Witness statements tendered by Linda Reynolds’ parents Laith and Janice Reynolds on Wednesday detailed the pain that what they called the “Brittany saga” had caused for them and their daughter.
Mr Reynolds recalled meeting Ms Higgins during the 2019 election campaign at a party at the home of then-MP Ken Wyatt.
He said Ms Higgins had approached him at the party.
“She was very nice, appeared to be ebullient, joyful, and she told me that she was delighted to be working with Linda. She said it was her dream job. She told me she was looking forward to travellling around and seeing more of Perth and, if possible, outside of Perth,” he wrote.
“I found her a delightful young woman and enjoyed speaking to her.”
In 2021, after Ms Higgins went public with the allegations, Mr Reynolds flew to Canberra following Senator Reynolds’ hospitalisation with heart problems.
“I was stunned to see my daughter lying there with tubes coming out and looking so damaged. She was also distraught,” he said.
Mrs Reynolds said that her and her husband were devastated by the allegations that their daughter had mishandled Ms Higgins’ rape allegations.
“I have read every word I can find of this dreadful saga, however much it hurt. I felt that I needed to know everything that was being said, knowing that if it was awful for us, how much worse it was for Linda,” she wrote.
She wrote that conduct of The Project’s Lisa Wilkinson was “especially galling”.
“It was unprofessional, to say the least. It was obviously orchestrated for maximum effect,” Mrs Reynolds wrote.
