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Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds says it is time for the truth to be told as her bitter defamation battle with former staffer Brittany Higgins heads to trial.
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 will be referred to the Western Australian Supreme Court on Friday for opening arguments.
The pair shared posts in 2022 and 2023 criticising Senator Reynolds’ handling of Higgins’ allegation that 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 called off due to jury misconduct and the charge was dropped shortly afterward.
Mr. Lehrmann pleaded not guilty and maintained his innocence.
Linda Reynolds’ touching message on arrival
Linda Reynolds arrived at the Supreme Court of Western Australia shortly before 10am on Friday. She was surrounded by her legal team and held by her husband Robert Reid’s hand.
Linda Reynolds told reporters outside court that she was “confident” in the case.
She did not stop to speak to reporters outside the courthouse, but briefly answered questions as she walked and said she felt “confident that the truth was about to be told; it really was time to know the truth.”
Brittany Higgins’ defense team arrived at the courthouse shortly after.
Her lawyer, Rachel Young, did not respond to questions and would not confirm whether Ms Higgins would be present.
The former Liberal Party member is reported to be returning to Australia from France at some point to give evidence.
Senator Reynolds’ statement
Ms Reynolds alleged in her statement of claim that posts by Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz suggested the senator had engaged in a “campaign” of harassment of Ms Higgins and had failed to support her following her rape allegation.
The document stated that they claimed Ms Reynolds wanted to “silence victims of sexual assault” and engaged in questionable conduct during Lehrmann’s trial.
Ms Reynolds further alleges that the “intense questioning” she faced in the Senate following Ms Higgins’ rape allegation being aired on The Project exacerbated a previously undiagnosed heart condition.
The senator said she was hospitalized in March 2021 as a result of “the stress caused by the transmission of the Bill and the aggressive questioning against her in the Senate, which was a direct consequence of the defendant’s conduct.”
WhatsApp request
Senator Reynolds has made a last-minute request to amend her claim to include WhatsApp messages sent by Brittany Higgins to a journalist and 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 posts by Ms Higgins.
The senator’s legal team wants to see messages Higgins sent to her husband David Sharaz and a news.com.au journalist, but they have been deleted from Higgins’ electronic devices.
Ms Higgins has claimed that her WhatsApp messages are automatically deleted once they are sent and that she is unable to provide the posts in question.
Ms Reynolds’ legal team wants Mr Sharaz to provide the messages but he has refused to hand them over, the court heard.
Mr Bennett said they had received an unsworn affidavit from Ms Higgins’ defence lawyer, Carmel Galati, which was the subject of the application.
“While Ms Higgins is enjoying life in France, she has no time to take the oath,” Bennett said.
Higgins’ defense
In documents released by the Supreme Court, Ms Higgins revealed she will argue the social media posts were substantially true and she was sharing her views on “a matter of public interest”.
Ms Higgins (pictured with her husband David Sharaz) is expected to return from France during the trial to give evidence.
Ms Higgins claims in the documents that Ms Reynolds had shared “confidential correspondence” with the media, including an internal email from a government department marked “sensitive: personal” relating to the multimillion-pound payout Ms Higgins received in compensation after the alleged rape.
Ms Higgins further claims the senator engaged in a “campaign of harassment” against her by providing “confidential information to the media” about mediation and complaints to the Commonwealth, as well as by “directly or indirectly” questioning her personal injury claim against the Commonwealth.
The trial is expected to last five weeks.
Ms Higgins is expected to return to Australia from France to give evidence, with other high-profile witnesses also expected to appear, including former Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
More to come