Linda Reynolds links Labor senator Kimberley Kitching’s death to Brittany Higgins saga

Linda Reynolds has linked the death of senator Kimberley Kitching to the efforts of Labor to ‘weaponise’ Brittany Higgins’ alleged rape and singling out David Sharaz for 'stalky' messages.

Senator Linda Reynolds arrives at the Supreme Court with lawyer Martin Bennett. Picture: NewsWire / Sharon Smith

Linda Reynolds has linked the death of senator Kimberley Kitching to the efforts of Labor to “weaponise” Brittany Higgins’ alleged rape and “rain hell” on the Coalition over the saga.

In another bombshell day of courtroom testimony, Senator Reynolds also said she was left "creeped out" by "stalky" social media posts directed at her by Ms Higgins' husband David Sharaz. 

Senator Reynolds was forced to take an unscheduled break from giving evidence in her Supreme Court defamation trial against Ms Higgins after experiencing blood pressure issues as she recalled conversations she had with Kitching inside Parliament House back in 2021.

“Your honour, this is a particularly emotional point given it led to senator Kitching’s death,” Senator Reynolds said as she sought the break, after discussing how the late senator had warned her about Labor’s plans to attack the Morrison government over the scandal.

Kitching died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 52 in March 2022. In the aftermath of her death, senator Penny Wong, Katy Gallagher and Kristina Keneally were accused of being the “mean girls” of Labor who’d ostracised Kitching within the party.

Senator Reynolds had recalled how Kitching had first raised the 2019 alleged rape of Brittany Higgins by Bruce Lehrmann in Senator Reynolds’ parliamentary office after approaching her during prayers in the Senate chamber.

BLOG: How the day in court unfolded

“She came over to where I was sitting in the chamber, she said that she was really sorry but she had something to tell me and Labor knew about the incident in my office two years prior to that’ and they were going to rain hell on me and the government,” Senator Reynolds said.

“I was completely incredulous. I said to her ‘why would anybody weaponise such an incident?’. I still can’t find the words to describe … even for Labor, and they pull some pretty nasty stunts, but this, I actually found it hard to believe.”

Senator Reynolds said Kitching had told her how a year earlier she received an anonymous letter from someone who said they worked in Parliament House. The letter, Senator Reynolds said, contained “a lot of allegations” about the mishandling of the situation within the building.

She said Kitching had told her she had thought deeply about the letter and ultimately decided to give it to the Australian Federal Police, a move that she said had sparked fury among Kitching’s Labor colleagues.

Kitching, Senator Reynolds said, had told her Senator Wong – now the Foreign Minister – was “incredibly angry” with her for handing the letter to the AFP, given Labor could have “weaponised” it. Senator Reynolds said she had no doubt that Kitching was angry and upset about Senator Wong’s position.

Senator Reynolds also spoke at length about the toll taken on her physical and mental health by the rape saga, detailing the multiple hospitalisations and her own breakdown inside Parliament House after Ms Higgins went public with her allegations.

The senator is suing Ms Higgins and husband David Sharaz about social media posts she says accuse her of mishandling the fallout from her alleged rape in the senator’s ministerial office by then colleague Bruce Lehrmann.

Speaking through tears, Senator Reynolds said everyone in parliament – even Liberal Party colleagues – started looking at her differently in the wake of the allegations being made public.

“There are actually no words to adequately describe what it is like being accused of covering up the rape of a young woman in my office in a way I knew was not true,” she said.

“I found it almost impossible to process mentally. All of a sudden in the space of a couple of days I had gone from a senator and a minister doing her job, and doing it well, to being nationally vilified as someone who would do something so despicable.”

‘Creepy Sharaz’

Social media posts by Mr Sharaz were described by Senator Reynolds as “creepy” and “stalky”.

Mr Sharaz is also being sued for defamation by Senator Reynolds, although he has already said he will not be contesting the case due to a lack of resources.

The senator said various social media posts by Mr Sharaz had left her feeling angry, depressed and frustrated.

“They’re incredibly hurtful. They are making allegations I know are not true,” she said.

She said one post by Mr Sharaz, in which he said “I see you”, had left her upset and “a bit creeped out”.

Higgins’ flowers

Earlier, Senator Reynolds told how Ms Higgins gave her flowers and thanked her for being a “great boss” when she quit to go to work for Michaelia Cash.

Shortly after the Coalition’s 2019 election win, Senator Reynolds offered Ms Higgins a job as a media adviser in her office.

“She thanked me, but she said she had already had, from memory, I think it was three other offers and she had already accepted an offer with Michaelia Cash because she had a higher position she could be put into,” Senator Reynolds said.

Senator Reynolds is expected to finish giving her evidence in chief on Wednesday morning, with Ms Young to then begin cross-examination.

Breakdown

Senator Reynolds described the moment she broke down inside Parliament House soon after Ms Higgins shared her story publicly.

She had already detailed how health issues linked to the rape saga prompted her to abandon plans to seek another term in the Senate, telling the court she no longer wanted to be in the Parliament House building.

The senator told the court how, when reading out a statement from another portfolio in the Senate after days of intense questioning about Ms Higgins’ allegations, she became increasingly distressed, started feeling “incredible” heart pain, and could no longer read.

She said she felt her knees buckling, left the Senate and entered the antechamber for senators, where she sat on a couch and “started sobbing uncontrollably”.

Praise for ScoMo

She said senator Dean Smith took her to his nearby office, before prime minister Scott Morrison came to see her.

“Scott came in, he’d come straight over from question time. He kicked Dean out and was just fantastic. He talked with me, he was incredibly compassionate. He was sharing with me just how difficult it was for him, being accused of covering up a rape, and how difficult it was for his girls,” she said

Her heat pain then started to settle and she eventually stopped crying. Soon after, she was put in touch with a counsellor who continues to help her to this day.

“The thing in parliament is you never show weakness. No matter how tough things get, you’re expected to tough it out,” she said.

“I had this humiliation of collapsing in front of the nation.”

She also described how later, she and Mr Morrison had discussed and agreed that she should leave the defence portfolio.

“Labor would not stop. If I came back into that portfolio the attacks would not stop.”

‘Lying cow’

Senator Reynolds addressed her infamous description of Ms Higgins as a “lying cow”, describing how she felt sick, angry and hurt when watching her former staffer appear on The Project.

She watched the 2021 interview alongside staffers in her ministerial suite at Parliament House, and it was later revealed by The Australian that the senator had called Ms Higgins a “lying cow” while watching the interview.

Senator Reynolds said she did not recall using those exact words but accepted she had said them.

Brittany Higgins. Picture: Colin Murty

Her chief of staff, Alex Kelton, and another staffer approached her in her office days later to tell her they had received a complaint about Senator Reynolds’ use of the phrase “lying cow”. Senator Reynolds told how she immediately called a staff meeting.

“Alex got all the staff together and I addressed the issue straight away with them. I said I’d been told that I said this, I apologised if I had caused anybody any offence, I talked about what a difficult time it was for me and the staff as well, I apologised and acknowledged that it was a difficult time,” she said.

Ms Higgins issued Senator Reynolds with a concerns notice over the incident, with the senator eventually settling the matter and making a $10,000 donation to a Canberra women’s shelter.

Ms Higgins’ lawyer, Rachael Young SC, has indicated that the “lying cow” episode will form part of their defence, arguing it was evidence of the senator’s mishandling of Ms Higgins’ rape claim.

‘Incredibly hurt’

Senator Reynolds spoke of the mixed emotions she felt after Ms Higgins went public with her rape allegations.

“It’s really hard to describe how I felt at the time because I was incredibly angry, I was incredibly hurt,” she said. “She probably didn’t even realise this, but she couldn’t have picked a worse issue to bring me down. It’s such an abhorrent thing to say to any woman, that you’ve mistreated their rape allegation and that you have not only done that, but you have also covered it up.”

The senator described what she said were numerous errors of fact in the initial news.com.au article revealing Ms Higgins’ accusations, describing how her former staffer’s series of events differed dramatically from her recollection.

“I had very, very mixed emotions. I was angry, I was angry at Brittany but I was also angry at myself and just wondering how we had got it so wrong. I had started thinking back about what cues we had missed. Her recollections were completely different to mine,” she said.

“I had no reason then or now to doubt her memories of rape. But everything else she said, I knew weren’t true. What had I missed for her to now think that was all true?”