Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds says it’s time for the truth to be told as new texts and photographs come to light in her bitter defamation battle with former staffer Brittany Higgins. 

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.

The couple shared posts in 2022 and 2023 which were critical of Senator Reynolds’ handling of Ms Higgins’ allegation she was raped in Parliament House in 2019 by her then-colleague Bruce Lehrmann.

Mr Lehrmann was charged and faced trial in 2022, but the trial was aborted over juror misconduct and the charge was dropped shortly after.

Mr Lehrmann had pleaded not guilty and has maintained his innocence.

Linda Reynolds’ blistering message on arrival 

Linda Reynolds arrived at the WA Supreme Court just before 10am on Friday. She was surrounded by her legal team, with husband Robert Reid holding her hand.

She did not stop to talk to reporters outside the court, but briefly answered questions as she walked, saying she was feeling ‘confident the truth was about to be told – it’s well and truly time for the truth.’

Brittany Higgins’ defence team arrived at court shortly afterwards.

Her lawyer Rachel Young did not respond to questions, and did not confirm if Ms Higgins would be in attendance. 

The former Liberal staffer is reported to be returning to Australia from France at some point to give evidence.

Senator Reynold’s claim 

Ms Reynolds has alleged in her statement of claim that Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz’s posts suggested the senator had engaged in a ‘campaign’ of harassing Ms Higgins and failed to support Ms Higgins after her rape allegation.

The document claimed that they asserted that Ms Reynolds wants to ‘silence victims of sexual assault’ and engaged in questionable conduct during Mr Lehrmann’s trial.

Ms Reynolds further alleges the ‘intense questioning’ she faced in the Senate in the wake of Ms Higgins’ rape allegation being aired on The Project exacerbated a previously undiagnosed cardiac condition.

The senator said she was hospitalised in March 2021 as a result of ‘the stress caused by the Project broadcast and the aggressive questioning of her in the Senate which was a direct consequence of the conduct of the defendant’.

Court told of ‘poolside’ Higgins 

To squash claims made by Ms Higgins that she felt alone and isolated while working for the senator in Western Australia, Mr Bennett provided photographs, text messages and social media posts to the court arguing they proved otherwise.

Ms Higgins could be seen in photos campaigning with fellow Liberal staffers and socialising with colleagues while she was working for the senator in Perth.

Several text messages made by Ms Higgins were also provided to the court, which Mr Bennett said indicated Ms Higgins had enjoyed her time in Perth.

‘My day has been awesome, mostly spent poolside,’ one message read.

He also showed Ms Higgins at Liberal Party events with former Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

She could also be seen in photos at a birthday dinner for Senator Reynolds at the Pan Pacific Hotel the night before the election.

‘We had a solid chat,’ Ms Higgins said in a text message, referring to a conversation she had with her boss.

‘She even shouted everyone dinner, this is awesome.’

The next day, Ms Higgins can be seen in photographs handing out election material at polling stations.

‘There she is two people away from the senator smiling and clapping,’ Mr Bennett said showing a photograph after the election results were called.

‘Event, after event, after event, all of which could have been provided to the Commonwealth, Mr Bennett said.

‘This is not a woman in a hotel room seven days a week ostracised, this is a young woman going out and enjoying it.’

The security breach

The senator’s legal team have told the court that when Ms Higgins was called into Senator Reynolds’ office for a meeting after the alleged rape, the senator had no idea the incident had allegedly occurred in her office.

Mr Bennett said the only information the senator had at the time was that Ms Higgins had told chief-of-staff Fiona Brown ‘he (Mr Lehrmann) was on top of me.’

Mr Bennett told the court the senator also knew facts that were given to her in a report about a security breach, after Mr Lehrmann and Ms Higgins’ entered the ministerial office on the night of the alleged rape.

The report stated her staff members had accessed a secured area without authorisation, were inebriated and Ms Higgins was found naked.

Mr Bennett told the court an alleged sexual assault became apparent days later when Ms Higgins spoke to police.

‘That is significant,’ Mr Bennett said.

‘What the senator is not told is that it occurred on the couch.’

Mr Bennett said it was not fair to allege the senator made Ms Higgins attend a meeting where the alleged rape took place because Senator Reynolds did not know the location of the incident at the time.

He told the court Ms Higgins’ perception of how real it might be is not basis for facts.

‘The sexual assault had never been disclosed before, she knew it happened in her suite of offices, but not in her office,’ he argued.

WhatsApp request

Senator Reynolds made a last minute request to amend her claim to include WhatsApp messages sent by Brittany Higgins to a journalist and to her husband.

Ms Reynolds’ legal team, led by Martin Bennett, said they had an application to amend the statement of claim relating to two recent publications from Ms Higgins.

The senator’s legal team wants to see messages Ms Higgins sent to her husband David Sharaz and to a journalist at news.com.au, but they have been deleted from Ms Higgins’ electronic devices.

Ms Higgins has claimed that her WhatsApp messages are automatically deleted once they are sent and she is unable to provide the publications in question.

Ms Reynolds’ legal team wants Mr Sharaz to provide the messages, but he refuses to hand them over, the court heard.

Mr Bennett said they had received an unsworn affidavit from Ms Higgins’ defence lawyer Carmel Galati, that was the subject of the application.

‘While Ms Higgins is enjoying life in France, she doesn’t have time to swear an affidavit,’ Mr Bennett said.

The compensation payment 

Mr Bennett argued that any person who read an article published on news.com.au on the day Ms Higgins signed a compensation deal with Commonwealth would automatically have thought the allegations made by Ms Higgins were true.

He told the court the article referred to a confidential mediation session that was held with the Commonwealth, in which Ms Higgins was awarded $2.4m in response to her personal injury claim, related to her rape allegation and the alleged handling of it by the government.

Within the claim were allegations about her treatment while she had been working for Ms Reynolds.

Mr Bennett said allegations made against the Senator were damning, but Ms Reynolds was never given the opportunity to defend herself or her staff.

‘The Commonwealth denied (Ms Reynolds) mediation,’ Mr Bennett said.

‘That is why this is so important, because the claims made by Brittany Higgins were false.’

Villain in the story

Every fairytale needs a villain, and that’s how Senator Reynolds had been cast by Brittany Higgins and her husband David Sharaz, Mr Bennett told the court in his opening statement.

‘Their fictional story involved allegations of cruel treatment, ostracization, bullying, harassment and threatening conduct, he said.

‘She was cast in this critical light and none of it was true.’

Higgins’ defence 

In documents released by the Supreme Court, Ms Higgins revealed she will argue the social media posts were substantially true, and that she was sharing her opinion on ‘a matter of public interest’.

Ms Higgins claims in the documents that Ms Reynolds had shared ‘confidential correspondence’ with media which included an internal government departmental email marked ‘sensitive: personal’ relating to the multi million-dollar payout Ms Higgins received in compensation following the alleged rape.

Ms Higgins further claims the senator engaged in a ‘campaign of harassment’ against her by providing the ‘confidential information to the media’ regarding mediation and complaints to the Commonwealth, as well as ‘directly or indirectly’ questioning her personal injury claim against the Commonwealth.

The trial is set down for five weeks.

Ms Higgins is expected to return to Australia from France to give evidence, and other high profile witnesses, including former Prime Minister Scott Morrison, are also expected to appear.

More to come