges were dropped by the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions.
It was also the day after Mr Lehrmann announced he had joined forces with commercial litigation firm Mark O’Brien Legal and was considering bringing a defamation claim against Wilkinson and Network Ten.
Theories about Mr. Lehrmann’s representation were briefly outlined in a box at the bottom of a notebook, with one line suggesting he was “funded by Bettina Arndt and Gina Rinehart.”
Another set of notes taken about two months later at a meeting with Wilkinson and Ten’s legal team revealed that Lehrmann was ‘funded by someone with very deep pockets’.
Bruce Lehrmann’s legal representation in the defamation case was on a no-win, no-fee basis. He is pictured outside the Federal Court with barrister Steven Whybrow SC (right)
Pictured: A handwritten note from Ten’s lawyer Tasha Smithies. The note states that Mr. Lehrmann was “financed by Bettina Arndt and Gina Rinehart.”
However, the speculation was wrong: Mark O’Brien Legal acted for Mr Lehrmann on a no-win-no-fee basis, meaning the firm only receives payment if the case is successful.
Lawyers who represented Mr. Lehrmann during his criminal trial in October 2022 worked pro bono.
A spokesperson for Ms Rinehart told Daily Mail Australia the mining magnate “has not, and never has, provided any funding or support.”
When Mrs. Arndt was asked the same question, she said, “Dream on! I have not paid a dime to Lehrmann’s defamation lawyers.”
Ms Arndt, an outspoken advocate for men’s rights, has personally supported Mr Lehrmann and appeared in the Federal Court in December last year for the first day of his defamation trial against Wilkinson and Network Ten.
The note speculated that Mark O’Brien Legal was “looking for lawyers” to represent Mr Lehrmann in court.
Pictured: Tasha Smithies, senior trial lawyer for Network Ten
Lisa Wilkinson was pictured with her own legal adviser, Sue Chrysanthou SC, outside the Federal Court last week
There was another note showing that Sue Chrysanthou SC and lawyer Rebekah Giles could not represent Mr Lehrmann due to a conflict of interest.
Ms Chrysanthou ultimately represented Wilkinson in the same case.
Another meeting took place about two months later, on February 8 last year – the day after Mr Lehrmann filed a defamation claim against Wilkinson and the network.
That conversation took place between Conor O’Beirne, a lawyer acting on behalf of the network, and Wilkinson.
Mr. O’Beirne wrote two pages of notes during that meeting, containing ideas ranging from how the network might defend the defamation claim to theories about how Mr. Lehrmann might finance the case.
One note read: “Lehrmann is being financed by someone with very deep pockets.”
When asked about that specific suggestion, Mr. Lehrmann said, “They must have been short arms if they were deep pockets.”
Brittany Higgins is pictured with Lisa Wilkinson after The Project interview in 2021
“My team has an admirable desire to protect the rule of law.
“Maybe it’s time to remove the Kool-Aid in the (Channel Ten) office and improve intelligence gathering.”
Mr Lehrmann sued Ten and Wilkinson over her interview with Brittany Higgins on The Project in 2021, in which the former political staffer publicly alleged Mr Lehrmann raped her at Parliament House in 2019.
He was not named in that broadcast, but claimed friends and colleagues were able to identify him as the alleged rapist.
Mr. Lehrmann has always denied the allegations.
Wilkinson subsequently successfully sued Network Ten for fees relating to hiring Ms Chrysanthou to defend her in the defamation case, rather than joining her employer’s defense and using Thomson Geer.
The defamation hearing concluded in December and Judge Lee has yet to make a ruling.