A barrister for the ACT's top prosecutor claims police would have "ignored" the Bruce Lehrmann case if not for the publicity surrounding it and the fact Parliament House was the location of the alleged rape.
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Mark Tedeschi KC made the claim on Tuesday at an independent inquiry, where he is representing Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold SC.
Mr Drumgold's conduct is under the microscope at the inquiry, which will also consider the way police and ACT Victims of Crime Commissioner Heidi Yates acted in connection with the high-profile case.
The inquiry is not concerned with the guilt or innocence of Mr Lehrmann, who has always denied raping former colleague Brittany Higgins during their time as Liberal Party staffers.
While cross-examining defence barrister Steven Whybrow SC on Tuesday, Mr Tedeschi told the inquiry he would be arguing police had taken a "bizarre" approach to whether Mr Lehrmann should be charged.
He indicated it was the position of Mr Drumgold, who has expressed concerns about investigations being "terminated" prematurely, that police had a problematic attitude towards sexual assault cases.
"Had it not been for all the publicity, had it not been that the alleged offence occurred in Parliament House, this matter would have been dealt with like the other ... matters that have been, in effect, just ignored by the police," Mr Tedeschi said.
Mr Tedeschi, himself an experienced former prosecutor, quizzed Mr Whybrow about two occasions on which Mr Lehrmann's barrister had met with a senior police officer.
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That officer, Detective Inspector Marcus Boorman, initiated a couple of coffee catch-ups with Mr Whybrow while the jury in Mr Lehrmann's trial was deliberating.
As he had already detailed in his written statement, Mr Whybrow outlined how an "agitated" Detective Inspector Boorman asked to "move around the corner" so prosecutors working nearby would not see them together.
This happened on the second occasion, when Mr Whybrow claims Detective Inspector Boorman told him he believed Mr Lehrmann was innocent and he would resign if the jury returned a guilty verdict.
Mr Whybrow considered that Detective Inspector Boorman was "unhappy" with various elements of the case, which proceeded after Mr Drumgold recommended to police that Mr Lehrmann be charged.
However, he said he did not know if it was right to say police held "resentment" towards Mr Drumgold.
Mr Whybrow told the inquiry his perception was "the opposite".
"When I say 'the opposite', I don't mean that [police] were loving and kind," the defence barrister said.
"I meant my impression was that it was Mr Drumgold who was hostile towards the police."
'Pejorative stab' in press conference
Also on Tuesday, Mr Tedeschi grilled Mr Whybrow about his criticisms of a December 2022 press conference.
Mr Drumgold gave the press conference to announce, following a mistrial caused by juror misconduct, that he was discontinuing the case because a retrial was likely to endanger Ms Higgins' life.
While making the announcement, Mr Drumgold said he still believed there were reasonable prospects of a jury convicting Mr Lehrmann.
The prosecutor also praised the "bravery, grace and dignity" with which Ms Higgins had faced what he described as an unprecedented "level of attack".
Mr Tedeschi suggested to Mr Whybrow that his client had said what he did in order to explain to "a community of non-lawyers" why there would not be a retrial.
He noted a royal commission had recommended that directors of public prosecutions explain decisions made behind closed doors to ensure the community did not lose confidence in the justice system.
In response, Mr Whybrow accepted the need to announce the decision to discontinue the case.
However, he maintained that Mr Drumgold had not needed to speak about the prospects of conviction or Ms Higgins' personal qualities at that time.
"I felt like it was a pejorative stab at Mr Lehrmann, unnecessarily," Mr Whybrow said.
The defence barrister also expressed concerns Mr Drumgold, whose role required him to be an objective minister for justice, had "aligned himself with Ms Higgins".
The inquiry is now set to have a break from public hearings for the rest of the week.
Inquiry chairman Walter Sofronoff KC has indicated he expects Detective Superintendent Scott Moller to be called as the first police witness when public hearings recommence next Monday.
