It was an action-packed first day in the Bruce Lehrmann defamation case, with the former Liberal staffer settling with the ABC before proceedings began. The national broadcaster aired a speech by Brittany Higgins (aka the woman who accused him of assaulting her) in 2022 that Lehrmann says defamed him – yesterday, the ABC said the deal is “mutually acceptable… without admission of liability”. Lehrmann’s claim against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson continues – he says an interview with Higgins aired on The Project in 2021 painted him as a “revolting predator”, and it “utterly destroyed him”. Network Ten is planning to call 28 witnesses, including Higgins, in the coming days. A defamation claim against journalist Samantha Maiden and her employer News Corp was settled in May.