So which is it? First Lisa Wilkinson said it was the 'most important' story ... trends now

Lisa Wilkinson has once again reclaimed her exclusive story about Brittany Higgins being raped by Bruce Lehrmann, after distancing herself from it during prickly parts of the defamation trial.

After Justice Michael Lee found in Network Ten's favour, Ms Wilkinson gave a triumphant speech on the steps of the Federal Court, declaring: 'I published a true story about a rape at a federal politician's office in March 2019.'

The speech glossed over harsh comments Justice Lee made about Ms Wilkinson's conduct throughout the trial - and the fact the 'political cover-up' aspect of her story was found to be false.

But more significantly, it also appeared to be yet another backflip for the veteran journalist.

Here, Daily Mail Australia retraces what Ms Wilkinson has said about the story in the years since it aired in February 2021.

Logies speech

In her now-infamous Logies speech, Ms Wilkinson declared her work with Brittany Higgins 'the most important' of her career.

She said: 'I knew it from the very first phone call I had early last year with a young woman whose name she told me was Brittany Higgins.

'Four incredibly intense, sleepless weeks later, when our story went to air, the entire country knew the name Brittany Higgins.

'As Brittany warned me before we went to air, her story would be seen by many of the most powerful people in this country, not as a human problem, but as a political problem.

'Brittany Higgins was a political problem. And governments tend to like political problems to go away. But Brittany never did. And the truth is, this honour belongs to Brittany. It belongs to a 26-year-old woman's unwavering courage.

'It belongs to a woman who said "enough". It belongs to a woman who inspired more than 100,000 similarly pissed, exhausted women and men to take to the streets across this country [at the March 4 Justice rally] to roar in numbers too big to ignore.

'Brittany, thank you for trusting me.'

Under cross-examination during the defamation trial

By the time she was being cross-examined, Ms Wilkinson's story, speech and her professional integrity had faced extensive scrutiny.

Early in the trial, she was asked whether she agreed she had 'developed, conducted and delivered' the story.

But she later backed down, instead stating her involvement in preparing the program had decreased in the lead-up to its screening, and decisions about what went to air were instead made by Ten's senior management and lawyers.

'My understanding was that appropriate checks were being done and advice was being sought within Channel Ten on whether or not those facts were appropriate to include in the broadcast,' Wilkinson said under cross-examination.

'And I left those decisions to others more qualified than me to decide whether or not it was appropriate to keep those details in the broadcast.'

Later she said: 'To put it in general terms, Mr Richardson [barrister Matthew Richardson SC, acting for Lehrmann], I knew the Channel Ten legal department were across this story and I trusted that it was appropriate for those details to be in there.'

Wilkinson also expressed unhappiness when Mr Richardson drew to her attention that a significant detail Higgins had mentioned in the unedited version of their two-hour interview had been cut before its broadcast.

Richardson: 'That's very poor journalism, isn't it, to conceal that?'

Wilkinson: 'I'm disappointed to see that.'

Referred again to a text message sent before the broadcast by The Project's executive producer Christopher Bendall declaring Wilkinson had been responsible for 'developing, conducting and delivering' the Higgins story, she seemed less willing to take so much credit.

'That was a very kind text from Mr Bendall,' Wilkinson said. 'But there was an entire team who also deserved words to that effect.'

Richardson: 'I think you agreed though that what he said about you was accurate yesterday - correct?'

Wilkinson: 'But I wasn't the only person working on the story, Mr Richardson.'

In court documents

Court documents from Ms Wilkinson's lawyers show they attempted to argue she had a 'limited role' in the final broadcast.

In final

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