Lehrmann defamation: Higgins ‘cover-up’ no Watergate. It was ‘Russsiagate’ all over again

Already a subscriber?It might not be Australia’s own version of “Russiagate”, but there are more than a few parallels between claims the Morrison government tried to cover up the rape of Brittany Higgins and the accusation Donald Trump co-operated with Vladimir Putin during the 2016 US presidential election.

While handing down his decision in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial against Network Ten, Federal Courtcould not have been clearer: “When examined properly and without partiality, the cover-up allegation was objectively short on facts, but long on speculation and internal inconsistencies. Some of the commentary on Morrison’s response to the allegations almost made him out to be Richard Nixon, or worse. This wasn’t Watergate.put it, journalists won “glittering prizes” for their stories “of corrupt conduct in putting up roadblocks and forcing a rape victim to choose between her career and justice”.

There have always been high-profile, controversial court cases, but there was something different about those cases. The world-weariness of old-school journalists has been replaced by a new generation who aren’t sceptical – they’re cynical and bitter. If the media’s reporting of the Pell and Higgins cases is a glimpse into what lies ahead for Australian journalism, then the future is bleak. It points to the development of American-style partisanship in the media.

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