The federal anti-corruption watchdog is trying to shake off legal action brought by Bruce Lehrmann after a raid on the former political staffer’s home.
Lehrmann claims he was repeatedly advised that he was entitled to funding for legal representation during a National Anti-Corruption Commission investigation following an “unlawful” raid on his house in June 2024.
The anti-corruption body was searching for sensitive submarine documents Lehrmann was alleged to have stolen from the office of former defence minister Linda Reynolds.
Lehrmann is suing the anti-corruption watchdog. (Dan Peled / The Sydney Morning H)
His lawsuit against Commissioner Paul Brereton and federal Labor government minister Don Farrell was heard for the first time today.
“It’s my position that the Commonwealth is delaying funding unnecessarily as to a denial of procedural fairness,” Lehrmann told the Federal Court.
He asked the court for time to amend his originating application in light of correspondence from the commission which he deemed “rather inflammatory and quite intimidatory”.
The request was not opposed.
But the commissioner’s lawyer argued Brereton was not the right person to sue as he was not designated as a relevant decision-maker.
“But the Attorney (General Michelle Rowland) might be,” Justice Brigitte Markovic mused.
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland could find herself in the firing line. (Alex Ellinghausen)
Lehrmann said he had made an application to her office to that effect, but he had been “handballed around”, ending up with Farrell.
He suggested that was due to his former employment as a political staffer.
The court gave Lehrmann until October to determine who should be a respondent.
Brereton and Farrell have not filed defences to Lehrmann’s claims.
It comes after Lehrmann accused Brereton of lacking the confidence of the Australian public and called for him to resign in a letter to Rowland.
“The principle at stake is simple: no integrity body can credibly investigate and compel citizens while its own leadership is tainted by unresolved conflicts,” he wrote on September 12.