Brittany Higgins, Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial LIVE: Andrew Bolt unleashes on 'mega-payout', Brittany could be recalled over compo deal

Parliament House security guard Nikola Anderson told the Federal Court on Thursday morning that she led Bruce Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins into the ministerial suite at about 1.30am on the night of the alleged rape.

At about 4.20am, she went back up to the suite to do a welfare check because Ms Higgins hadn't left.

Ms Anderson told the court she announced herself when she entered the suite, and then again when she got to the minister's office - before she opened the door.

M Lehrmann's defence barrister Steven Whybrow SC asked Ms Anderson if she saw a woman lying on her back, completely naked, on the lounge.

Ms Anderson agreed.

When she went over to the couch to ask if Ms Higgins was OK, she said the former staffer briefly opened her eyes, before she rolled over into the fetal position and went back to sleep.

Ms Anderson said Ms Higgins' did not appear to be in distress, and her makeup appeared intact.

She told the court Ms Higgins' dress and shoes were on the floor next to the couch.

'[The dress] looked like it had been taken off and thrown on the floor,' she told the court.

Ms Anderson said while she appeared to be intoxicated when she arrived, she couldn't make a call on 'how drunk' she was.

Brittany Higgins' $2.3million settlement with the Commonwealth was tendered to the Federal Court on Thursday morning.

Justice Michael Lee said he would not allow public or media access to the document until about 4pm today.

Bruce Lehrmann’s barrister Steven Whybrow SC said he wants to recall Ms Higgins to the witness stand to cross-examine her over the payment.

Ms Higgins’ lawyer Leon Zwier was also required to provide a copy to the Federal Court.

'Do you propose to make an application to further re-examine Ms Higgins in relation to the document or not?' Justice Michael Lee said on Wednesday.

'Yes,' Mr Whybrow SC replied.

Lisa Wilkinson's barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC said she does not oppose the release of the deed, provided Bruce Lehrmann's lawyers do not plan to use it to recall Ms Higgins to the witness stand.

Any submissions for non-publication or suppression should be made before that time, otherwise the document will be released.

Nikita Irvine had a tense exchange with Bruce Lehrmann's barrister Steven Whybrow SC in the Federal Court on Thursday.

Major Irvine told the court she was told there was an incident in Linda Reynolds' office around the weekend of March 23, 2019, but no one told her what happened.

She said that she 'somehow knew' the issue was to do with Ms Higgins.

Mr Whybrow asked how she knew, 'is that another example of women's intuition?' he asked, referencing Major Irvine's evidence earlier when she told the court Mr Lehrmann gave her 'bad vibes'.

Major Irvine said she believed the issue was to do with Ms Higgins because she had been 'very upset' that day, 'she was very down'.

Ms Irvine replied: 'I'm not sure. I knew it involved Bruce and I knew it was a serious incident.'

Mr Whybrow: 'Or maybe you're just saying things because you believe that she was the victim of a rape and you're prepared to say evidence in support of that?

Ms Irvine: 'Are you accusing me of lying under oath?'

Mr Whybrow: 'I'm not accusing you, I'm putting to you that maybe there are subconscious additions to your evidence.'

Ms Irvine: 'I don't believe there's any subconscious additions to my evidence. I've gone through everything very thoroughly, and I have tried to separate things I've learned since, and things that I knew then.

'Brittany was very down that day. I knew something had happened with Bruce, and then Chris Payne told me that so I maybe just put that together.'

Nikita Irvine told the Federal Court on Thursday that she couldn't recall anyone being rude to Nick, Brittany Higgins' Bumble date, at The Dock hotel on March 22, 2019.

Ms Higgins previously told the court her colleagues were rude to Nick and made fun of his public service job and his clothes, and that he left the pub because everyone was rude to him.

However, Major Irvine told the court she spoke with Nick and she wasn't rude at all. She also didn't witness anyone else being rude to him.

Mr Lehrmann's barrister Steven Whybrow SC asked Major Irvine how clear her recollection of that evening was.

She said: 'Someone told me three days later told me she was raped, so yes I remember.'

'My memory is very good of that night.'

Ms Higgins disclosed her alleged assault to Major Irvine at work the following week back at work.

She told the court that she did not tell anyone about the allegations before Ms Higgins went public with them in February 2021 - two years later.

Mr Whybrow asked: 'Since it was made public, you and Ms Gain have spoken about it because it became a high-profile matter?'

Major Irvine agreed.

Mr Whybrow then asked if Ms Gain believed Ms Higgins' allegations, to which Major Irvine agreed.

He then asked if she believed Ms Higgins.

'Do I believe Ms Higgins? Yes,' she replied.

Nikita Irvine told the Federal Court a colleague told her Brittany Higgins and Bruce Lehrmann 'hooked up' ont he night of the alleged rape.

Major Irvine was at The Dock hotel with Mr Lehrmann, Ms Higgins and other colleagues on March 22, 2019.

She did not go to the nightclub 88mph after the pub, but she got a text from another colleague, Lauren Gain, the following day that said 'Brittany and Bruce hooked up'.

Two days later, she had dinner with Ms Gain who repeated the claim, 'Brittany hooked up with Bruce'.

When Network Ten's lawyer asked Major Irvine whether she had spoken with Mr Lehrmann at the pub that evening, to which she said: 'I had bad vibes on Bruce.'

When asked why she didn't like him, she said 'It's just women's intuition, Dr Collins, I can't explain'.

She also told the court Ms Higgins told her the following week that Mr Lehrmann had allegedly assaulted her.

She told the court: 'I asked "Are you okay' she said "no, have you heard what's happened?".'

Major Irvine told hte court Ms Higgins said: 'Bruce, Austin, Lauren and I went to 88mph and Bruce and I were in an Uber to go home and he wanted to come back to Parliament House.

'Hhe had some whiskey to show me or something.

'When we came back to Parliament House, I fell asleep on the couch and I woke up and he was on top of me.'

Major Irvine asked: 'Was it....?'

Ms Higgins nodded, with Ms Irvine taking it as confirming sexual assault.

Major Irvine also said she wasn't sure if Ms Higgins identified the situation as a rape.

She also recalled Ms Higgins telling her in early April 2019 that she decided not to go ahead with a formal complaint because police told her it would be too difficult to get a conviction.

Fiona Brown was Bruce Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins' chief of staff in 2019, when both worked for then-defence industry minister Linda Reynolds.

Ms Higgins has made claims against Ms Brown, telling the Federal Court last week and the ACT Supreme Court last year, that she did not feel supported when she disclosed her alleged rape.

Ms Brown was cross-examined during Mr Lehrmann's criminal trial last year. At one point, she became overwhelmed with emotion and ran out of the courtroom in tears.

In court on Thursday morning, Ms Brown's barrister said she wanted to provide evidence in the defamation trial but was advised by her psychiatrists not to do so.

If Ms Brown is required to give evidence, her lawyer asked if the hearing livestream could be limited.

Justice Michael Lee said Ms Brown could be called because Ms Higgins told the court she first disclosed her alleged rape during a meeting with her and Ms Reynolds in April 2021.

Ms Reynolds and Brown have previously denied the alleged assault was disclosed.

Andrew Bolt has asked why Brittany Higgins was handed $2.3million in compensation, partly based on 40 years of lost wages, when she kept working in politics after making her rape allegations.

The political commentator raised the question in a column in the Herald Sun on Wednesday evening.

Ms Higgins secured the hefty payment in December last year after the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions dropped the charge against Bruce Lehrmann - citing fears for her mental health.

The payment was settled following just one day of mediation with the Albanese government.

Higgins claimed she was not supported by her former Parliament House bosses, Linda Reynolds and Michaelia Cash, after she disclosed her alleged rape to them.

Ms Reynolds and Ms Cash have denied any wrongdoing, but were not given the opportunity to defend themselves during mediation.

Bolt pointed out that she secured a job as a media advisor for Victoria's First Peoples Assembly in February 2021 - when she first went public with her allegations on The Project.

She also secured a $108,000 advance to write a book about her rape allegations a month later, in March 2021, and was due to get a further $200,000 once the book was finished.

She later completed at internship at the United Nations in Geneva, but told the court it was unpaid.

'This mega-payout stinks,' Bolt claimed.

'Higgins got the job. And she got the cash. Why?'

Bruce Lehrmann is suing Lisa Wilkinson and Network 10 in the Federal Court over her 2021 interview with Brittany Higgins where she alleged he raped her in Parliament House in 2019.

He was not named, but claims friends and former colleagues were able to identify him as the alleged rapist.

He has continually maintained his innocence.

The trial began on November 22 and Mr Lehrmann gave evidence over five days.

Brittany Higgins admitted on Tuesday that her settlement with the Commonwealth was worth $2.3million.