Senator won’t apologise for Higgins comment

Senator Linda Reynolds has told a court she refuses to apologise to Brittany Higgins about the “lying cow” comment because of the lies that were made about her character.

Senator Reynolds faced off with Brittany Higgins’ defence lawyer Rachel Young, who began cross examining the senator in her blockbuster defamation case in the WA Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Ms Higgins and her husband David Sharaz are being sued by Senator Reynolds over posts shared in 2022 and 2023 which were critical of Ms Reynolds’ handling of Ms Higgins’ allegation she was raped in Parliament House in 2019 by her then-colleague Mr Lehrmann.

He was charged with rape and faced trial in 2022, but the trial was aborted due to juror misconduct.

The charge was dropped and Mr Lehrmann continues to maintain his innocence.

Senator Reynolds said she was genuinely upset she used those words but uttered them out of anger and frustration.

“It was just something I said to express frustration about what she was saying about Fiona Brown and myself,” she said.

“It represented my frustration.”

The senator denied the cause of her stress was the “lying cow” comment becoming public, but her stress was caused by the accusation she covered up Ms Higgins’ rape allegation.

“There were calls for my resignation in those two weeks, I had been turned into a villain,” she said.

“It wasn’t just the media it was the relentless hounding I received in the senate, social media trolling and calls to my office.

“It was overwhelming.”

Senator Reynolds said she never apologised in a public statement to Ms Higgins about her comment, but made it clear she never doubted her sexual assault.

“I did not apologise for the lies she was telling about me and Fiona Brown,” she said.

When Senator Reynolds received a letter about Ms Higgins claim with the Commonwealth she says she did not realise the Attorney-General would completely take over her defence and exclude her from mediation.

The letter was marked confidential, the court heard, and that legal privilege applied to protect communications with Ms Higgins until the end of the criminal trial and any appeal to conclude.

The court was told through the senator’s lawyers she took issue with the requirements set out by the Commonwealth, but the Commonwealth did not agree to her requests.

The senator confirmed she sent the letter about six days later to a journalist at The Australian using her personal email account.

Ms Young put to the senator that she knew the letter was confidential.

“I never signed the letter, it was a proposal the Commonwealth wanted,” Senator Reynolds said.

“I had not agreed to their confidentiality or terms, I never signed or agreed to have an order to lock me down.

“What was top on my mind was the fact that I was not going to sign the confidentiality … I was not going to sign an agreement to be locked down.”

Senator Reynolds told the court she believed it was her staffer Nicky Hamer that leaked the “lying cow” comment to the media.

She made the claim during questions from her lawyer Mr Bennett who asked her about text messages she shared with Mr Lehrmann’s lawyer Steven Whybrow during the criminal trial

Mr Whybrow asked the senator to identify a jacket Ms Higgins was wearing in a photograph when she left Parliament House on the alleged rape.

Senator Reynolds confirmed the jacket was hers and sent a photo of her wearing it to Mr Whybrow as he requested.

She was questioned by Mr Whybrow about the meeting that took place where the alleged incident occurred and asked about a photo taken at the senator’s birthday.

Ms Higgins was shown wearing the same dress at the senator’s birthday on the night of the alleged rape.

“Compared to wearing the dress she was apparently raped in earlier, at the birthday dinner of the woman who hated her and sat next to her at her dinner,” Mr Whybrow said.

“Makes the April 1 meeting seem pretty tame by comparison.”

Senator Reynolds told the court she was sent photos of Ms Higgins going into the trial, which annoyed her greatly.

“Ms Higgins had a predilection for expensive clothes, including my jacket,“ she said.

Senator Reynolds said she was probably being a “little catty and over sensitive” about Ms Higgins imitating Kate Middleton going into trial.