Bruce Lehrmann is ordered to pay Peter FitzSimons a surprising sum in latest twist in defamation battle with Network Ten

Bruce Lehrmann has been ordered to pay $4,616 to Lisa Wilkinson’s husband Peter FitzSimons as the author was asked to provide evidence in the defamation case against his wife and Network Ten.

Mr. FitzSimons, a prominent newspaper columnist and historical nonfiction writer, was served a subpoena last year to produce documents related to Brittany Higgins’ $325,000 book deal with Penguin Random House.

He brokered her deal in early 2021 during a three-way auction between two other major publishers.

Last July he provided texts between himself and Ms Higgins about the deal, ahead of Lehrmann’s defamation battle in the Federal Court.

In March, Mr FitzSimons filed an application asking Judge Michael Lee to order Lehrmann to cover the costs he incurred in complying with the subpoena.

He was not a witness in the defamation trial and was not personally present in court during the hearing.

Lehrmann lost the case on April 15 when Civil Judge Michael Lee found he raped Ms Higgins at Parliament House on March 23, 2019.

Lisa Wilkinson is pictured outside the Federal Court in February with her lawyer, Sue Chrysanthou SC

Judge Lee was scheduled to hear the charges at a hearing on May 1, but that date was vacated in a court order on Friday when Lehrmann was ordered to pay the costs.

Mr FitzSimons’ wife, Mrs Wilkinson, will also have a costs application heard at the next hearing.

In February, she won a bid to have Network Ten cover the legal costs of hiring her own lawyer to represent her in the defamation trial.

She could have used Network Ten’s lawyer, Matthew Collins KC, but she claimed the network did not have her best interests at heart and instead hired Sue Chrysanthou SC.

Her fees were worth more than $700,000 when the claim was filed in 2023, but are now reportedly worth more than $1 million.

Ms Wilkinson has not appeared on television for Channel Ten for around two years, but she still receives her full salary of around $44,000 a week. Her contract expires in October.

Ms Wilkinson, Mr FitzSimons and their three children live in a sprawling six-bedroom estate worth up to $40 million in Sydney’s affluent Cremorne.

They reportedly paid $1.4 million for the house and added extensions, including adding a huge bedroom wing overlooking Sydney Harbour.

Pictured: Wilkinson and FitzSimons’ former home in Mosman, which they sold for $1.6 million

Wilkinson also owns a 1970s single room in Cremorne overlooking Sydney Harbor with views of both the Harbor Bridge and Opera House (pictured)

Lehrmann’s defamation case was filed last year following an interview between Wilkinson and Ms Higgins on Network Ten’s flagship programme, The Project, in February 2021.

During the broadcast, Ms Higgins said she was raped at Parliament House in 2019.

Lehrmann was not named on the broadcast, but claimed colleagues and friends were able to identify him as the alleged rapist.

In the judgment, Judge Lee found that Lehrmann was recognizable to others on air, but he was not defamed because Ms Higgins’ claims about him were true on the balance of probabilities.

As the loser of the lawsuit, Lehrmann will have to cover the costs of the case for Ms Wilkinson and Network Ten – which has an estimated value of more than $2 million.

Bruce Lehrmann is photographed outside the Federal Court in Sydney in November