Linda Reynolds to seek freeze on Brittany Higgins’ assets as her former staffer leaves for new life in France

Linda Reynolds will move to stop Brittany Higgins selling or moving any assets as she moves to France amid a potentially expensive defamation battle with her former boss.

Brittany Higgins and her fiance David Sharaz depart Brisbane international Airport bound for France. They were farewelled by her parents at the Business class gate. Picture: BACKGRID/News.com.au

Former Liberal Minister Linda Reynolds will apply for freezing orders against Brittany Higgins after her former staffer flew out of the country this week to start a new life in France with her fiance, David Sharaz.

Senator Reynolds, who is suing both Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz for defamation, will ask the Supreme Court of Western Australia for the orders, which restrain a party to a case from selling or moving assets while a legal action is still in process.

Ms Higgins has reportedly bought her first home in a small village in the south of France, following her $2.4 million compensation settlement with the Commonwealth.

The couple said goodbye to family and friends at Brisbane International Airport on Monday night, flying to Singapore before boarding a connecting flight to France, where it is reported Ms Higgins plans to study and learn the language.

The property is reportedly located in the village of Lunas, in France and is a six-hour train ride from Paris and four hours from Barcelona in Spain.

Ms Higgins, her parents Kelly and Matthew, and Mr Sharaz all wore white outfits at the airport – the women’s suffragette colour, which Ms Higgins wore at the Women’s March for Justice in March.

Lunas, in the south of France.

Senator Reynolds has launched defamation actions against Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz over their comments about the senator in social media posts. In Ms Higgins’ allegedly defamatory Instagram story, she criticised her former boss for continuing “to harass me through the media and in the parliament”.

West Australian Supreme Court judge Marcus Solomon has previously urged the parties to do their best to settle the matter, warning of the immense financial and human cost of a protracted trial.

On Tuesday, lawyers for Senator Reynolds wrote to Ms Higgins’ lawyer Leon Zwier, referring to media reports she and Mr Sharaz had left the country. “If such reports are true, we consider that an application for freezing orders is appropriate. Please advise as a matter of urgency your client’s intentions in respect of her travel to France and your availability to confer in respect of our client’s proposed application.”

Lawyers described the amount and speed of the settlement – finalised just days after Bruce Lehrmann’s rape trial was abandoned in the ACT ­Supreme Court – as “extraordinary” and “unprecedented”.

The deed of settlement ­between Ms Higgins and the ­commonwealth was released last week in the defamation trial brought by Bruce Lehrmann against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson over Ms Higgins’ ­allegation on The Project that she was raped by him in Parliament House in 2019, after her lawyers successfully asked that personal medical information be excluded.

The one-day mediation took place 10 days after ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane ­Drumgold announced he would not be proceeding with a retrial of rape charges due to Ms Higgins’ mental health.

The deed shows that the total amount paid to Ms Higgins was $2.445m – $1.48m for loss of earning capacity for 40 years; $400,000 for hurt, distress and humiliation; $220,000 for medical expenses; $100,000 for “past and future domestic assistance”; and $245,000 for legal costs.