Man goes on trial accused of rape in Australian Parliament House

Bruce Lehrmann arrives at the Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court in Canberra (Mick Tsikas/AAP/AP)

A government worker described herself as being “as drunk as she’d ever been in her life” on the night she alleges she was raped inside Australian Parliament House, a prosecutor told a jury on Tuesday.

In his opening address, prosecutor Shane Drumgold told the jury the level of Brittany Higgins’ intoxication was important because it was relevant to her ability to consent to having sex.