00:00Well, this legal action has been going since it was filed in March last year, so that's
00:06more than 12 months of expensive legal bills, and that is going to be what will be determined
00:12today.
00:13So, as you said, Bruce Luman brought this defamation action himself.
00:16He alleged that he was defamed in an interview on The Project in 2021, where Brittany Higgins
00:24said that she was raped at Parliament House.
00:27Now, the matter went to criminal trial and was never finished because of juror misconduct,
00:31and there was no findings against him.
00:34So, Mr Luman brought this defamation action himself, but it did fail, as you say, so when
00:39the Federal Court decided on the balance of probabilities that he did rape Brittany Higgins.
00:4510 is, of course, as a result of that, arguing that Bruce Luman should pay all the legal
00:50costs, particularly because Mr Luman rejected an offer to settle, as we've heard in August
00:57last year.
00:58Mr Luman has submitted that he wants a more balanced approach to this, because not all
01:04of 10's defences were found to be correct, so Mr Luman is arguing, I guess, that he shouldn't
01:10have to pay all of the costs.
01:13It's not just an argument between 10 and Bruce Luman over costs, is it?
01:17What else is being decided today?
01:19It's also Lisa Wilkinson's costs, as we know they had separate lawyers.
01:24There is an initial estimate that Ms Wilkinson's costs alone are about $700,000.
01:31Ms Wilkinson, of course, would like Bruce Luman to pay all of it, but if Bruce Luman
01:35doesn't, there may be some costs which she has to incur, and she would like 10 to be
01:41liable for some of those costs as well.
01:44In its submission, 10 has argued that many of the points that they made, and that Lisa
01:50Wilkinson made in this case in the end, were actually the same, and they don't want to
01:54have to pay essentially for making the same arguments.
01:58But all of this will be determined by Justice Lee this afternoon.
02:02He may give a decision straight away, or he may reserve a decision, so we may find out
02:06the actual answer at a later date.
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