Brittany Higgins breaks her silence with a blistering statement after a judge found Bruce Lehrmann raped her in Parliament House

Brittany Higgins has broken her silence with a powerful statement after a federal court judge ruled that she was raped by Bruce Lehrmann.

The former Liberal Party media advisor, who relocated to France with her fiancé David Sharaz in December took to X on Saturday afternoon to issue a 400 word bombshell statement five days after Justice Michael Lee handed down his findings.

She was 24 when she was raped by her then-colleague at Parliament House in 2019. 

In a surprising twist, Ms Higgins also expressed sympathy for the toll the saga has had on her former boss Senator Linda Reynolds, despite the pair locked in the middle of a defamation battle

‘I was raped. No judgement was ever going to change this truth,’ Ms Higgins began.

‘I lived with the shame, humiliation, and fear of what telling my story would mean for my life and career, like so many other victim survivors.

‘I was scared I wouldn’t be believed or supported.

‘The toxic culture in Parliament House was not something I just imagined.

‘For decades, women working in Parliament House have not been heard. There was no safe space for them to speak up or raise serious complaints.

‘I felt compelled to tell my story.’

Ms Higgins pointed out that thousands of staff in federal ministers’ offices from all sides of politics took part in the Jenkins Review.

‘Their stories, like mine have shone a light on the conditions that have fed such a toxic culture and have wilfully ignored for too long,’ she continued.

Ms Higgins added that her health, memory and relationships have been impacted by what happened in 2019.

She has been hospitalised multiple times for mental health reasons. 

‘I was devastated that a rapist was given a national platform (Channel Seven program Spotlight) to maintain his lies about what happened,’ she wrote.

‘I trust that those who contributed in any way to the program will reflect on their decision.’

Ms Higgins thanked Justice Michael Lee for his ‘trauma informed’ approach to the case. 

‘In doing so, I hope he has set a precedent for how courts consider the testimonies of victim survivors of sexual assault,’ she said.

‘While I don’t agree with all of Justice Lee’s findings, I do respect his observations about the many people scarred and damaged in the aftermath of my rape.’

Ms Higgins acknowledged many people had been unwittingly caught up in years of media discourse and legal battles as she paid tribute to her family for their incredible support.

‘They’ve been so strong, faced  seemingly unrelenting barrage of hate and have consistently held me together at times when I thought I would fall apart,’ she said.

Ms Higgins also acknowledged the pain caused to her former bosses- Senator Linda Reynolds and former chief of staff Fiona Brown. 

‘For that I am also sorry,’ she continued.

‘My perceptions and feelings about what happened in the days and weeks after my rape are different from theirs.

‘I deeply regret we have not yet found common ground.

‘I hope we can resolve our differences with a better understanding of each other’s experience.’

Senator Reynolds confirmed this week that she will continue with defamation proceedings launched against Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz over social media comments made about her. 

Ms Higgins ended the two page statement looking back on the last five years of criminal and civil trials and government inquiries for her truth to be heard.

‘It’s now time to heal,’ she concluded.

Justice Michael Lee ruled on Monday that Bruce Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins, on the balance of probabilities, saying he been ‘hellbent’ on having sex with his former colleague.

The 28-year-old stood when the Justice Lee adjourned the matter, kept his head down, and charged from the court at the first opportunity.

Lehrmann was flanked by his legal team as he left NSW’s Federal Court and made efforts to avoid a waiting throng of reporters and cameramen.

He remained stony-faced and silent as he was followed down the street with one cameraman seen falling over onto the pavement amid the chaos.

Moments earlier, Lee found that Lehrmann was ‘indifferent’ to whether drunk Ms Higgins consented or not before he raped her on a senator’s couch at Parliament House in March 2019. 

The findings were delivered on Monday as Justice Lee handed down his judgment in Lehrmann’s defamation case against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson.

‘Mr Lehrmann raped Ms Higgins,’ he said of the infamous night in March 2019.

While there was no evidence Lehrmann knew that Ms Higgins did not consent to the sexual activity, he was recklessly indifferent to her rights and was ‘hellbent’ on having sex, the judge said.

Earlier on Monday, Justice Lee slammed Lehrmann as being an unreliable, dishonest witness.

‘Mr Lehrmann has no compunction from departing from the truth if he thought it was expedient,’ the judge said.

‘I am satisfied that in important respects, he told deliberate lies.’

The 28-year-old was suing Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson for defamation over a February 2021 report on The Project in which Brittany Higgins claimed he raped her in a Parliament House office almost two years prior.

Justice Lee described both Lehrmann and Ms Higgins as ‘unreliable historians’ when recounting what occurred on that fateful night.

The judge said Ms Higgins had been loose with the truth regarding allegations made to Ten in 2021 that members of the Coalition government at the time had sought to silence her in reporting the alleged rape.

‘The cover-up allegation was objectively short on facts but long on speculation,’ he said.

But Justice Lee found that any incorrect statements made to the police in 2019 were not inconsistent with remarks being made by a ‘genuine victim of sexual assault’.

Justice Lee said that Lehrmann was identified by Ten’s report, despite denials from the network.

The ex-Liberal staffer claims his reputation was ruined and is seeking significant damages.

Ten has defended its reporting, saying claims in the interview were true and in the public interest as they involved alleged sexual abuse in Parliament House.

Justice Lee considered whether or not, on the balance of probabilities, the alleged sexual assault occurred in the office of their then-boss, Senator Linda Reynolds.

Mr Lehrmann always denied the sexual assault allegation and a criminal case was dropped in 2022, with no findings made against him.