Linda Reynolds says she did not know Brittany Higgins had been raped when they first met after the incident
Senator Linda Reynolds has insisted she had no idea that Brittany Higgins had been raped on her office couch before meeting with her in that same office just days later.
Senator Reynolds is suing Ms Higgins over a series of social media posts she says damaged her reputation as she pursues vindication for a series of alleged mistruths.
Among them is the claim that the senator mishandled Ms Higgins’ rape allegation by failing to support the then 24-year-old.
And on Monday, she began giving her evidence in person, which is due to take the rest of the week.
Key to that early evidence were questions about how the Senator had learned about the “security breach” involving two drunken staff members entering her office the previous Friday.
“I was a bit gobsmacked, I was angry — for the stupidity. I was also angry … because it was Tuesday that there had been this major security breach in the office, and we hadn’t been told,” Ms Reynolds said.
Asked if there was embarrassment on her part that it happened, she said: “Absolutely … I had literally never heard of that happening before.”
Ms Reynolds said she also felt embarrassed for Ms Higgins being found in a state of undress in her boss’ office.
And she claimed by the following Monday, when she had scheduled to meet Ms Higgins, she knew there were concerns about the evening — but had heard no complaint or allegation.
“And there was no indication that when she said he was on top of me that it was actually in my office. It seemed the logical place to do it,” she said.
“At that point there was no allegation of rape — and no indication. And I didn’t get any vibes there was anything wrong. There were no furtive glances at the couch.
“I told her it’s best not to let things fester … she should talk to the AFP and reach out to the counselling services. She thanked me — I think she was grateful she was keeping her job.
“Other ministers would have sacked them both, but she deserved a second chance.”
In other evidence, she told of how Mr Lehrmann had already sunk his career in his office by lying about his influence, and leaving a highly classified document unsecured on a desk.
“We were both of the very strong opinion that he had no place in a defence portfolio,” she said.
“In fact, he had no place in a ministerial wing, and we agreed that we would take action to refer him to security vetting. And I did not want to pass the problem on to another minister unknowingly.”
She then laid out her political and professional career and told of how she had worked her way through the political ranks as well up the Army command chain.
She described the impacts that experience in those jobs had had on her, including in the aftermath of the Bali bombings.
“It was terrible. I hadn’t smelt bodies and body parts before,” she said.
“It was a strange mix — the Balinese had put out these huge great floral wreaths. Then we went to the morgue.
“You just crack on until you don’t. I can still smell it, and I can still dream about it.”
Ms Reynolds told of how she had been dealing with gender issues throughout her career, giving one speech which she immediately feared might have ended her career.
And within the Liberal Party, she said she had taken the unofficial role of “chief gender stirrer”.
Camera IconLawyers representing Brittany Higgins pictured arriving at court. Credit: Ian Munro/The West Australian
“Since elected, I have done reviews, I have done workshops, I have done work with our leaders, trying to push the (issue) but I also keep the statistics for the party, and I’ve done that ever since I was elected,” she said.
Ms Reynolds said she also personally in the past dealt with victims of sexual assault, including two family members and other friends “who’ve been subject of predatory behaviour and stalking — in this particular case in Parliament House, over 20 years ago”.
“So I’m not unfamiliar with what can happen in that building,” she said.
She was then asked why she was drawing a close on her political career at the next election — which she said was not her initial plan.
“I wasn’t in a position. I just did not feel like I could do it again. I couldn’t be in that building,” she said.
“My health, my mental health and my physical health has not been great, to put it mildly.
“Microvascular disease which means that when I get stressed, these small veins around my heart contract and spasm which causes me, which gives me the symptoms of a heart attack.
“What I found is going back into Parliament House, and particularly going to the Senate chamber, I’m a frequent flyer at the nurses station.”
She also said that a role as temporary chair of the Senate had also proved too challenging.
“I found that when I had senators shouting at each other, I just froze. And you can’t do that in the chair, and I’d walk out shaking,” she said.
She ought to have known or believed or suspected, that Ms Higgins had been sexually assaulted.
In the morning, Ms Higgins’ lawyer Rachael Young laid out in her opening submissions that in their view Ms Reynolds must have known Brittany Higgins had been sexually assaulted when she met with her junior staffer.
Senator Reynolds says she was not aware Ms Higgins had been raped when the pair met on April 1, 2019, eight days after the incident.
Ms Higgins’ lawyer Rachael Young SC told the court on Monday the claim wasn’t credible.
“It became increasingly clear that Ms Higgins was in significant distress,” she told the WA Supreme Court during her opening submissions.
“Her rapist had been fired.
“The notion that the senator had no suspicion of any criminal activity … On the evidence that will not pass muster.
“She ought to have known or believed or suspected, that Ms Higgins had been sexually assaulted.”
Camera IconBrittany Higgins went public in 2021 with the allegation Bruce Lehrmann, pictured, had raped her at Parliament House in Canberra. Credit: Don Arnold/Getty Images
Ms Young said Senator Reynolds already knew Ms Higgins was found naked on a couch in the ministerial suite after Bruce Lehrmann “fled” Parliament House when the pair met.
“The senator did not tell Ms Higgins everything that she had learned,” she said.
“We say also that the senator suggested to Ms Higgins that she was not the right person to be talking about it.
“So that’s not the right response of an employer, and suggesting that Ms Higgins go and speak to someone else about it, effectively telling her to go elsewhere is not supportive and is not handling the allegation correctly.”
Ms Higgins is using the defence of truth to fight Senator Reynolds’ defamation claim.
As the day in court closed, Senator Reynolds’ lawyer Martin Bennett opened up another potential amendment to the claim, after noting Ms Higgins had posted on social media even as court was sitting.
A post of the cover of a book by Jennifer Robinson, subtitled “How the law silences women” was put up, alongside the words: “Pertinent reading”.
Camera IconThe “aggravating” social media post shared by Brittany Higgins. Credit: Instagram
Mr Bennett claimed it was “extraordinary aggravating conduct”.
On Friday when the trial opened, Mr Bennett robustly defended Ms Reynolds’ actions following Ms Higgins’ rape.
He said accusations of ill-treatment, ostracism, bullying, harassment and threatening conduct by the senator were a fiction concocted by Ms Higgins and her now husband David Sharaz.
“Every fairytale needs a villain” and Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz “cast Senator Reynolds in that role for their fictional story of political cover-up of the rape,” Mr Bennett told the court.
“She was cast in a critical light and none of it was true.”
He noted Senator Reynolds had never disputed Ms Higgins’ rape allegation and pointed to Ms Higgins’ personal injury claim, over alleged mishandling of the incident, which the Commonwealth settled for $2.4 million in late 2022.
Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz created a detailed plan in 2020 and 2021 then courted journalists Lisa Wilkinson on Network Ten’s The Project and Samantha Maiden from News Corp amid a “sophisticated” campaign to inflict maximum damage on Senator Reynolds, Mr Bennett said..
The trial is set down for about five weeks and high-profile witnesses including former prime minister Scott Morrison, former foreign minister Marise Payne, and WA Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash are expected to appear.
Camera IconDavid Sharaz, foreground, walks in front of his now-wife Brittany Higgins outside court. Credit: Justin Benson-Cooper/The West Australian
Senator Reynolds is scheduled to take the witness stand on Monday after Ms Higgins’ lawyer completes her submissions.
Ms Higgins is expected to give evidence in the last week of August.
Lehrmann has always denied sexually assaulting Ms Higgins. His criminal trial was aborted because of juror misconduct and Ms Higgins’ mental health was cited as the reason for no retrial.
In a separate defamation case, a judge in 2024 found Mr Lehrmann did — on the balance of probabilities — rape Ms Higgins but there was little evidence of a cover-up.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028— With AAP
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