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Four witnesses were called to the witness stand on Wednesday.
One witness, former colleague Lauren Gain, said she saw Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann passionately kissing, taking selfies and being ‘touchy’ at nightclub, 88mph, on the night of the alleged assault.
Ms Gain was with Mr Lehrmann, Ms Higgins and another colleague Austin Wenke on March 22, 2019, during drinks at The Dock hotel, and then when the group moved on to the nightclub after midnight.
She told the court: ‘I remember his hands on her thighs and her hands on his thighs,’ she said.
‘I observed them kissing. It was a real kiss … It went for a period of time, it wasn’t a peck, it was a kiss kiss.’
She didn’t recall how long it lasted, but agreed that it was a ‘passionate kiss’.
The following day, Ms Gain texted another colleague Nikita Irvine who was at The Dock, but didn’t go to 88mph.
Ms Irvine asked: ‘How was 88?’
Ms Gain replied: ‘It was really fun!’
Ms Irvine said: ‘Oh nice!!!’
Ms Gain added: ‘Brittany hooked up with Bruce.’
When asked in court what she meant by ‘hooking up’, Ms Gain said she meant kissing or sex.
Ms Gain also told the court that SHE couldn’t recall anyone speaking about French submarines that night, adding that any discussions about Linda Reynolds’ defence industry portfolio would have been very general in nature.
Mr Lehrmann previously told the court he received information about French submarine contracts that evening.
He told the court that he went back to Parliament House at about 1.30am to annotate Question Time briefs with that information.
Ms Higgins alleges he raped her when they went back to Capital Hill that night. He denies the allegation.
Mr Wenke was also called to the stand on Wednesday, but he barely recalled anything.
He didn’t remember Ms Higgins kissing Mr Lehrmann, nor could he remember much from the night at all.
However, he did say that he did not lend Mr Lehrmann his credit card at any point during the night.
Mr Wenke said that was not something he would ordinarily have done.
The court previously heard that Mr Lehrmann had a $16 charge on his credit and debit card statements, which amounted to about two drinks at The Dock.
CCTV footage from the pub showed him buying more than $16 worth of drinks, but he could not say why that money didn’t show up on his bank statements.
Justice Michael Lee asked if he had a third card, but Mr Lehrmann said he did not.
Two more witnesses gave very different versions of events of what happened at the Kingston Hotel in Canberra on March 2, 2019 – three weeks before Bruce Lehrmann allegedly raped Brittany Higgins.
Nicole Hamer was a media advisor in Linda Reynolds’ office and worked with Mr Lehrmann and Ms Higgins.
She told the Federal Court that Mr Lehrmann asked her to invite Ms Higgins to the pub, even though they barely knew her.
‘Bruce asked me if I could reach out to Brittany and ask if she was available to come to the pub,’ Ms Hamer said.
‘Bruce made a comment about Brittany being good-looking and asked if I knew her.’
Ms Higgins could only stay for a short period of time. When she had to leave, Ms Hamer said Mr Lehrmann took her phone so she couldn’t order an Uber.
Ms Higgins eventually left, before an argument ensued.
‘Basically, Bruce said I overreacted in the way I spoke up and tried to defend Brittany so I got quite defensive to that,’ she said.
‘He said something about me always being a feminist and feeling like I have to go and defend women.’
Ms Hamer said she strongly disagreed with him and left the pub. At 9.35pm that evening, she fired off a furious email to Linda Reynolds and quit her job.
She denied quitting because of the argument at the pub, but said it was a contributing factor.
Another colleague at the pub that evening, Jesse Wotton, Ms Hamar became very emotional and said ‘you shut the f**k up’ to him and Mr Lehrmann, before she ran into the bathroom crying.
Mr Wotton recalled Ms Hamer almost promising Ms Higgins a job in Senator Reynolds’ office that day – which matches Ms Higgins’ evidence – but Ms Hamer said they didn’t talk about job offers.
The last witness was Alexandra Humphries, who was Ms Higgins’ housemate in Canberra in 2019. She travelled from Canberra to Sydney to give evidence, and spent less than half an hour on the stand.
She told the court Ms Higgins disclosed her alleged rape to her in January 2021 – before the interview with The Project was broadcast.
On Thursday, security guards who were working at Parliament House the night Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann entered the building – including one, Nikola Anderson, who said she found Ms Higgins completely naked in Senator Reynolds’ office.
Ms Higgins’ ex-boyfriend Ben Dillaway will also be called to the stand, along with former colleague Nikita Irvine who was at The Dock on March 22, 2019.
Meanwhile, Ms Higgins $2.3million settlement deed with the Commonwealth could also be release if it’s tendered to the court.
The defamation hearing will resume at 10.15am on Thursday.
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