Linda Reynolds vs Brittany Higgins day four: Defamation case in WA Supreme Court told Reynolds was ‘silenced’

The bitterness between Brittany Higgins and Linda Reynolds has been further laid bare in court, with the WA Senator cattily calling out the junior staffer’s “predilection for expensive clothes” — and admitting she once compared her court walk-in to Princess of Wales Kate Middleton.

And the outgoing WA Senator has also revealed her anger towards Lisa Wilkinson, who conducted the TV interview which set off the political and legal firestorm which continues to burn in WA’s Supreme Court.

Following more than two days of evidence in her defamation claim against Ms Higgins, the 59-year old finished the questioning by her lawyer Martin Bennett with questions about emails she had received containing photographs of her former staffer.

“They annoyed me greatly,” Ms Reynolds said.

“Miss Higgins had a predilection for expensive clothes, including my jacket — and probably a little catty, being a bit overly sensitive (I commented) about her imitating Kate Middleton ... going into the trial,” Ms Reynolds said.

As the cross-examination of Ms Reynolds began, Ms Reynolds was grilled by Ms Higgins’ lawyer Rachael Young about her calling Ms Higgins a “lying cow” as she watched her interview on The Project in 2021.

She said she did not remember saying the words, but did admit she was “mortified” when told by staff that she had.

And Senator Reynolds repeated her insistence they were a reference to the allegations about her, and not the allegation of rape.

“I did feel sorry for her initially, seeing her crying on that TV. I was also angry at Lisa Wilkinson, because — how could she put her in that position?,” Ms Reynolds said.

Quizzed about sending seemingly confidential material about Ms Higgins’ compensation claim to a journalist at The Australian in June 2022, Ms Reynolds claimed she did not understand she was bound by a non-disclosure clause — because she had refused to sign one.

And she denied she had sent it from her private Gmail account because she didn’t want to use her official work email address.

“It wasn’t confidential ... what was top of mind is that I hadn’t agreed to the confidentiality proposal in this document,” she said.

Ms Reynolds is suing Ms Higgins over social media posts in 2022 and 2023, which claimed that her rape allegation from 2019 had been mishandled and then covered-up by her boss and the government.

Her defamation claim goes wider, claiming those posts were part of a damaging conspiracy by the two — referred to as “The Plan” — to deliberately damage the WA Senator and the government headed by Scott Morrison.

Ms Reynolds was asked about that plan during emotional testimony in WA’s Supreme Court on Wednesday,

And she said she had “no idea just how well prepared this plan was” until evidence emerged during Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial last year.

“What I realised … was just how personal these attacks were. I hadn’t believed that there was malice … but then hearing them read out — it was so clear to me then, that this was premeditated, it was personal against me,” she said.

“I was angry, I felt stupid. I felt despair.

“In my mind, I had largely blamed Labor. But I had no idea of just how well prepared this plan was.”

During the Lehrmann defamation trial, details of a five-hour pre-interview meeting between Ms Higgins, Mr Sharaz, presenter Lisa Wilkinson and producer Angus Llewellyn were detailed.

In that meeting, mentions were made of Senator Reynolds – including Mr Sharaz saying: “Is it Linda’s time? Please, God, let it be Linda’s time.”

Ms Reynolds said the negative public aura around her has never lifted since.

“A big part of my media advisor’s job — even today — is to manage the most vile things that people still say,” Ms Reynolds said.

“They ring up my staff and say: ‘How can you possibly work for such an evil woman?’

“These lies have damaged so many people’s lives. And I have people I care about and who care about me … and that is why I’m here today.”

Senator Reynolds was then quizzed about the continuing social media posts from Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz in the years since.

“I just felt like one of those punching clowns at a fairground — you get punched up, you bounce back up smiling and then you get punched down again and punched down again and punched down again,” she said.

“They keep doing this, and the media keep reporting it, and it keeps doing damage to me and the people I love, over and over again.

“She will not stop, and even during this trial she will not stop.”

One of those posts was placed online on the day of the mediation in the defamation action, in March this year.

In it, Ms Higgins posted a picture with the words “I won’t stay silent so you can stay comfortable.”

Ms Reynolds said that message was “gross”.

“It was just another allegation that I was trying to silence her, I was trying to bully her, that I mistreated her — that I’d subjected her to a conspiracy. It is gross. It is unfair,” she said.

“But what also struck me is ‘so you can stay comfortable’.

“I can assure you taking these proceedings, putting my house on the line, everything I’ve worked for for 40 years — putting everything on the line to be able to be here today until the truth.

“That ain’t comfortable. That just took the cake.”

Earlier, Senator Reynolds vented her fury at being denied a voice in the mediation meeting between Brittany Higgins and the Commonwealth, which ended in the former junior staff member being awarded $2.4 million in compensation.

Ms Reynolds was quizzed by her own lawyer about the December 2022 process.

She explained how she viewed that claim as her first chance to defend herself against allegations of a “cover-up” in her office following Ms Higgins rape complaint in 2019.

My defence would be no defence.

But days before that hush-hush mediation was due to take place, Ms Reynolds was informed by the office of Attorney General Mark Dreyfus that she was not to attend the mediation, not seek to attend and not to comment about it.

“I was utterly outraged, because this was going to be finally my opportunity to defend against these allegations,” a clearly angry Ms Reynolds told the court.

“Which were in my mind utterly defendable. My defence would be no defence.

“I could see immediately what the Attorney General was trying to do, which is why I referred it to the national anti-corruption commission.

“He was seeking to silence me

“I had absolutely no contact or whatsoever seeking anything in my defence. Not one single phone call, not a letter.

“So they were seeking to deny me the opportunity to finally defend these claims.”

Ms Reynolds said despite letters from her lawyers, the mediation progressed and was finalised.

“The Attorney General, the finance minister and the Prime Minister – the three are hopelessly conflicted on this issue. And we needed an explanation,” she said.

In earlier evidence, Senator Reynolds’ said Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz’s “creepy” social media posts compounded her distress amid her alleged mishandling of rape allegations.

Ms Higgins is being sued over a series of social media posts the former defence minister believes have damaged her reputation.

Senator Reynolds has told the Western Australian Supreme Court the newly-married couple’s posts were “incredibly hurtful” because they made allegations that “weren’t true”.

“They will put out a tweet or an Insta post and then the media pick it up ... and what they’ve said becomes a story that’s published nationally, and that happened many times,” she told the court on Tuesday.

She said the posts left her feeling angry, depressed and frustrated and in one instance “sick”.

“It’s calling me a hypocrite. It’s awful,” she said of one of the posts her lawyer Martin Bennett highlighted during her evidence.

“It’s hard to put in words because it’s just a constant reminder that they were always there.”

Senator Reynolds is due to continue giving evidence on Wednesday.

She described one of Mr Sharaz’s posts — when he allegedly said “Linda I see you” — as stalking.

“It was creepy, it was threatening. I was upset,” she said.

I wasn’t sleeping. I was quite teary. I was not in a good headspace

In another post, Mr Sharaz allegedly said he wanted Senator Reynolds to suffer for the rest of her life, which she initially interpreted as a death threat.

Senator Reynolds told the trial she had a mental and physical breakdown in Parliament in 2021 amid intense scrutiny following a News Corp article and Network Ten’s The Project episode about Ms Higgins’ alleged rape and mistreatment.

She said she felt humiliated after her breakdown was publicised.

“I wasn’t sleeping. I was quite teary. I was not in a good headspace,” she said, adding she had received a “continual barrage of the foulest social media trolling.”

She was admitted to hospital, where she was diagnosed with a cardiac disorder.

Ms Higgins’ defence relies on truth and that it was reasonable to comment and provide opinion on issues of public interest concerning government and political matters.

She alleged that colleague Bruce Lehrmann raped her in Senator Reynolds’ office in 2019.

Lehrmann has always denied the allegation and his criminal trial was derailed by juror misconduct.

Senator Reynolds was also pursuing Mr Sharaz for defamation but he announced in April he would no longer fight the case and consented to judgment.

With AAP