Reynolds-Higgins Western Australian Supreme Court defamation trial date arrives

Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds and her former staffer Brittany Higgins are set to return to court as a bitter defamation battle goes to trial.

The former defence minister is suing Ms Higgins over a series of social media posts she says damaged her reputation.

Mediation has failed to resolve the case, which is listed in the Western Australian Supreme Court on Friday for opening submissions.

Senator Reynolds took offence at tweets on the social media platform X and Instagram posts published in 2022 and 2023.

One of the Instagram posts implied the senator mishandled Ms Higgins’ rape allegation against her colleague Bruce Lehrmann by failing to provide support, her statement of claim says.

The post also allegedly suggested the senator acted questionably during Lehrmann’s trial and engaged in a campaign of harassment towards Ms Higgins.

Two tweets could be understood to mean the senator wanted to silence victims of sexual assault, according to the document.

Another post published by Ms Higgins’ husband David Sharaz - which the claim says the couple was jointly responsible for - implied the senator pressured her former staffer not to continue with her sexual assault complaint to police and that she was a hypocrite in her advocacy for gender equality and female empowerment.

Senator Reynolds said the posts damaged her character, public profile and future prospects, and caused her distress and embarrassment.

The claim also said Ms Higgins’ conduct was aggravated because it was part of a “malicious” plan, created by her and Mr Sharaz, that alleged the senator was involved in a political cover-up of the rape allegation.

“Shortly after meeting Mr Sharaz in May 2020, the defendant created the idea of the plan and recorded the idea as a note on her mobile phone which read: ‘Thesis idea – the cult of politics, the media lens of a political sex scandal, anatomy of a political sex scandal’,” the document said.

This allegedly led to Ms Higgins’ interviews with Lisa Wilkinson on Network Ten’s The Project and Samantha Maiden from News Corp in 2021.

Senator Reynolds denies harassing Ms Higgins and said she gave her extensive support after making the rape allegation.

Ms Higgins’ defence relies on truth and that it was reasonable to comment and provide opinions on issues of public interest concerning government and political matters.

Defence documents state Senator Reynolds’ alleged harassment included sharing confidential information with the media and questioning Ms Higgins’ $2.4 million commonwealth settlement.

Ms Higgins also claims in the documents that her former boss failed to support her, “including by undermining her credibility and making allegations about her honesty” after she had disclosed the rape allegation on The Project.

The trial is set down for four to five weeks and the witnesses could include former prime minister Scott Morrison.

Senator Reynolds was also pursuing Mr Sharaz for defamation but he announced in April he would no longer fight the case and consented to judgment.

Lehrmann has always denied the sexual assault allegation. His criminal trial was aborted because of juror misconduct and Ms Higgins’ mental health was cited as the reason for no retrial.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028

Lifeline 13 11 14

beyondblue 1300 22 4636