Linda Reynolds wins access to details of Brittany Higgins’ multi-million dollar trust

Senator Linda Reynolds has won the right to access the secret details of Brittany Higgins’ multi-million dollar trust fund — opening the way for her to potentially have the trust set aside and claim the money.

Lawyers for Ms Reynolds and Ms Higgins locked horns again in WA’s Supreme Court on Wednesday, battling over a bid by Ms Reynolds to gain access to details of the trust set up by Ms Higgins in December 2022.

That trust now contains the bulk of the $2.4 million compensation claim paid to Ms Higgins by the Federal Government, after she claimed damages over the alleged rape of her by Bruce Lehrmann in 2019.

And Ms Reynolds said Ms Higgins’ intention in putting the money there was to “defraud future creditors”, which could include her if her defamation action against her former staffer is successful.

In an immediate judgement which will be a major blow for Ms Higgins ahead of the defamation trial starting next month, WA Chief Justice Peter Quinlan said Ms Reynolds did have a right to be given the trustee’s details.

“There is some basis to the claim. That claim is not merely speculative,” Justice Quinlan said.

He also said it might be the only way she could ever claim potential damages due in a successful defamation action.

However, he also said Ms Reynolds’ potential bid to have the trust actually set aside might be more difficult.

“That may be difficult to prove ... (given) the gravity of that allegation,” Justice Quinlan said.

Ms Higgins’ trust fund sprung to life one day after she had signed an agreement with the Federal Government that paid her a $2.4 million compensation payment — a pay out which was agreed after just one day of mediation talks.

It has since been revealed the ‘Brittany Higgins’ Protective Trust’ was set up specifically to hold that payment, a move Ms Reynolds claims was made to “defraud future creditors” — of which she says she could be one.

By contrast, Ms Higgins’ said the trust was set up to protect the money because of her ongoing health issues.

And it was claimed her current direct assets total about $10,000.

How can any intention have been formed when the publication hadn’t even been made?

Ms Higgins’ new lawyer Rachael Young SC — who is the barrister who will also fight for her in that defamation trial — said Ms Reynolds’ claim of being a potential creditor was “so devoid of merit as to be speculative”.

The main reason is that the social media posts that triggered the defamation action were written six months after the trust was put in place.

“There can be no way that Ms Higgins had that in her mind,” Ms Young said.

“How can any intention have been formed when the publication hadn’t even been made?”

The court was told that Ms Reynolds was also relying on other potential creditors who may have been prevented from access to the money — namely the Commonwealth, Penguin Random House publishers and Mr Lehrmann.

But Ms Young pinpointed that none of that trio had any claim, had even lodged any claim — and had never indicated that they might.

“They cannot identify any relevant creditor — and therefore any relevant intent (to defraud),” she said.

Ms Reynolds’ barrister Martin Bennett argued Senator Reynolds had in part embarked on her main defamation claim because she had not been given a chance to defend herself during Ms Higgins’ compensation mediation.

He pointed to media reports which said that before that payment Ms Higgins was “crying poor” — but then went on a “splurge of spending” after the compensation payment, including a trip to the Maldives.

And he noted the “extraordinary speed” that the payment was agreed to by Federal Government ministers, including Attorney-General Mark Dreyfuss.

“To say we are not a creditor is against an extraordinary amount of law going back hundreds of years,” Mr Bennett said.

In making the ruling, Justice Quinlan was also asked by Ms Higgins to keep the trust documents away from the general public, which he agreed to do “given the voracious appetite for documents relating to Ms Higgins.”

“The documents should be provided to a single nominated practitioner, after a signed undertaking .. to not communicate the contents of the document,” Justice Quinlan said.

The defamation trial is due to begin on August 2.