Long-awaited decision looms in bitter Linda Reynolds versus Brittany Higgins defamation case

The long-awaited verdict in Linda Reynolds’ bitter and costly defamation case against her former staffer Brittany Higgins is about to be revealed.

The decision by Supreme Court of Western Australia Justice Paul Tottle will be livestreamed when it is handed down on Wednesday morning, almost a year after the civil action wrapped up.

Ms Reynolds, the former Liberal senator who did not recontest the May federal election, took the stand for a whole week and was among nearly two dozen witnesses who testified at the blockbuster trial.

But her former junior media adviser — who she alleged had damaged her reputation in a series of social media posts — did not, with health reasons cited when she bowed out of testifying midway through proceedings.

Through her lawyer Rachael Young, however, Ms Higgins argued she did not intend to denigrate Ms Reynolds in the online posts in 2022 and 2023.

In them, Ms Higgins referred to being “bullied” and refusing to “stay silent” after alleging her then-boss mishandled her claim she was raped by colleague Bruce Lehrmann at Parliament House in 2019.

Mr Lehrmann was charged with sexually assaulting Ms Higgins but his 2022 trial was aborted due to juror misconduct, the charge was then dropped and he continues to maintain his innocence.

However, Federal Court Justice Michael Lee determined, on the balance of probabilities, that he had raped Ms Higgins in Ms Reynolds’ Canberra office after a night out drinking.

That finding was contained in Justice Lee’s April 2024 ruling against Mr Lehrmann, who sued Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson for defamation over an interview with Ms Higgins on The Project about her rape allegation.

Justice Lee also found that the other claim in the Network Ten story — that Ms Reynolds, her chief of staff Fiona Brown, Senator Michaelia Cash and others sought to cover up the sexual assault allegation — was not true.

The judge deemed the claim they pressured Ms Higgins to keep quiet in order to keep her job and intimidated her after she came forward “objectively short on facts but long on speculation and internal inconsistencies”.

Ms Reynolds repeatedly stressed that finding when speaking to reporters outside the trial, where she described the mishandling allegations as leaving her feeling “like a fairground punching clown”.

Ms Higgins’ husband David Sharaz is also being sued by the former defence minister but decided against defending himself before the trial began after being represented by a lawyer at earlier hearings.

Ms Reynolds’ partner Robert Reid testified at the trial and spoke about the toll that the controversy had had her health.

He became emotional recalling the night her cardiologist told him “we might lose her” and she had to go to hospital, with home not an option “because of the TV cameras”.

There have also been huge legal costs, with Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz reportedly selling their chateau in France recently for an estimated $700,000.

Ms Reynolds has also flagged having to sell her home, with her lawyer Martin Bennett saying she had mortgaged her house “to the hilt to pay for litigation”.

Separately, Ms Reynolds is also suing the Federal Government over the $2.4 million settlement it handed Ms Higgins over the handling of her claim.

The legal action is also against law firm HWL Ebsworth, which the Commonwealth engaged to deal with it.

The first case management hearing is scheduled for October 8.

Sexual Assault Resource Centre 1800 199 888