The latest is a defamation case against the ACT government and former Chief Prosecutor Shane Drumgold, brought by Senator Linda Reynolds.
Mr. Lehrmann was accused of raping fellow Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins in Senator Reynold’s office, in a criminal case that was aborted last year due to juror misconduct.
Mr. Lehrmann has always denied the allegation.
She is seeking damages, including aggravated damages, and an injunction preventing the parties from publishing defamatory material about her. She also wants an order that the government foot the costs of the action.
A Web of Legal Action
The latest writ is the fourth defamation action in the WA Supreme Court brought by the former defence minister related to the Lehrmann case, including actions against Ms. Higgins herself and her partner David Sharaz.The senator has accused Ms. Higgins of posting defamatory material on two occasions on her Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter) accounts. Mr. Sharaz is being sued over Twitter posts he wrote and a Facebook comment in 2022.
That case has been referred to mediation, which will take place in Perth over two days next May. If that fails, it will move to trial.
The ACT government launched an inquiry into the handling of the criminal trial after a public dispute between the former Director of Public Prosecutions Mr. Drumgold, who led the prosecution, and police, whom he accused of trying to undermine proceedings.
Inquiry chair, former judge Walter Sofronoff KC, found he lied to the Supreme Court in the lead-up to the trial and had improperly questioned Senator Reynolds on the stand, among other findings.
Mr. Drumgold subsequently resigned after the report was handed to the media by Mr. Sofronoff—which earned the inquiry head a rebuke from the government.
Mr. Drumgold has since launched legal action to overturn the findings and to stop the territory government from taking any action against him based on the report.
His lawyers claim some of Mr. Sofronoff’s findings were legally unreasonable, some were out of the inquiry’s jurisdiction, and that he was not given a fair hearing in relation to others.