Brittany Higgins has been challenged over how long she kept a dress she wore when she was allegedly raped at Parliament House hidden under her bed.
A jury has heard a second day of evidence from Higgins in the ACT Supreme Court criminal trial of Bruce Lehrmann, who has pleaded not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent.
It comes as the 26-year-old said she felt her story was out of her control once she had given interviews to high-profile journalists when questioned about why she approached the media with the allegations.
READ MORE: Texts reveal Brittany Higgins' thoughts in days after alleged assault
Higgins hid dress under bed after alleged attack
Higgins was questioned today about a white dress she wore the night of the alleged assault.
"I kept it under my bed in a plastic bag for a good six months," Higgins told the court.
"It wasn't touched, it wasn't cleaned…. I kept it there, it was like this weird anchor for me.
"Once it was clear I could proceed with my job I very symbolically washed the dress," she added.
After lunch Higgins was cross-examined about how long the dress had remained under her bed.
Defence Barrister Steve Whybrow showed the court a photo of her wearing the garment about two months later and put to her that she had lied.
Higgins replied that she was simply wrong and that the alleged assault was the worst night of her life.
"It stayed under my bed for a period of time.. I was wrong," she told the court.
Conversations with Linda Reynolds
Higgins also testified today former defence industry minister Linda Reynolds told her she did not think her accused rapist was "capable of something like that".
The pair were working in Reynold's office as staffers at the time of the alleged assault.
Higgins told the court she had a meeting with Reynolds and her chief of staff Fiona Brown after the alleged rape.
She described being panicked because she was in the same office with the couch where Lehrmann had allegedly assaulted her.
"The words were a little lost … she (Reynolds) said something to the effect of 'I didn't think he was capable of something like that'," Higgins told the court.
She said Reynolds apologised to her, but the conversation then turned to the upcoming 2019 federal election.
After dreaming of becoming a political media adviser, Higgins said she feared she would lose her job if she made a complaint to the police.
"My interpretation of that was that if I raised it with police there were going to be problems," she said.
She said she wanted to keep working for the Liberal Party and assist during the election but also wanted to proceed with the complaint.
"It became really apparent it was my job on the line… I'd gone my entire life working towards this moment," she said.
She said she decided to "toe the party line" and not proceed further with the police complaint.
Higgins worked with Reynolds during the election but told the court she felt as though she did not like her because of the problems she had caused with the allegations.
"I felt like she (Reynolds) did not like being around me based on the fact of how little she would have me on the road with her as a media adviser," Higgins said.
After the election, Higgins began working with another Liberal senator Michaelia Cash.
Allegations 'out of control' after media story
Higgins said she was not ashamed of going public with details of her alleged rape before reopening her complaint with the police.
Whybrow put to Higgins she told the media about her alleged rape two years after it occurred because she wanted to damage the Liberal Party.
Higgins said she wanted changes to address systemic problems related to the treatment of women in Parliament House.
"I loved my party, I loved the Liberal Party," she said.
She told the court the cultural issues and her alleged rape were two separate issues she wanted to address.
She decided to go down two avenues to address the issues by talking to the media and to the police about her allegations.
"I stand by my choice. I'm not ashamed of that," she said.
Higgins said once she had spoken to journalists Samantha Maiden and Lisa Wilkinson about her allegations the story became outside of her control.
"… They both sort of had exclusive rights and they were fighting over when it would be released and who did what and who got the exclusive drop so come Walkley's time who could claim what."
"It became not even about me or my story, it became about them (the journalists)," she said.
"Once I'd given an on-the-record interview … it was out of my control … it was up to them."
The Walkley Awards are a prestigious journalism accolade.
Whybrow put to Higgins a timeline of events she had written was prepared for the media rather than for the police.
Higgins originally wrote it for the police but it was given to particular journalists when she and her partner David Sharaz were overwhelmed with media inquiries.
She said those journalists then circulated the dossier to others, which was a "breach of trust".
Whybrow put to Higgins police had told her media reporting could jeopardise the case.
Higgins thought she would do one print and one television interview about her experience and then never talk about it again.
She also did not think police would prosecute her argument or that the matter would end up in court.
"I thought I'd go back to uni and disappear," she said.
Higgins told the court she originally did not go ahead with a police complaint in 2019, when the alleged rape happened, because she feared she would lose her job.
Parliament House security footage shown
Earlier, Higgins was shown security vision of her and Lehrmann entering Parliament House on the night she alleges he raped her.
Higgins cried as the footage was played and said she does not remember the specifics of entering her workplace with Lehrmann in the early hours of March 23, 2019.
The video showed the pair arriving at the building entrance and being signed in by two security guards.
Higgins walked through the security gate, was required to take off her shoes and struggled to put them back on.
Barefoot and carrying her heels, she and Lehrmann were escorted to the office by a security guard.
The footage ended after the pair entered the office.
The footage also showed Lehrmann leaving Parliament House about an hour later and an Uber collecting him.
Higgins was seen leaving the building at 10am that morning, wearing a jacket she said she borrowed from a bag of clothes in the minister's office.
The jury also heard an audio recording of Lehrmann at the gates to the ministerial entrance.
He told security his name, saying he was with then-minister Linda Reynolds and had been requested to pick up some documents.
The jury was also shown photos of the office of Higgins and Lehrmann's former boss, then-defence industries minister Linda Reynolds, including multiple images of the couch where the alleged assault took place.
The photos were taken by police two years after the alleged assault.
"I was like a prop, pinned into that corner. My leg was pinned up," Higgins said.
The court was also shown an image of Higgins' right leg with a large bruise.
The photo was taken about a week after the alleged assault.
She told the court she assumes the injury was sustained during the alleged assault.
The jury was also shown photos of the office of Higgins and Lehrmann's former boss, then-defence industries minister Linda Reynolds, including multiple images of the couch where the alleged assault took place.
The photos were taken by police two years after the alleged assault.
"I was like a prop, pinned into that corner. My leg was pinned up," Higgins said.
The court was also shown an image of Higgins' right leg with a large bruise.
The photo was taken about a week after the alleged assault.
She told the court she assumes the injury was sustained during the alleged assault.
– Reported with AAP
