Conservative commentator Prue MacSween has called on Brittany Higgins’ husband David Sharaz to “get a job”.
Ms Higgins confirmed on Monday that she would need to sell her property in France, which she had bought less than a year ago, to cover the costs of defending herself against Linda Reynolds’ libel suit.
Ms MacSween then mocked the couple on X, saying: “Too clever by half.”
‘My God, Higgins has to sell his French chateau to pay his mounting legal bills. C’est la vie.’
Several hours later, Mr Sharaz came to the defence of his pregnant wife and launched a furious response against MacSween.
“You are… vile,” he wrote.
Ms MacSween responded harshly, suggesting that Mr Sharaz, who has not had regular employment since early 2023, focus on job hunting rather than posting on social media.
“I would have thought he would be in a better position to put all his efforts into finding a job rather than trolling X,” he said.
“I’m not interested in what he thinks of me. I think he should focus on considering the repercussions of his political strategies and games. They are quite vile.”
Mr Sharaz is known to have issued a further reply, but it was quickly deleted.
Conservative commentator Prue Macsween has called on Brittany Higgins’ husband David Sharaz to “get a job” after the couple (pictured together) revealed they plan to sell their property in France.
Ms MacSween (pictured) suggested that Mr Sharaz should focus on job hunting rather than posting on social media.
In December 2022, Ms Higgins received a $2.4 million compensation settlement from the Commonwealth for the handling of her allegations of sexual assault in parliament.
Mr Sharaz then quit his job at Southern Cross radio station Austereo just after Senator Reynolds announced she was suing him over social media comments.
He faces possible bankruptcy after deciding not to contest the defamation suit.
Ms Reynolds’ case against Ms Higgins has been scheduled for a four-week hearing in the Western Australian Supreme Court, starting on August 2.
Last week, Ms Reynolds won the right to access details of the multimillion-dollar Commonwealth payment locked up in a trust managed by Ms Higgins.
The trust was set up in late 2022 to hold the proceeds of a $2.4 million financial settlement she reached with the federal government, amid claims Senator Reynolds failed to support her after her Liberal Party colleague Bruce Lehrmann allegedly raped her.
Senator Reynolds’ lawyer, Martin Bennett, told the court his client wanted the document to show who the trustee was and what jurisdictional laws were relevant to him.
This could lead to the senator taking further legal action to have the trust funds returned to Ms Higgins before a verdict is handed down in the defamation case.
“This is likely to be the only process by which Senator Reynolds will recover damages and costs if she is successful,” he told reporters outside the court.
Pictured: Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz’s French home
Brittany Higgins is pictured with David Sharaz after moving to France in December last year.
“If you’re short of money and have mortgaged your house to the hilt to pay for litigation, recovering those costs is something you should try to do as soon as possible.”
During the hearing, the court was told that an affidavit written by one of Ms Higgins’ lawyers, Leon Zwier, stated she had net assets worth less than $10,000 in June.
“We know that for all intents and purposes Ms. Higgins leads a wonderful lifestyle of traveling and events,” Bennett said in describing the reasons his client wanted access to the trust agreement.
Ms Higgins’ lawyers challenged the application, saying it was speculative, futile, premature and unnecessary because the Bankruptcy Act provided for measures that would allow the senator to access funds if she won the defamation case.
Senator Reynolds’ legal team said the trust was set up to protect Ms Higgins from future creditors including the Commonwealth, Lehrmann, Penguin Australia and herself.
Chief Justice Peter Quinlan said its name – the Brittany Higgins Protective Trust – suggested it was set up to protect her from something or someone, but there was no direct evidence to support the senator’s claim.
Chief Justice Quinlan said the bill could have been designed to protect Ms Higgins from exploitation amid her ongoing health problems.
However, he concluded that it was in the interests of justice that Senator Reynolds be granted access to the trust documents.
Senator Linda Reynolds (pictured) is suing Brittany Higgins for defamation over a series of social media posts
He also said it may be the only way Senator Reynolds can collect damages if she wins her defamation case before urging the parties to resolve their disputes before trial.
“I don’t want to sound like King Canute trying to hold back the ocean,” he said.
“It is not too late for these parties to take into their own hands the resolution of all disputes between them.”
Lehrmann denied raping Ms. Higgins and that case ended in a mistrial, with prosecutors dropping the charge and ruling out a retrial out of concerns for Ms. Higgins’ mental health.
In April, Judge Michael Lee found under a civil standard that Lehrmann had, on a preponderance of probabilities, raped Ms Higgins and dismissed his defamation case against Network Ten.
Ms Reynolds’ case against them will be heard in the Western Australian Supreme Court for six weeks on August 2.