Pauline Hanson (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What has happened to the presumption of innocence? This was the criticism levelled at the media by the Sofronoff inquiry for broadcasting Brittany Higgins's version of events for years before the trial of Bruce Lehrmann. Shamefully, we are now witnessing another trial by media as journalists publish the claims of a Toowoomba woman now accusing Mr Lehrmann of sexual assault. She had no complaint about her encounter with Lehrmann until six weeks after, when she saw publicity celebrating Higgins and realised that she'd been with the same man.

What did she do then? She visited a compensation lawyer before reporting the matter to the police. She is claiming sexual assault, saying they had sex twice without her giving permission not to use a condom. Mr Lehrmann is pleading not guilty. He drove the woman to get the morning-after pill, and she signed the form indicating that she hadn't been sexually assaulted. Somehow, this woman's claims are now splashed all over the media, destroying any chance of a fair hearing for Mr Lehrmann. With Higgins, initially, the police did not want to charge Mr Lehrmann, concluding that she was 'evasive, uncooperative and manipulative'. In this case, the Toowoomba police sat on it for over a year before charging Lehrmann. Here as well, prosecutors were reluctant to hand over evidence and delayed giving the defence heavily redacted phone records.

The Palaszczuk government's fast-tracking of a law naming Mr Lehrmann but keeping his accuser's identity a secret stinks to high heaven. This is another disgraceful display of believe-the-woman justice. The public lynching of men has become our national sport. I don't know the truth; only two people do. But if it comes down to the use of a condom then it's no one's business but theirs. If you're not happy, don't have sex. I would advise celibacy or to join a nunnery.