A protracted dispute between Ten Network and journalist Lisa Wilkinson has concluded, with the network agreeing to pay $1.15 million to cover Wilkinson’s legal costs in defending Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case.
This settlement was approved by the federal court on Monday afternoon, following extended negotiations over the exact amount Ten would pay Wilkinson for her separate legal representation. The settlement amount is less than the initial $1.8 million Wilkinson claimed she had incurred in successfully defending the case.
The defamation trial, presided over by Justice Michael Lee in 2023, arose from a report on The Project in February 2021, where Brittany Higgins accused Lehrmann of sexually assaulting her at Parliament House nearly two years prior. In April 2024, the judge dismissed the case, finding that Lehrmann had not been defamed and that Higgins’ allegations about him raping her in their then-boss Linda Reynolds’s office were substantially true.
Justice Lee also ordered Lehrmann to pay Ten $2 million in legal costs in June, which raised further questions about the amount owed to Wilkinson. Ten had previously informed the court that they spent $3.7 million defending Lehrmann’s lawsuit. An external referee was appointed to determine the reasonableness of Wilkinson’s legal bill, but before his report was finalized, Ten agreed to the $1.15 million figure.
Ten has already paid Wilkinson $558,000 and will have to pay the remainder of the $1.15 million by March 19. It remains unclear how much of this total will be covered by Lehrmann, who is facing financial difficulties and is on the verge of bankruptcy.
Ten and Wilkinson are scheduled to appear before Justice Lee on March 11 to discuss the expenses associated with hiring the costs referee. Lehrmann has also lodged an appeal against his defamation loss in the full federal court, though a hearing has not yet been arranged.
The defamation lawsuit emerged after a criminal case against Lehrmann was dropped in 2022 due to juror misconduct, without any findings made against him.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/feb/25/channel-ten-lisa-wilkinson-bruce-lehrmann-trial-legal-costs-payment-ntwnfb
