Labor’s attacks on Linda Reynolds ‘heartless’, says Senator Wendy Askew

Tasmanian Liberal senator Wendy Askew has told a court how she watched colleague Linda Reynolds break down in parliament in 2021 as Labor persisted with ‘heartless’ attacks over her handling of Brittany Higgins’ rape allegation.

Tasmanian Liberal senator Wendy Askew. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Tasmanian Liberal senator Wendy Askew has told a court how she watched colleague Linda Reynolds break down in parliament in 2021 as Labor persisted with “heartless” attacks over her handling of Brittany Higgins’ rape allegation.

“Over the course of those few days when the issues started to arise in regards to Ms Higgins I was very conscious of the questions being asked relentlessly throughout that period towards Senator Reynolds, especially the aggressive behaviour (and) the way they were being ­targeted,” Senator Askew told the West Australian Supreme Court on Friday.

“Even just the mannerisms across the chamber were just heartless. It was mainly the Labor senators.”

While giving evidence at the defamation trial brought by Senator Reynolds against Ms Higgins and Ms Higgins’ husband David Sharaz, Senator Askew recalled the day Senator Reynolds left the chamber in distress.

The court has previously heard Senator Reynolds was admitted to a private hospital the day after she broke down at work.

The trial is about social media posts Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz made in 2022 and 2023 that were critical of Ms Reynolds’ handling of Ms Higgins’ allegation she was raped in Parliament House in 2019 by her then colleague Bruce Lehrmann.

“Just watching (Senator Reynolds) being asked repeatedly the same questions, similar questions in different ways, it really did take a toll,” Senator Askew said in court on Friday.

“There was one day in particular when I remember her getting to a point … she just couldn’t seem to get the words out. She was visibly upset and I think she asked for it to be taken on notice so she could get the answer, and she at that point left the chamber quite distressed.”

Senator Askew gave her evidence as it emerged that Senator Reynolds’ chief of staff at the time of the alleged rape – Fiona Brown – is not well enough to give evidence at this trial.

In a separate defamation case brought by Mr Lehrmann against Channel 10 last year, judge Michael Lee found that Ms Brown had conducted herself with integrity after it became apparent something had occurred in Senator Reynolds’ ministerial suite in the early hours of March 23, 2019.

In that civil trial, Justice Lee found that – on the balance of probabilities – Mr Lehrmann raped Ms Higgins that night. Mr Lehrmann has always denied this and is appealing the decision.

On Friday, Ms Brown’s barrister, Dominique Hogan-Doran SC, provided the court with a medical report. This week the defamation trial heard evidence by video link from former prime minister Scott Morrison, who said Ms Higgins’ allegations were weaponised by Labor to discredit him and his government.

Mr Morrison said Senator Reynolds lost her defence portfolio because of the “severe injury from the attacks she endured over a long period of time”. He denied he took the portfolio from her because she had called Ms Higgins a lying cow in front of her staff while watching Ms Higgins’ interview on The Project on February 15, 2021. “That played no part in her ongoing performance as defence minister,” he said. Senator Reynolds later clarified that she had meant Ms Higgins was lying about events after the alleged rape. She ultimately apologised to Ms Higgins as part of a deed of settlement.