Senator Linda Reynolds’ mum labels Lisa Wilkinson ‘galling, unprofessional’

Linda Reynolds’ mother declared Lisa Wilkinson’s conduct in the Brittany Higgins saga ‘galling’, as she lent her voice to her daughter’s defamation claim against her former staffer.

Liberal senator Linda Reynolds in parliament in Canberra on Wednesday as her defamation trial against Brittany Higgins continued in Perth. Picture: Martin Ollman/NewsWire

Linda Reynolds’ mother has taken a swipe at media identity Lisa Wilkinson, declaring her conduct in the Brittany Higgins saga “galling”, as she lent her voice to her daughter’s defamation claim against her former staffer.

A statement from Janice Reynolds criticised Wilkinson over her handling of Ms Higgins’ story for Network 10’s The Project, and in particular her portrayal of Senator Reynolds as having engaged in a cover-up of Ms Higgins’ Parliament House rape.

“How could anyone accuse her of such actions, especially galling because Lisa Wilkinson had not previously asked Linda for any comment, much less wanting to know her side of the story,” Mrs Reynolds wrote.

“It was unprofessional, to say the least. It was obviously orchestrated for maximum effect.”

Wilkinson, who stepped down from The Project in November 2022, was unavailable to comment. However, last year’s Federal Court case received evidence of email sent by Network 10 producer Angus Llewelyn days before the Higgins interview went to air, including an offer to interview Senator Reynolds. The government provided a written response to the program.

Senator Reynolds’ lawyer Martin Bennett said Ms Reynolds and her husband Laith had both been eager to take the stand in the West Australian Supreme Court on Wednesday, and the pair had required quite a lot of coaxing to agree to file witness statements instead.

Mrs Reynolds said she and her husband were “devastated” by the allegations about their daughter’s handling of Ms Higgins’ 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.

Her husband described meeting Ms Higgins during the 2019 election campaign at a party at the home of then-MP Ken Wyatt, just months after Ms Higgins was allegedly raped in Senator Reynolds’ ministerial office by colleague Bruce Lehrmann.

Mr Reynolds 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,” he wrote. “She said it was her dream job. She told me she was looking forward to travelling around and seeing more of Perth and, if possible, outside of Perth. 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.

Senator Reynolds is suing Ms Higgins and her husband David Sharaz for social media posts the senator says implied she had mishandled Ms Higgins’ rape allegation against Bruce Lehrmann.

Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz after arriving to start their lives in France last year. Picture: Jacquelin Magnay

Federal Court judge Michael Lee, presiding over Lehrmann’s own defamation case against Network Ten and its presenter Lisa Wilkinson, found in April that, on the balance of probabilities, the former staffer had raped Ms Higgins. Mr Lehrmann has always denied the allegations and is appealing against the decision.

Earlier, Senator Reynolds’ former media adviser told how the senator had again accused Ms Higgins of lying in front of her ministerial staff about a week after infamously describing her former staffer as a “lying cow”.

Nicky Hamer worked in Senator Reynolds’ office from November 2018 to April 2021, starting in the team just months before Lehrmann raped Ms Higgins and leaving weeks after Ms Higgins went public with her allegations.

Ms Hamer gave evidence that she had heard the senator label Ms Higgins a “lying cow” when Ms Higgins first appeared on The Project to discuss her allegations.

Ms Hamer told how Senator Reynolds later gave an apology in front of her staff for using that phrase, telling them that the insult was directed not at Ms Higgins’ alleged rape, but rather towards Ms Higgins’ description of the handling of the aftermath of the incident. But she also described how Senator Reynolds again accused Ms Higgins of lying after the senator broke down in Parliament House about a week later. The comment, Ms Hamer said, was made by a distressed Senator Reynolds as she entered her ministerial office.

Senator Reynolds was hospitalised that night and an address to the National Press Club the following day was cancelled.

Asked by Ms Higgins’ lawyer Kate Pedersen if she remembered Senator Reynolds saying that Ms Higgins “was lying and it wasn’t true”, Ms Hamer said: “Yes, I do recall that”.

Ms Pedersen asked if the senator clarified at that time whether those comments were limited to the aftermath of the incident.

Brittany Higgins’ lawyers Rachael Young and Kate Peterson arrive at the Supreme Court in Perth on Wednesday. Picture: Sharon Smith/NewsWire

Ms Hamer also described the moment Senator Reynolds and her staff watched Ms Higgins’ appearance on The Project in February 2021. She said that while she watched the interview in a separate office inside Senator Reynolds’ ministerial suite, she recalled hearing the senator using the words “lying cow” to describe Ms Higgins. “To be honest, I didn’t pay a lot of attention to everyone else’s reaction,” Ms Hamer said. “I was trying to listen to the story and figure out how we were going to respond to media queries after it had aired.”

The “lying cow” comments were subsequently leaked to The Australian, prompting lawyers for Ms Higgins to issue Senator Reynolds with a concerns notice.

Senator Reynolds ultimately apologised to Ms Higgins over that description and made a $10,000 donation to charity as part of a settlement.