Wednesday 22 June 2022 08:35 AM Why Lisa Wilkinson DIDN'T think she would give speech at Logies, but knew she ... trends now
Four days before the Logies, Lisa Wilkinson was fairly sure she would never deliver her now notorious speech that resulted in a high profile rape trial being postponed indefinitely.
'I don't think I will get it because it is managed by a rival network,' she told Shane Drumgold, the ACT's Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on June 15.
The Project host was meeting Mr Drumgold to discuss her evidence at the upcoming trial of Bruce Lehrmann, who has been charged with the alleged rape of former political staffer Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in Canberra.
Lehrmann, charged with sexual intercourse without consent, has pleaded not guilty to assaulting Ms Higgins.
Lisa Wilkinson (pictured) was warned four days before the Logies that the speech she planned to give if she won could lead to dangerous territory
In his notes of the meeting, Mr Drumgold recorded that 'At conclusion Lisa was asked if she had any questions.'
She told him she was nominated for a Logie for her interview on Channel 10 with Brittany Higgins, but didn't think she would win as the awards were managed by Channel Nine.
She didn't entirely rule out her chance of getting the award, though. 'I have, however, prepared a speech in case,' she told Mr Drumgold.
Wilkinson then read the first line of her speech but was stopped by the DPP who said 'We are not speech editors.
'We have no power to approve or prohibit any public comment that is the role of the court.'
Mr Drumgold did, however, advise, that Lehrmann's legal team 'can reinstitute a stay application in the event of publicity' related to the speech.
The defence lawyers had made a previous, unsuccessful, application for a stay - essentially a postponement of a trial.
Wilkinson did win the Logie, did give her speech and, two days later, the defence was successful in seeking a stay.
Chief Justice Lucy McCallum was scathing in her response to what Wilkinson did, saying the line between an allegation and the finding of guilt was 'completely obliterated' by her Logies speech.
