40 years of economic loss, end to political career reasons for Brittany Higgins $2.5m payout
Brittany Higgins claimed 40 years of economic loss and the end of her pursuit of a political career were reasons she was due more than $2.5m, statement reveals.
Brittany Higgins claimed up to 40 years’ worth of economic loss and the end of her pursuit of a future political career were among the reasons she was due more than $2.5m in compensation from the government after allegedly being raped, a draft statement of claim has revealed.
The revelations came as Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus refused to answer questions over Ms Higgins’ multi-million-dollar payout, which was provided without the consultation of former senior Liberal ministers at the centre of her claims.
The draft statement of claim, obtained by The Australian, preceded up to $3m in taxpayer-funded compensation being given to Ms Higgins.
The draft claim was delivered to the commonwealth, former prime minister Scott Morrison and Liberal senators Linda Reynolds and Michaelia Cash as respondents in March 2022, just as the statute of limitations on some of the claims was due to expire.
The document stated Ms Higgins was “successful and progressing in her career”. However prospects of her own political triumphs were quashed after she was allegedly raped by fellow former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann in the office of the former defence minister, Senator Reynolds.
“The claimant had a reasonable expectation of being promoted regularly and to eventually pursue her own political career, before suffering from the injuries and disabilities,” the document states.
Ms Higgins was “diagnosed as medically unfit for any form of employment, and has been given a very poor prognosis for future employment” following the incident. She was therefore due $2,521,314.40 in economic loss, it states.
The document, dated March 29 last year, claimed Ms Higgins had “not been engaged in any form of employment” since February 8, 2021, except for one day, after she resigned from her politics staffer role. The $2.5m figure was tallied based on Ms Higgins’ 2021 salary over a 40-year period, less 15 per cent to account for any changes in circumstances ($1.5m). It also factored in an expectation that she would be remunerated at an increasing rate over that period (an additional $1m).
“The claimant further claims for the likelihood that she would have succeeded in either progressing in the public service, politics or in the private sector and would have been remunerated at increasing rates,” the draft claim reads.
“If the matter proceeds, the claimant will obtain a forensic accounting report, but anticipates that this part of the claim for future economic loss will be in order of at least an additional $1,000,000.”
Ms Higgins blamed Senator Reynolds, Senator Cash and Mr Morrison for mishandling her rape allegations, exacerbating a “toxic and harmful” work environment, subjecting her to “victimisation, ostracism” and pressuring her not to discuss the assault or their response to it.
The Australian understands Mr Morrison, Senator Cash, Senator Reynolds and the commonwealth received copies of Ms Higgins’ draft claim, and Mr Morrison’s name was removed from Ms Higgins’ claim. No claim was ever filed to a court and was therefore never made public or contested in court.
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Ms Higgins claimed she was subject to “damaging conduct” from the three Liberal MPs and the commonwealth, accusing them of failing to provide appropriate support following her alleged assault or to launch an immediate investigation into the matter.
She also accused them of workplace bullying and harassment, and failing to “implement remedial measures to assist the claimant continuing to work at the workplace following the assault”.
Since March 2021, Ms Higgins worked as the media Adviser for the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria – a job she obtained with the assistance of her partner David Sharaz and his friend, former Labor Adviser, Emma Webster. She was also an interim media Adviser with the Queensland Human Rights Commission, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Ms Higgins was appointed a visiting fellow at the Australian National University Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at the end of 2021.
She is currently writing a book that will “shine a light on the toxic workplace culture of parliament”, and has this year teamed up with Ms Webster to launch a new company called Power Blazers Pty Ltd. The purpose of Power Blazers Pty Ltd is unclear.
In the draft statement of claim, Ms Higgins claimed an additional $400,000 in compensation because of the “distress and humiliation” caused by the behaviour of Senator Reynolds, Senator Cash and Mr Morrison in handling her allegations.
“The claimant’s hurt, distress and humiliation has been exacerbated as a result of the manner in which the individual respondents behaved at the time of the assault and during the subsequent handling of the matter, as well as a result of the toxic and harmful culture and work environment that the claimant was subjected to by the respondents,” the document read.
Ms Higgins also accused Senator Reynolds, Senator Cash and Mr Morrison of making public statements about her assault, and disclosing her personal information to “third parties without her consent”.
Last year The Australian revealed the Albanese government muzzled Senator Reynolds in her defence against the multi-million-dollar lawsuit, threatening to tear up an agreement to pay her legal fees and any costs awarded unless she agreed not to attend mediation.
Senator Reynolds was determined to defend herself against Ms Higgins’ allegations but in correspondence obtained by The Australian, the commonwealth’s lawyers told her she could not take part in the mediation.
She was therefore unable to dispute any of Ms Higgins’ allegations about a failure to support her or properly investigate the incident, some of which were contested by both Senator Reynolds and her then chief of staff Fiona Brown at Mr Lehrmann’s trial.
The Australian understands Senator Cash was also sent a letter muzzling her and instructing her not to attend the mediation in return for her legal fees being paid by the commonwealth.
Neither Senator Reynolds nor Senator Cash was asked for evidence that contested Ms Higgins’ claims. Senator Reynolds gave evidence that Ms Higgins told her during a meeting on April 1, 2019, she had been very drunk and woke in a state of distress after the incident on March 23 but did not say she had been sexually assaulted.
Ms Brown said Ms Higgins told her during a meeting on March 28 that she remembered “him (Mr Lehrmann) being on top of me” and on April 1 was offered support and encouraged to speak with AFP officers located in Parliament House by both Ms Brown and Senator Reynolds in accordance with oral and written advice given by the Department of Finance.
Mr Dreyfus on Wednesday declined to answer a list of 10 detailed questions from The Australian about the circumstances surrounding the payout, how the figure was estimated and if legal advice on the claim was sought.
“Ms Higgins’ claim was managed consistently with the commonwealth’s obligations under the Legal Services Directions 2017,” a spokesman for Mr Dreyfus said. “The terms of settlement and the claim was managed in accordance with legal principle and practice and informed by external legal advice. The commonwealth cannot provide any further comment on the specifics of the claim or settlement.”
Former Coalition staffer Rachelle Miller was paid $650,000 in her settlement with the federal government, after alleging former education minister Alan Tudge was physically abusive towards her while they were having an affair. Mr Tudge has always denied the allegations and no admission of liability was made by the government in settling the claim.
Law Partners Personal Injury Lawyers principal lawyer Chantille Khoury said the figure awarded to Ms Higgins was “unusually high” and estimated her case would typically be paid out up to $500,000 depending on the case.
Ms Khoury said she believed Ms Higgins’ claim would have been logged under the Sexual Discrimination Act as Comcare claims were capped at $160,000.
“It is highly unusual given the publicity around it they wanted to circumvent that pretty quickly; it’s a larger sum of money, more than I’ve ever heard of,” she said.
“It really depends on the age of the person. The younger the person, the longer they have to live with the pain and suffering as a result of what has happened, this one is pretty high but the (Rachelle Miller) case seems more realistic in terms of a person of her age.”
Barrister David Edwardson said there had been a lack of transparency around Ms Higgins’ payout, adding that it was worthy of investigation by the National Anti-Corruption Commission in order to “clear the air” even if everything had been above board.
“I have no idea as to how a determination was made that any money should be paid let alone the amount that has been bandied around in the public domain,” Mr Edwardson said.
“That’s the problem, I think everyone would like to know: the circumstances of this political fiasco, whether proper procedure and protocol was followed, and whether the amount that was ultimately paid was justified.
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