Pauline Hanson has used the protection of parliamentary privilege to attack a woman who accused Bruce Lehrmann of rape, claiming that ‘the public lynching of men has become a public sport’.
The One Nation leader gave a speech in the Senate on Wednesday afternoon, in which she claimed the former Liberal political staffer is experiencing a “trial by the media” and asked: “What happened to the presumption of innocence?”
Mr Lehrmann was publicly identified last month as the “high-profile Australian” charged with rape and is facing Toowoomba Local Court over a sexual encounter with a woman he met at a nightclub. He is expected to plead not guilty.
Speaking of “trial by media,” Hanson told the Senate: “This was the criticism leveled at the Sofronoff investigation because of (the media) airing Brittany Higgins’ version of events for years before the Bruce trial Lehrmann.
“Disgracefully, we are now witnessing another media trial as journalists publish the claims of a Toowoomba woman who now accuses Mr Lehrmann of sexual assault.”
Senator Hanson said he explained details of the charges Lehrmann faces, which have yet to be tried in court.
Bruce Lehrmann (photo) was pictured last October
Ms Hanson claimed in Parliament that the alleged victim, who has not been publicly identified, ‘had no complaint about Mr Lehrmann until six weeks after’ their alleged sexual encounter.
“She saw publicity celebrating Higgins and realized she had been with the same man,” she continued.
‘And what did she do then? She visited a compensation lawyer before reporting the matter to police,” Ms Hanson claimed in parliament.
‘She alleges sexual assault and claims they had sex twice without her consent not to use a condom.
“He took her to the morning-after pill and she signed a form saying she had not been sexually assaulted.”
The senator claimed that Mr Lehrmann’s chance at a fair trial had been destroyed because the woman’s allegations had been “spread throughout the media”, claiming in the Senate that prosecutors were reluctant to hand over evidence.
She then slammed Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s government for passing a law earlier this year that meant Lehrmann could be named as the alleged rapist before a judge brought the case to trial.
Previously, alleged perpetrators of sexual violence could not be publicly identified unless the case went to trial. Mr Lehrmann also lost a lawsuit to have his identity suppressed, with a judge noting that he had given media interviews.
Ms Hanson told the Senate: “The fact that the Palaszczuk government is fast-tracking the naming law for Mr Lehrmann but is keeping the identity of his accuser secret is a shame.
The One Nation leader spoke about the issue in the Senate on Wednesday afternoon (photo)
‘This is yet another disgraceful display.
‘The public lynching of men has become our national sport.
She continued, “I don’t know the truth, only two people know, but when it comes to using a condom, it’s no one’s business but theirs.
‘If you’re not happy, don’t have sex. I would advise celibacy or joining a nunnery.’
Mr Lehrmann was charged with two counts of rape in January this year following an alleged incident in Toowoomba in October 2021.
Two months earlier, in August 2021, he was also charged with rape following allegations that he sexually assaulted Ms Higgins at Parliament House two years earlier.
He pleaded not guilty in the ACT Supreme Court, claiming he had no sexual interaction with Ms Higgins.
Mr Lehrmann’s Toowoomba case will go to trial at a later date.
In August 2021, Bruce Lehrmann was charged with rape following allegations that he sexually assaulted Brittany Higgins (pictured, center, outside court). He denied the allegations
