Brittany Higgins’ furious husband has branded a controversial Australian commentator “vile” after she intervened in the couple’s plans to sell their French chateau ahead of an upcoming libel trial.
On Monday it emerged that Ms Higgins plans to sell her taxpayer-funded chateau in the south of France, ahead of a major libel trial against her former boss, Senator Linda Reynolds.
The former Liberal Party member and her new husband, David Sharaz, bought the rustic five-bedroom home in Lunas, in the country’s historic Dordogne region, last year for about $600,000.
They made the purchase about a year after Ms Higgins received a $2.4 million compensation payment from the Commonwealth based on claims her political career was in ruins following her rape at Parliament House in 2019.
TV commentator Prue MacSween could not hide her glee as she mocked Ms Higgins after the latest development emerged on Monday.
“Too clever by half. Mon Dieu Higgins has to sell his French chateau to pay his mounting legal bills. C’est la vie,” she tweeted.
Mr Sharaz came to his wife’s defence several hours later when he launched an angry tweet.
“You are… vile,” she captioned the retweet.
Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz plan to sell their taxpayer-funded chateau in the south of France ahead of a big libel trial against their former boss, Senator Linda Reynolds.
TV commentator Prue MacSween discussed the latest saga pitting Brittany Higgins against David Sharaz on Monday.
Meanwhile, Ms Higgins also hit back on Monday night when she changed the headline of an online news article about the latest developments.
The headline ‘Brittany Higgins to sell French home’ was changed to ‘house’.
The latest move comes just seven months after Higgins and Sharaz fled to France to start a new life.
Daily Mail Australia understands the couple are now struggling with cash flow amid an ongoing defamation battle with Senator Linda Reynolds, who is suing them both over a series of social media posts.
They have to cover the cost of defamation lawyers, who can charge upwards of $11,000 a day. If they lose, they will also have to cover Senator Reynolds’ legal fees, meaning they could be stuck with a legal bill of more than $1 million.
It is also understood that they may be planning to return to Australia, before the birth of their first child.
Since receiving their payout in 2022, the couple have enjoyed a luxury rental home on the Gold Coast for a year and taken a series of holidays to the Maldives, Europe, the ski slopes of Australia and Disneyland in Paris.
They flew back to the Gold Coast in May ahead of their wedding at The Valley Estate, a sprawling, luxurious venue on the Gold Coast, which is rumoured to have cost more than $100,000.
Ms Higgins’ lace dress was a bespoke design by South Australian couturier Paolo Sebastian, costing up to $30,000.
Last week, the couple announced on Instagram that Ms Higgins is pregnant.
“I can’t wait to meet you!” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m beyond excited to welcome a new member to our little family. Your parents are already obsessed with you and you’re not even here yet.”
Mr Sharaz, 33, has not had a full-time job since leaving his media role at Southern Cross Austereo in Brisbane in 2023, shortly after Reynolds announced she was suing him.
Earlier this year, he waved the white flag and indicated he would not fight Reynolds again because he did not have the financial means. The matter has not been resolved, but he has admitted defeat.
Ms Reynolds’ case against them will have a six-week hearing in the Western Australian Supreme Court on August 2.
David Sharaz criticised Prue MacSween’s comments about his wife on Monday night
Pictured: Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz’s French home
Brittany Higgins is pictured with her cavoodle, Kingston, just after moving to France in December.
Pictured: Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz’s home in France, which could soon be back on the market
Negotiations to resolve the matter failed and last week the court heard that Senator Reynolds will look at a copy of Brittany Higgins’ Protective Trust to find the trustee should proceedings go in her favour.
The court heard Ms Higgins established the trust a day after signing the settlement deed with the Commonwealth of Australia in December 2022.
The settlement was part of a personal injury lawsuit filed by Ms Higgins over allegations she was sexually assaulted by her former colleague Bruce Lehrmann.
Martin Bennett, Ms Reynolds’s lawyer, told the court the trust was set up to protect Ms Higgins from potential future creditors, including his client.
He said an article published in Daily Mail Australia on 21 August 2023 spoke of how Ms Higgins had been left penniless when she received a “$3 million lifeline”.
Mr Bennett said it was easy to infer that the trust was set up to protect Ms Higgins from creditors when a person had cried foul and then been given a financial lifeline which was placed in a protective trust.
He said Ms Higgins must have been aware of the potential for future action against her because of falsehoods she allegedly told the Commonwealth in her personal injury claim.
“It is not necessary for him to be a creditor, he can be a future creditor, which is perfectly within the law,” he told the court.
David Sharaz is photographed on his first and only Christmas at his home in Lunas
The sprawling country house is located in the small town of Lunas in the south of France (pictured)
Ms Reynolds has lodged a complaint with the National Anti-Corruption Commission regarding the compensation payment made to Ms Higgins.
Her lawyer said the senator told the committee the money should be returned to the Commonwealth and that she wanted a finding made against the people who authorised the “extraordinarily rapid payment”.
The government awarded Ms. Higgins $2.445 million in damages, including $1.48 million for loss of earning capacity over 40 years; $400,000 for damages, distress and humiliation; $220,000 for medical expenses; $100,000 for domestic assistance; and $245,000 for legal costs.
She accused Reynolds and Senator Michaelia Cash, who was her boss in 2020, of failing to provide her with adequate support following her rape. However, both senators were excluded from mediation talks with the Commonwealth.
At the time, Ms Higgins’ rape allegations had not been proven in court.
In April, more than a year after winning the claim, Federal Court Judge Michael Lee found that Lehrmann had raped Higgins, based on a preponderance of probabilities.
He has lodged an appeal. The first hearing in the case is scheduled for Thursday at the Federal Court in Sydney.
