The appointment of Walter Sofronoff to the inquiry committee was a “mistake”, says ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr

The ACT Premier says it was a mistake to appoint Walter Sofronoff to lead an investigation into the trial of Bruce Lehrmann.

Andrew Barr made the comments during an election debate with Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee, led by the ACT Property Council.

The investigative committee was set up to investigate the conduct of police and other parties during Mr Lehrmann’s rape trial, which was abandoned due to jury misconduct without reaching a conclusion against him.

The ACT Integrity Commission is conducting its own investigation into allegations about former Supreme Court justice Mr Sofronoff’s conduct during the investigation, including his contact with journalists.

At the debate, Mr Barr said he had taken the advice of the Justice and Community Safety Directorate and Attorney General Shane to appoint Mr Sofronoff and that it had been a mistake.

The remarks were in response to a question during the debate about a leadership decision that the pair felt may have been the wrong decision.

It was Mr. Barr’s strongest comment yet on Mr. Sofronoff’s appointment.

The controversy continues

The controversy over Mr Sofronoff’s role began after it was discovered he had given journalists copies of his investigation findings before the ACT Government released them publicly.

At the time, the ACT Government said it was considering its legal options regarding Mr Sofronoff’s conduct.

It later emerged that Mr Sofronoff had developed a relationship with News Corp journalist Janet Albrechtsen.

A Supreme Court case brought by former ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold found the pair exchanged 51 phone calls and dozens of text messages over the course of the investigation.

Sofronoff’s investigative committee made several damning findings about Mr. Drumgold’s conduct during the prosecution of Mr. Lehrmann for the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins.

Recently, Mr. Drumgold was cleared by the local bar association after it dismissed a series of complaints about his prosecution of Mr. Lehrmann.

Mr Lehrmann was accused of raping his then colleague Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019.

His criminal trial in the ACT Supreme Court was abandoned with no findings against him before Mr Drumgold canceled the planned retrial based on medical advice on Ms Higgins.

Mr. Lehrmann has always protested his innocence.