Lisa Wilkinson rejects 'baseless, unjustified' claim in response to Bruce Lehrmann lawsuit

The television presenter's lawyers filed her response to Mr Lehrmann's defamation action in the Federal Court on Wednesday, revealing she will look to prove the alleged rape if a truth defence is required.

Mr Lehrmann is suing Ms Wilkinson and her employer, Network Ten, alleging they defamed him in a February 2021 story that revealed Ms Higgins' claims.

He is also seeking damages from News Life Media, the publisher of news.com.au, and the website's political editor, Samantha Maiden, in separate civil proceedings.

Mr Lehrmann alleges a segment on The Project, hosted at the time by Ms Wilkinson, conveyed four defamatory imputations, including that he raped Ms Higgins when the pair were political staffers for Liberal senator Linda Reynolds.

He has consistently denied engaging in any sexual activity with Ms Higgins, and the criminal charge levelled at him was dropped last year after a mistrial.

When he subsequently launched defamation action in February, Mr Lehrmann claimed Ms Wilkinson had disregarded the truth while "fighting" with Ms Maiden to break the story of Ms Higgins' allegations and win a Walkley award.

"It is to be inferred that [Ms Wilkinson] was seeking to exploit the false allegations of sexual assault as made by Ms Higgins for her own personal and professional gain," Mr Lehrmann's lawyers argued in a statement of claim.

Ms Wilkinson, who has hired a legal team headed by top defamation barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC, slammed that assertion in Wednesday's response.

"[T]he allegation of recklessness ... against Wilkinson is baseless, unjustified, unsupported by any fact and should be withdrawn," her defence says.

Ms Wilkinson's counsel also strongly rejects Mr Lehrmann's suggestion her story was presented in "an over-sensationalised manner, indicating intent to injure [him]".

The television host's lawyers note Ms Wilkinson did not name Mr Lehrmann in February 2021, or at any stage before he was charged in August that year, arguing that approach in fact "indicates the contrary of an intent to injure him".

While Mr Lehrmann claims he was identifiable in the initial coverage, Ms Wilkinson says she "does not know" whether that is true and "cannot admit" it.

She does admit that if Mr Lehrmann was able to be identified by her viewers in February 2021, her coverage carried the imputation he raped Ms Higgins.

If Mr Lehrmann is found to have been identifiable, her response shows she will argue the defamatory imputations he alleges were "substantially true" and therefore justifiable.

Should this case reach that point at trial, it would be up to Justice Michael Lee to decide whether Ms Wilkinson's lawyers can prove the alleged rape occurred.

Justice Lee would have to consider this question on the balance of probabilities, which means he would need to decide whether the rape allegation is more likely to be true than false.

That standard of proof is significantly lower than what is required in a criminal trial, where a person must only be found guilty if an allegation is proven beyond reasonable doubt.

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Network Ten is yet to file its defence to Mr Lehrmann's lawsuit.

In her response, Ms Wilkinson says it should be the network, not her, that is required to compensate Mr Lehrmann in the event Justice Lee finds the 27-year-old is entitled to damages as a result of the story on The Project.

News Life Media and Ms Maiden are also yet to lodge defences in their case.

Both of Mr Lehrmann's defamation actions are next due before Justice Lee for case management hearings on March 16.

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