Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz allegedly had ‘plan’ to damage Morrison government: Court
Explosive court documents revealed allegations Katy Gallagher and Penny Wong were drip-fed false information as part of a strategy to ‘inflict immediate political damage’ on Linda Reynolds.
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Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz allegedly drip-fed false information to allies of Anthony Albanese “as a weapon” to take down the Morrison government, according to explosive court documents.
The claims made by Senator Linda Reynolds, obtained by The Australian, allege that Ms Higgins also “acted maliciously” by posting on social media that rape allegations against former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann were mishandled.
Ms Reynolds is suing Ms Higgins for defamation in a case scheduled for trial in the Western Australian Supreme Court on 2 August. Ms Higgins is understood to be defending the suit, which has been updated to include tortious conspiracy, The Australian reported.
In the statement of claim, Ms Reynolds alleges that Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz provided false information to Labor Senators Katy Gallagher and Penny Wong, which formed the basis of “aggressive questions” during question time in early 2021.
The dossier allegedly included an advance copy of Ms Higgins’ interview with The Project before its airing, plus details of the alleged rape, before the two senators grilled Senator Reynolds on February 15, 2021.
The claim alleges that subsequent posts on Instagram, Twitter and Threads by Ms Higgins claimed she was “harassed” by Ms Reynolds, and that she wasn’t provided support after making the rape allegations.
“They were published in furtherance of a plan by the defendant and Mr Sharaz to use the defendant’s allegations of a rape and the political cover-up … as a weapon to inflict immediate political damage upon the plaintiff and the then government,” the statement of claim reads.
Mr Sharaz also allegedly arranged meetings for Ms Higgins to discuss the rape allegations with political leaders across both parties, including Mr Albanese and Tanya Plibersek, as well as former prime ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Kevin Rudd.
In one text message exchange with Ms Higgins included in the court documents, Mr Sharaz commented on Senator Gallagher: “Katy is going to come to me with some questions you need to prepare for … she’s really invested now.”
Ms Gallagher and Ms Wong quizzed Ms Reynolds about whether she or her staff did anything to encourage Ms Higgins not to pursue the allegations with police, according to the statement of claim.
“In the circumstances it can be inferred that the defendant provided senators Wong and Gallagher with the information forming the basis of those questions referred to above in circumstances where the defendant knew this information was false,” the statement of claim reads.
The court documents claim that Ms Higgins sent a text message to Mr Sharaz on March 26, 2021 saying: “He’s (Scott Morrison) about to be f..ked over. Just wait. We’ve got him.”
Senator Reynolds alleges she was hospitalised as a result of the allegations against her and the “aggressive questioning” from Ms Wong and Ms Gallagher. Ms Reynolds also suffered “physical and mental harm” including severe anxiety and heart pains from Ms Higgins’ social media posts intended to “create a media headline and to otherwise taunt the plaintiff”, according to the statement of claim.
In a message on March 28, 2021, Mr Sharaz allegedly wrote: “Suck shit Linda … You awful human.”
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