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As I wrote recently, “a week in Australian politics just can’t go by without a fresh absurdity from Brittany Higgins”. Well, it’s been a banner week, this week. From revelations of Higgins’ claim to be Aboriginal, to the release of the bombshell Sofronoff inquiry into the prosecution of rape-accused Bruce Lehrmann, everything’s been coming up Brittany.
And the week’s not over yet.
Liberal senator Linda Reynolds has made good on her threat to sue Brittany Higgins for defamation for a social media post accusing her of harassment, issuing a writ against her former staffer in the West Australian Supreme Court.
Reynolds was, of course, Higgins’ boss at the time the former political staffer claimed to have been raped in Parliament House – in Reynolds’ office. Reynolds has been the target of a relentless campaign of vilification from the then-opposition Labor party, Higgins’ supporters in the media and the chattering classes. Among the attacks on Reynolds were claims that she had persecuted Higgins when the rape claim was made (in fact, the record shows that Reynolds, and especially Higgins’ direct supervisor, Fiona Brown, went completely by-the-book in supporting their employee) and that Reynolds had destroyed evidence by having her office steam-cleaned. This was a complete fabrication, for all that it’s fervently believed by the Twitter left.
Social media posting is also at the heart of Reynolds’ court action.
According to the writ lodged on Monday, Reynolds is suing Higgins for aggravated damages over an Instagram story on July 4 and a Twitter post on July 20, both of which she claimed were defamatory of her.
The former defence minister is also claiming the posts constituted a breach of a deed of settlement and release the pair signed back in March 2021, which contained a non-disparagement clause.
Reynolds is demanding two injunctions preventing Higgins from publishing defamatory material about her and preventing her from further breaches of the deed.
The claim for aggravated damages means that Reynolds is alleging that Higgins deliberately continued publishing defamatory material even when it had been proved to be false.
Young Brittany might be well advised to just put down her phone for a while.
The news comes just weeks after Higgins took to social media accusing her former boss of harassment and confirming she had received a legal letter from Reynolds’ lawyers.
Reynolds’ lawyer Martin Bennett confirmed later that day that his firm had sent Higgins a concerns notice 24 hours earlier.
Sydney Morning Herald
The allegedly defamatory Instagram story saw Ms Higgins criticise her former boss for continuing “to harass me through the media and in the parliament”. She added: “This has been going on for years now. It is time to stop.”
The Australian
Social media posts from Higgins’ partner, former press gallery journalist David Sharaz, are the subject of another court action by Reynolds.
Reynolds is also locked in a defamation battle with Higgins’ partner, David Sharaz, who she has accused of “trolling” her in tweets she claims were false and defamatory of her and caused her, her family and staff stress and anguish.
The lawsuit was later amended to include a further three social media posts from other platforms.
As with the case against Higgins, Reynolds is suing Sharaz for aggravated damages.
Last month Reynolds claimed she had been targeted with “unwarranted criticism and abuse”.
“Despite [Higgins’] repeated defamation of my character, until now I have not taken any action against her personally – even though I considered her words to breach our previous settlement agreement,” Reynolds said in a statement at the time.
“Yesterday, Ms Higgins made yet another defamatory post about me. I have had enough. I will not tolerate being defamed by her or anybody.”
Sydney Morning Herald
This is all alongside the fallout from the Sofronoff inquiry and the multiple legal actions being launched by Bruce Lehrmann, whom Higgins had accused of rape. An inquiry into the compensation payout awarded to Higgins, alleged to be over two million dollars, seems likely to be a matter of when, rather than if. Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, whose office oversaw the payout and who is a close personal friend of Sharaz, has all but disappeared from view, and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has refused to discuss the matter.
But none of it shows any sign of dying down soon.
