Long-awaited verdict looms in Reynolds v Higgins case

Perth Now

19 hours ago

The verdict in Linda Reynolds' blockbuster defamation trial against her former junior media adviser Brittany Higgins will finally be revealed next week.
The long-awaited decision by Supreme Court of WA Justice Paul Tottle will be handed down on August 27, almost a year after the bitter civil action wrapped up.
It heard from almost two dozen witnesses but Ms Higgins — who the former Liberal senator alleged had damaged her reputation in a series of social media posts — was not among them.
Health reasons were cited when Ms Higgins bowed out of plans to testify midway through proceedings.
Ms Higgins' husband David Sharaz is also being sued by the former minister but decided against defending himself before the trial began after being represented by a lawyer at earlier hearings. Ms Higgins decided not to take the stand at the WA Supreme Court defamation action at the eleventh hour. Credit: Daniel Wilkins / The West Australian
Through her lawyer Rachel 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 her refusal to 'stay silent' after alleging her then-boss mishandled her claim that 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. He continues to maintain his innocence.
However, in a subsequent defamation case against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson that he lost in 2024, Federal Court Justice Michael Lee determined that Mr Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins in Ms Reynolds' Canberra office.
It was based on the balance of probabilities, the standard of proof in civil cases.
Justice Lee also found that the other claim in the Network Ten story — of a political cover-up involving Ms Reynolds and others — was not true.
Ms Reynolds repeatedly pointed to that finding when speaking to reporters outside the trial and when she took to the stand for a whole week. Ms Reynolds retired from politics after the May 3 Federal election. Credit: Andrew Ritchie / The West Australian
She described being left feeling 'like a fairground punching clown'.
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.