Linda Reynolds sues commonwealth over Brittany Higgins $2.4m payout debacle
Former Liberal minister Linda Reynolds is claiming the then-Labor government’s $2.4m payout had the effect of ‘publicly affirming’ Brittany Higgins’ false allegations against her.
Former Liberal minister Linda Reynolds is suing the commonwealth over its conduct in Brittany Higgins’ compensation case, claiming the then-Labor government’s $2.4 million payout had the effect of “publicly affirming” Ms Higgins’ false allegations against her.
In a legal action lodged with the Federal Court, Senator Reynolds says the commonwealth was in breach of its duty to act in her best interests when it settled Ms Higgins’ claim after a one day mediation from which the MP was excluded by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.
Senator Reynolds is also taking legal action – including for negligence – against law firm HWL Ebsworth which acted for the commonwealth in the case.
Ms Higgins reached the mammoth settlement with the commonwealth over claims she was not supported by Senator Reynolds after her rape allegations against Bruce Lehrmann in Parliament House. The Australian revealed in 2022 that the Albanese government had threatened to tear up an agreement to pay Senator Reynolds’ legal fees and any costs awarded if she attended the mediation.
The former Defence Minister was therefore unable to dispute any of Ms Higgins’ allegations in her compensation claim, several of which were contested at Mr Lehrmann’s criminal trial and later found by Justice Michael Lee in the defamation case to be untrue.
On Friday Senator Reynolds told The Australian the commonwealth and its lawyers had been “hopelessly conflicted”.
“The Attorney-General and his ministers had been such staunch public supporters of Ms Higgins, politicising her untested, unsubstantiated and untrue allegations against me and it is impossible to reconcile how they considered they could act in my best interests and advocate for me in those circumstances,” Senator Reynolds said.
“Ms Higgins’ allegations concerning me were entirely defensible but in settling the claim against me it sent a message to the nation that those allegations were so true, so damning, so abhorrent that the commonwealth was prepared to pay her $2.445 million after only a single instance of mediation, in a single day for proceedings not yet filed and quite possibly statute barred.
“That settlement validated the sustained defamation and fuelled further defamation which I have been forced to defend and prosecute, at great personal and financial cost.”
While she had appointed her own lawyers, Clayton Utz, to help defend Ms Higgins’s claims, when the commonwealth took over the claim on behalf of Senator Reynolds, their solicitors, HWL Ebsworth, were appointed to her.
In her action in the Federal Court, Senator Reynolds claims both the commonwealth and HWL Ebsworth failed in the fiduciary duty they owed to act in her best interests in defending Ms Higgins claim and avoid any conflicts of interest.
The government had taken over her defence when her interests “were plainly not aligned with the commonwealth”, excluded her from attending the mediation conference “notwithstanding her expressed intention to attend and participate” and failed to take instructions from her as to the truth of the events claimed.
Senator Reynolds’ lawyers had written to HWL Ebsworth stating their concerns and pointing out that “the plain conflict of interest by reason of the public support offered to Ms Higgins and her version of events by the Attorney-General and other approving Ministers”.
Senator Reynolds gave evidence last year in her defamation case against Ms Higgins that she believed Mr Dreyfus, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher and Anthony Albanese were all “hopelessly conflicted” on the Higgins matter and should have had nothing to do with her compensation claim. A decision in that case has yet to be handed down.
In her statement of claim, Senator Reynolds' lawyers draw attention to what they describe as the lack of particularisation of the causes of action by Ms Higgins in her compensation claim and the lack of evidence to support it.
Ms Higgins was permitted to extend her claim beyond the one-year limitation period, which was due to expire on December 6, 2022, and the day after the limitation period expired, a new claim was added.
Senator Reynolds only found out about the settlement when she read about it in the media.
In her statement of claim, Senator Reynolds’ lawyers cite Justice Lee’s finding that “it is evident several things being alleged [in the deed of settlement between Ms Higgins and the Commonwealth] were untrue” and his list of nine separate instances of falsehoods in the deed.
The commonwealth had failed to have regard to publicly available competing evidence given over the 12 days of Mr Lehrmann’s criminal trial in the ACT Supreme Court which directly contradicted some of Ms Higgins’ allegations, Senator Reynolds says.
A 27-page annexure to the statement of claim details dozens of examples where Senator Reynolds says the evidence is contrary to Ms Higgins’ particulars of liability concerning Ms Reynolds.
Senator Reynolds says the settlement had the effect of “publicly affirming Ms Higgins’ allegations” against her.
HWL Ebsworth was negligent, she said, because it had failed to exercise the care and skill to be expected of reasonably competent lawyers.
Senator Reynolds is seeking compensation, damages for breach of fiduciary duties and alternatively, damages for negligence.
A spokesperson for HWL Ebsworth declined to comment while the matter was ongoing.
In a separate action, Senator Reynolds' former chief of staff, Fiona Brown, who claims she was made to take the fall for the Morrison government in the wake of Ms Higgins’ rape allegations, has lodged a fair work case against the commonwealth.
Ms Brown was accused by the Ten Network of treating Ms Higgins badly after she was raped by Mr Lehrmann, but was vindicated in Justice Lee’s judgment in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Ten and presenter Lisa Wilkinson.
Justice Lee forcefully rejected Ms Higgins’ characterisation of Ms Brown’s handling of the assault, and found there was no political cover-up by either Ms Brown or Senator Reynolds.
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