Former defence minister Linda Reynolds’ act of ‘respect’ towards Brittany Higgins causes legal frustration
Former defence minister Linda Reynolds has hit a legal delay in her defamation lawsuit against Brittany Higgins, caused by a simple act of ‘respect’ towards her former staffer.
Ms Reynolds is attempting to have Ms Higgins declared bankrupt to compel her to pay the almost $350,000 in damages the Supreme Court of WA awarded the former Liberal MP over social media posts made by her former staffer.
Lawyer Martin Bennett told a hearing of the Federal Court that Ms Higgins has been served with a bankruptcy notice via her lawyer Carmel Galati as well as at a Melbourne office complex where she works as a director.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“Ms Higgins clearly knows the application has been made,” he said.
Ms Reynolds is now seeking a sequestration order to have an external trustee appointed to manage Ms Higgins’ financial affairs and retrieve the money she is owed.
“There’s been no payment of the sum subject of the bankruptcy notice whatsoever,” Mr Bennett said.
The court had previously heard that Ms Reynolds was “incredibly disappointed” Ms Higgins still hadn’t paid one cent, from her $2.4 million settlement with the Federal Government, towards massive bills from her defamation case loss.
The settlement was reached over Ms Higgins’ claims Ms Reynolds mishandled her allegation she was raped by colleague Bruce Lehrmann in the former politician’s Parliament House office in Canberra in 2019, after a night out drinking.
The assertion were strenuously rejected by Ms Reynolds, who proved victorious in August after a blockbuster trial that included former prime minister Scott Morrison among two dozen witnesses.
Ms Reynolds now wants to enforce that judgment after spending “millions” on lawyers and is targeting a protective trust she alleges Ms Higgins set up to ringfence her settlement from creditors.
Speaking outside of court, Mr Bennett said: “We adopted a method of service of the original creditor’s position that respected Ms Higgins’ mental fragility.”
Mr Bennett said they would likely have a sense of Ms Higgins’ assets and what is held in the Brittany Higgins Protective Trust within the first few months of a trustee being assigned to the bankruptcy.
“A person who’s made bankrupt has an obligation to assist a trustee in a bankruptcy, there are very severe consequences if they don’t.”
After her bruising defamation loss, Ms Higgins was ordered to pay Ms Reynolds $340,000 in damages and interest.
Mr Sharaz was ordered to pay up to $220,000 in damages, comprising $85,000 payable by him alone and $135,000 for which the couple are jointly liable.
Ms Higgins must also pay 80 per cent of Ms Reynolds’ court costs.
Justice Michael Feutrill said he would reserve his decision on the creditors petition.
Meanwhile, Mr Lehrmann continues to maintain his innocence after his 2022 rape trial was aborted due to juror misconduct and the charge was then dropped.
In a subsequent defamation case against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson, Mr Lehrmann lost in 2024, he was found to have raped Ms Higgins, based on the balance of probabilities, which is the standard of proof in civil cases.
That judgment was recently upheld by the full court of the Federal Court.
