Legal threat over Brittany Higgins memoir

Lawyers for Linda Reynolds have written to Brittany Higgins’s publishers warning against any defamatory references to the former Liberal minister.

Brittany Higgins. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

Lawyers for Linda Reynolds have written to Brittany Higgins’s publishers warning against any defamatory references to the former Liberal minister, saying they believe publication of Ms Higgins’ memoir is imminent and seeking a copy of the manuscript.

Senator Reynolds’s lawyers have sent a similar letter to the publishers of a planned book by journalist Samantha Maiden on sexual misconduct in Canberra.

In each case, the lawyers say Senator Reynolds has not been afforded a reasonable opportunity to answer any allegations against her.

Senator Reynolds told The Weekend Australian she had engaged experienced defamation lawyers to represent her.

“I hope it will not be necessary to take further steps to protect my reputation,” she said, adding that she was paying the cost of any defamation actions out of her own pocket.

“For two years, I have been subjected to frequent and persistent unfair criticism, disparagement and defamatory comments by the media in relation to my handling of Ms Higgins’s complaint.

Senator Linda Reynolds. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

“The content of many of those publications is derived directly from various public statements made by Ms Higgins to the media (in particular to Ms Maiden and Ms Lisa Wilkinson) and her evidence given during the criminal trial concerning my conduct.

“Ms Maiden and Ms Higgins have each demonstrated an inclination to comment on my conduct in an unbalanced manner, which has been both professionally and personally damaging to me and inconsistent with my recollection of key events and the evidence of my staff.”

Ms Maiden told The Weekend Australian she has had many conversations with Linda Reynolds in relation to this matter.

“Senator Reynolds has told me during these discussions that she was unable to be interviewed given the police investigation and then the trial. I respected this but resumed my request for an interview in November, December and January.

“It’s important to me the book provides an opportunity for her to respond to issues she has to date been unable to or declined to discuss and I look forward to her sitting down for an interview.”

“I have always endeavoured to report accurately and fairly in relation to Senator Reynolds and her staff.”

During the aborted rape trial of Bruce Lehrmann last year, it emerged that prominent author Peter FitzSimons had negotiated a $325,000 advance for Ms Higgins’s book. Industry sources suggested publisher Penguin Random House hoped to sell at least 100,000 copies at $29.99 each.

Senator Reynolds’s lawyers, WA legal firm Bennett, told The Weekend Australian: “Given the intense media scrutiny of our client since the first publication of Ms Higgins’s story in February 2021 and the numerous defamatory articles published by various journalists and media outlets, our client has legitimate concerns that the (Higgins) book may contain allegations defamatory of her. Our client seeks to ensure that any report contained in the book is a fair report and that she has a reasonable opportunity to answer any matters of, and concerning, her in the book.”

The lawyers are understood to have requested a copy of the manuscript and adequate time to review it, as well as seeking details of the planned date of publication.

A letter in similar terms went to HarperCollins, publishers of Maiden’s book, Disclosure.

Senator Reynolds said she had not been given copies of the manuscripts, and the authors have not tried to clear the material they intend to publish.

“Ms Maiden has requested an interview; I have asked her to provide her questions in writing and she has not yet done so,” she said.

Senator Reynolds has already filed proceedings against HarperCollins and Australian Financial Review journalist Aaron Patrick over his book, Ego: Malcolm Turnbull and the Liberal Party’s Civil War, seeking aggravated damages, costs and a court order to remove the book from sale.

Last week, the former defence minister filed a writ in the WA Supreme Court claiming Ms Higgins’s fiance, former journalist David Sharaz, defamed her in two tweets sent in 2022.

Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz on a recent holiday. Picture: brittanyhiggins/Instagram

Senator Reynolds is seeking aggravated damages from Mr Sharaz, saying she has suffered highly distressing trolling over the past two years, and an injunction to stop the material from ever being republished.

In a statement released through her lawyers after the writ was filed, she said Mr Sharaz had been “a constant participant in the trolling”.

“For the best part of the last two years, I have been the subject of harassing and highly distressing trolling on social media regarding myself and my conduct in respect of events concerning Ms Brittany Higgins, which has damaged my reputation and caused me, my family and my staff, considerable stress and anguish,” Senator Reynolds said.

Ms Higgins alleged Mr Lehrmann raped her on a couch in Senator Reynolds’s office in the early hours of March 23, 2019, after a night out drinking with colleagues. The high-profile trial was aborted in October 2022 due to juror misconduct.

Mr Lehrmann pleaded not guilty and has at all times denied the allegations. The DPP has now withdrawn the charges.

Ms Higgins reached a confidential settlement with the commonwealth believed to be worth up to $3m over her claims she was not supported by Senator Reynolds or Liberal Party frontbencher Michaelia Cash after the alleged sexual assault.

Senator Reynolds had been keen to defend herself against Ms Higgins’s allegations but the Albanese government threatened to tear up an agreement to pay her legal fees unless she agreed not to attend the mediation. Neither Senator Reynolds nor Senator Cash was asked for evidence that contested Ms Higgins’s claims.