When Brittany Higgins and her partner David Sharaz decided to pursue her alleged rape through the media and the parliament, rather than first go to the police, it was always going to end up as a circus. And a nasty one at that.

As was revealed during the rape trial in the ACT – which was aborted due to juror misconduct – and in the tranche of emails more recently leaked to The Australian newspaper, the couple’s motive was not just about securing justice, but inflicting damage on the Morrison government.