Brittany Higgins says ‘yes’ in New Year’s Eve proposal
Brittany Higgins is engaged after her boyfriend David Sharaz popped the question at Cape Byron Lighthouse.
Brittany Higgins is engaged after her boyfriend David Sharaz popped the question during a sunset proposal at Cape Byron Lighthouse on New Year’s Eve.
Ms Higgins, 28, was last night photographed leaving the famous lighthouse, clutching a bunch of red roses, wearing an engagement ring.
A professional photographer also captured the moment Mr Sharaz proposed to Ms Higgins at the iconic landmark on Saturday night.
Cape Byron Lighthouse marks the most easterly point of the Australian mainland.
Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz, who works for Southern Cross Austereo, have been together since May 2020.
In May this year Ms Higgins publicly thanked him on social media for his support.
“Happy Anniversary,” she tweeted.
“It’s so important to acknowledge what a huge support you’ve been over the past few years.
“You’re my rock, my best friend and just all round the greatest person anyone could have the pleasure of knowing.
“I love you (and your terrible jokes).”Mr Sharaz, who was born in north Wales, previously married Treasury and Economic Development media advisor Alexandra Craig in 2018.
Labor ministers attended their Labor-themed Canberra wedding in March that year which featured tables of guests named after past and present political icons.
The couple separated in 2020 and divorced in 2021.
This comes as Ms Higgins recently revealed moves towards a new career in business after graduating with a double degree from Griffith University.
The former political staffer revealed that she would be studying a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the University of Sydney.
Ms Higgins shared the news on Instagram, saying that she was “officially a @sydney_uni MBA student!”
Ms Higgins’ engagement rounds out a tumultuous year for the former Liberal staffer after Bruce Lehrmann’s high profile rape trial, in which she was the complainant and faced intense scrutiny, was aborted in late October due to juror misconduct.
Before the jury was dismissed, jurors had told the court they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict.
Ms Higgins alleged Mr Lehrmann raped her in Senator Linda Reynolds’ ministerial office in the early hours of March 23, 2019 after a night out drinking with colleagues in Canberra.
After she went public with her story to the media, Mr Lehrman was charged with “sexual intercourse with Brittany Higgins, without her consent, and [that he] was reckless as to whether she had consented”.
The 27-year-old, who was facing 12 years in jail, has always denied that any form of sexual activity took place at all.
He was scheduled to face a retrial in the ACT Supreme Court in February before ACT Director of Public Prosecutions, Shane Drumgold SC, announced in December he would not run the case again due to the “ongoing trauma” it would cause Ms Higgins.
Days later Ms Higgins reached a confidential settlement with the commonwealth, believed to be worth up to $3m, over the former staffer’s claims she was not supported by Senator Reynolds or Liberal Party frontbencher Michaelia Cash after the alleged sexual assault.
Mr Lehrmann is now considering his own legal action to seek legal redress for loss of reputation and employment.
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