Linda Reynolds in final plea: Nail those lies

Linda Reynolds’s lawyer has called on the WA Supreme Court to ‘nail the lies’ spread by Brittany Higgins, spelling out what he said was a ‘demonstrably false’ statement used by her to secure a $2.445m commonwealth payout.

Linda Reynolds outside the WA Supreme Court in Perth on Wednesday. Picture: NewsWire / Sharon Smith

Linda Reynolds’s lawyer has called on the West Australian ­ Supreme Court to “nail the lies” spread by Brittany Higgins, spelling out what he said was a “demonstrably false” statement used by her to secure a $2.445m commonwealth payout.

As Senator Reynolds’s blockbuster defamation trial against Ms Higgins reached its conclusion on Wednesday, Martin Bennett used his closing statement to highlight what he said was the “mocking” of a hospitalised Senator Reynolds by Ms Higgins and her now-husband David Sharaz.

Mr Bennett called on judge Paul Tottle to find Ms Higgins grossly defamed Senator Rey­nolds in a series of social media posts in 2022 and 2023 and urged him to hand down a permanent injunction against the former political staffer.

“(Ms Higgins) is plainly inseparable from her truth, a concept that’s factually devoid of actual truth,” Mr Bennett said.

“Unless restrained she will continue to proclaim her truth, by her book – that she’s received $325,000 to write – by the television rights and the film rights that are associated with that, by social media, by lectures. Senator Reynolds is entitled to a substantial amount of damage in excess of the statutory maximum.”

Speaking to reporters outside court on Wednesday afternoon, Senator Reynolds defended her decision to launch the legal proceedings against a woman who she acknowledged had been raped by a co-worker inside the senator’s Parliament House office. “It’s important to note that I’ve never doubted or contradicted (Ms Higgins’s rape allegations) – in fact I did everything I could to support the allegations,” she said.

“But this case is not about the allegation and the finding of rape. This is about what was said and what was alleged about my actions, the actions of (her former chief of staff) Fiona Brown, the actions of (fellow Liberal senator) Michaelia Cash, and this non-existent cover-up of a rape.

“That, for me, is what this is all about.”

Earlier, Mr Bennett told the court Ms Higgins had secured her compensation from the commonwealth based on a statement of particulars that contained a “mishmash of errors” and “complete rubbish”.

“Every paragraph in these particulars is wrong, other than the fact an election was called on the 11th of April,” Mr Bennett said.

The particulars described the alleged mishandling of Ms Higgins’s rape allegations by Senator Reynolds and the commonwealth. Senator Reynolds has said she was frozen out of the process and denied the opportunity to defend herself in the matter.

He also said Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz had “mocked” an ill Senator Reynolds after she was hospitalised in the wake of Ms Higgins going public with her allegation that she was raped by co-worker Bruce Lehrmann in Senator Reynolds’s Parliament House office.

Mr Bennett said private messages between the pair supported the senator’s claim that they were in an orchestrated campaign to hurt Senator Reynolds and bring down the Morrison government.

One of those messages, exchanged after the senator was admitted to hospital after the stress of Ms Higgins’s accusations exacerbated the senator’s heart issues, read “Wow she’s done. You don’t take three weeks and come back.”

Another message from Mr Sharaz months later read: ”Suck shit Linda you awful human.”

Mr Bennett said the messages showed the pair’s true motivation. “They mock the fact the attack initiated on my client has caused her to go on sick leave,” he said. He pointed to a string of legal decisions that he says should provide a starting point for assessing the damages Ms Higgins should pay, starting with the $675,000 payout to former NSW Nationals leader John Barilaro.

Ms Higgins’s lawyer, Rachael Young, earlier this week spelt out a series of incidents she said established that Senator Reynolds had mishandled the rape allegation and harassed Ms Higgins.