By Angus Thompson
Lehrmann inquiry chair Walter Sofronoff, KC, handed his report to journalists even before it was given to ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr, according to a territory government spokesperson.
Calls are growing to immediately make public the findings of the inquiry into the handling of the rape trial of former Coalition staffer Bruce Lehrmann, after they were leaked to the media ahead of the ACT government’s planned release at the end of this month.
Bruce Lehrmann, who has maintained his innocence, plans to sue the ACT over its handling of the prosecution.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The report will now be released early next week, however, ACT Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee said it was “absolutely unfathomable” for the territory government to hold on to it any longer.
“This whole issue would not have been created if the Labor-Greens government ... had actually done the right thing by the Canberra public and actually made it available,” Lee said.
Barrister Geoffrey Watson, SC, a director of the Centre for Public Integrity, also called for the report’s immediate release.
Their calls came as Lehrmann said he planned to sue the ACT over its handling of the prosecution.
The ACT government on Thursday rebuked Sofronoff, a former Queensland Supreme Court judge, over his decision to leak the report, which contains damning findings against the ACT’s top prosecutor, Shane Drumgold, SC. It said the release was not authorised by, or communicated to, the government beforehand.
On Friday, a government spokesperson said Sofronoff had provided “a detailed written explanation for why he chose to release the report to selected journalists prior to providing it to the chief minister”.
“The government remains extremely disappointed in this action, but at this time, our focus is on responding to the report and ensuring procedural fairness is afforded to all parties named in it,” the spokesperson said.
Comment has been sought from Sofronoff.
Lehrmann pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting former colleague Brittany Higgins in the Parliament House office of their former boss, then-defence industry minister Linda Reynolds, after a night out drinking with friends in March 2019.
The trial was aborted in October due to juror misconduct, and Drumgold decided against a retrial in December due to concerns over Higgins’ mental health. Lehrmann maintains his innocence.
Lehrmann said he had instructed his solicitors to prepare a statement of claim against the ACT.
“I’ve got lawyers that need to be paid, people who have supported me, like my mum and uncle, who need to be supported,” he said in a statement released by his lawyers.
“I’m not interested in becoming a millionaire, but I do want to perhaps get on with my life and maybe buy a house.
“Given what the prosecution has done to me, I may never work again.”
It would be one of at least seven legal proceedings launched since the initial criminal trial, including the inquiry, three defamation actions also begun by Lehrmann – one of which has been dropped – and two defamation suits lodged by Reynolds.
The inquiry was launched by the ACT government last year after a dispute between Drumgold and police about the investigation.
In the inquiry’s report, Sofronoff found Drumgold had lied to the Supreme Court in the lead-up to the trial, and improperly questioned Reynolds on the stand.
Drumgold, who is on leave from his role as ACT Director of Public Prosecutions, declined to comment on Thursday as he had not yet seen the report, which also found that the prosecution of Lehrmann was properly brought.
Drumgold’s barrister, Mark Tedeschi, KC, also declined to comment.
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