Senator Linda Reynolds links death of Senator Kimberley Kitching to stress of Higgins rape saga

Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds has made a bombshell claim that the Higgins-Lehrmann rape saga contributed to the untimely death of Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching.

Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds has made a bombshell claim that the Brittany Higgins-Bruce Lehrmann rape saga contributed to the untimely death of Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching.

In an emotional court testimony, Senator Reynolds on Tuesday said her former colleague – who died of a suspected heart attack in 2022 – had warned her during prayers in the Senate chamber that Labor planned to “rain hell” on the then-Coalition government after learning of the alleged rape in her parliamentary office.

She also claimed a decision by Victorian Senator Kitching to pass a whistleblower’s letter on the issue to the AFP, rather than her Labor Party colleagues, had infuriated Senator Penny Wong – now foreign minister – who had hoped to “weaponise” it.

“Kimberley was genuinely angered and upset by what Penny Wong had said,” Senator Reynolds added.

Shortly after her death, it was revealed that Senator Kitching had privately described Senator Wong and her colleagues Kristina Keneally and Katy Gallagher as “the mean girls”, with ex-Labor MP Michael Danby saying she was “really badly treated”.

In Tuesday’s testimony, Senator Reynolds said Senator Kitching had received the anonymous letter regarding the alleged rape a year prior to the warning, from someone who worked in the building, detailing “a lot of allegations” about the mishandling of the situation.

Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching died in 2022 of a heart attack. Picture: supplied

“I was completely incredulous and said why would anybody weaponise such an incident,” Senator Reynolds told the Western Australian Supreme Court on Tuesday.

“I still can’t find the words to describe, even for Labor they pull some pretty nasty stunts, but this I found hard to believe.

“Senator Kitching said she thought deeply about what to do with the letter and decided to give the letter to the AFP. She also indicated that Labor found out about the incident through a parliamentary inquiry I did not know about.”

Regarding Labor’s plan to “weaponise” the issue, Senator Reynolds said: “I went back and told my chief of staff and was a bit incredulous they would contemplate doing such a thing.”

The senator said she then made a time to meet with the Prime Minister’s Office because they should know what Labor were planning on doing to attack her and the Liberal Party.

On Tuesday, Senator Reynolds was granted an unscheduled break after complaining of a blood pressure issue while recounting a discussion of her final interactions with deceased Senator Kitching.

The issue, she said, was triggered by a “particularly emotional point” in her testimony, “given that it led to Senator Kitching’s death”.

She was then allowed to briefly stand down.

Senator Linda Reynolds leaves the Supreme Court after day 3 of a defamation trial against her former staffer Brittany Higgins in Perth Picture: NewsWire

Ms Higgins and husband David Sharaz are being sued for defamation by Senator Reynolds over posts shared in 2022 and 2023 which were critical of Ms Reynolds’ handling of Ms Higgins’ allegation she was raped in Parliament House in 2019 by her then-colleague.

Mr Lehrmann was charged with rape and faced trial in 2022, but the trial was aborted due to juror misconduct.

The charge was dropped and Mr Lehrmann continues to maintain his innocence.

Earlier on Tuesday, Senator Reynolds also revealed how “unrelenting” abuse she had received in the days following Ms Higgins’ public allegations led her to suffer a breakdown.

Hundreds of articles were published, her office was bombarded with media queries for several days, and she was called “shameful” by Labor Senator Penny Wong, she said.

“There are no words to describe how being accused of covering up a rape of a young woman in my office ... that was not true,” she told the court.

“I found it almost impossible to process mentally, all of a sudden in the space of a couple of days I had gone from a senator doing my job and doing it well to a person who was nationally vilified for doing something so ­despicable.

“The media, online stories and questioning over a matter I thought had no right to be aired in the parliament, everyone looked at me differently.

Ms Higgins and husband David Sharaz are being sued for defamation by Senator Reynolds over social media posts shared in 2022 and 2023. Picture: Jacquelin Magnay

“Even people from my own side kept their distance, thinking ‘has she really done this’.”

Senator Reynolds said time and time again she told the chamber that it was a criminal matter and not a matter for the parliament.

“Not being able to defend myself was devastating.”

She said at one point her mental and physical health had deteriorated so badly that she “collapsed” on her ministerial bathroom floor.

“... I was sobbing, I could not stand, I sent a text to my roommates saying I was not OK and needed help,” she told the court.

As the defamation trial continued for its third day, Senator Reynolds’ lawyer Martin Bennett said he would be amending her statement of claim to include an additional social media post Ms Higgins made as the senator started giving evidence on Monday.

Mr Bennett also said he would be mentioning a crowd-funding campaign that has been launched to help Ms Higgins cover her legal costs during the five-week trial.

The campaign #standwithbrittanyhiggins has received more than $23,000 on crowd-funding platform Chuffed.

Mr Bennett later told the court he wanted to subpoena communications between Ms Higgins, Mr Sharaz, Ms Mullins and one of Ms Higgins’ lawyers Carmel Galati.

He said one post mentioned that money raised through the campaign would be held in a trust by her lawyer, and not directly accessible by Ms Higgins or Mr Sharaz.

“It is an attempt of mischaracterisation of these proceedings and an attempt to say that Senator Reynolds is trying to silence a sexual assault survivor,” he said.

Originally published as Senator Linda Reynolds links death of Senator Kimberley Kitching to stress of Higgins rape saga