Bruce Lehrmann has been revealed as a previously unnamed man charged with rape in Queensland.
Former federal ministerial staffer Bruce Emery Lehrmann can now be named as the high-profile man facing rape charges in Queensland following a Supreme Court decision.
Lehrmann, who has not been required to appear in court for the hearing and remains on bail, faces two counts of raping a woman at Toowoomba, west of Brisbane, in October 2021.
Lehrmann was charged with rape in January 2023 but could not be named at that time under a Queensland law that suppressed the names of people charged with certain sex offences unless they were committed to stand trial.
When Queensland repealed that law earlier this month, Lehrmann was granted an interim non-publication order in order to prepare a case for why his identity should be protected.
The Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday heard submissions to determine whether or not to grant an application to overturn a Toowoomba magistrate's decision earlier this month that would allow media outlets to name Lehrmann.
The magistrate denied Lehrmann's application on October 14 but granted another interim order to allow him to challenge the decision in the Brisbane Supreme Court.
Justice Peter Applegarth on Thursday dismissed the application for a review of the decision and said it was open for the magistrate to find that a ongoing non-publication order was not necessary to prevent risk to Lehrmann's safety.
On Thursday barrister Andrew Hoare said his client's mental health would face "catastrophic consequences" if he were publicly identified.
"A risk of self-harm has been identified ... through aggravation of existing symptoms," he said.
Barrister Michael Nicolson, acting for Queensland Police in opposing the application, said the magistrate had been "very calculated" in forming her decision.
"She did what she was told to do and looked at the material," Mr Nicolson said.
The barrister for several media outlets, Rob Anderson KC, said the magistrate had fairly considered the incongruity between the psychiatrist's report and the man's decision to give television interviews that included information about his health.
"There was no error ... (the magistrate) did appropriately take into account all the material before her," Mr Anderson said.
— With AAP.
Feature Image: AAP.