Bruce Lehrmann’s defence claimed former prime minister Scott Morrison’s public apology to Brittany Higgins was a reason a trial should be halted, it has been revealed.

Lehrmann’s legal team asked the judge to order a permanent or temporary postponement of the trial in March following Mr Morrison’s apology to women in parliament.

The defence submitted Mr Morrison’s apology was “particularly egregious” and had elevated Ms Higgins “to a status she should not have”.

The reason was released late Wednesday when Chief Justice Lucy McCallum published her reasons for allowing the trial to go ahead.

It was revealed that lawyers for Lehrmann argued Mr Morrison’s speech disadvantaged his case.

The then-prime minister apologised directly to Ms Higgins — who was sitting in the public gallery — for the “terrible things” that had happened in parliament.

“The place that should have been a place of safety and contribution turned out to be a nightmare,” he said.

“I’m sorry for all those who came before Ms Higgins and endured the same. But she had the courage to stand, and so here we are.”

Chief Justice McCallum said the defence had argued the case was unique because Ms Higgins “walks into court with an aura about her” and that the problem this created was “incurable”.

But she dismissed the application and said Ms Higgins’ credibility had also been the subject of public comment which was unfortunate.

She was not persuaded the legal test for the application had been met and that she would direct the jury on the need to “disregard prior awareness of a suggestion or imputation of truthfulness on the part of (Ms Higgins)”.

Lehrmann has pleaded not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent and is facing a criminal trial in the ACT Supreme Court.

The 12-day trial began in the first week of October and jurors have not yet been able to reach a verdict after five days.

The jury will return to court on Thursday to continue its deliberations.

Ms Higgins alleges Lehrmann raped her in the parliamentary office of Linda Reynolds when they worked for the defence industry minister in March 2019. He denies any sexual interaction.

Chief Justice McCallum has told jurors to take more time to reach a decision, after the panel indicated on Tuesday it was unable to reach unanimous agreement.

She said they must calmly and objectively listen to each other’s opinions and try to reach a unanimous decision.

She reminded them they could not join in a verdict if they did not “honestly and genuinely” think it was correct.

Earlier in the week, the jury asked for “a little extra time” and the chief justice assured them there was no rush.

“There’s no rush. There’s no time limit,” she said.

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-with AAP

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