Last minute evidence in Higgins trial

Lawyers for Senator Linda Reynolds and Brittany Higgins have returned to the WA Supreme Court as the blockbuster defamation trial between the pair nears its end.

Last-minute evidence was tendered to the court on Wednesday, before both teams deliver closing statements next week.

Senator Reynolds is suing Ms Higgins and her husband David Sharaz over a number of social media posts the pair made in 2022 and 2023.

The posts were critical of Senator 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.

Mr Lehrmann lost a subsequent civil defamation case in April this year when the Federal Court determined, on the balance of probabilities, Mr Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins at Parliament House.

Ms Higgins defence lawyer Rachel Young argued some of the evidence they put before the court expressed Ms Higgins’ motivation for speaking out publicly about her allegations.

Evidence included communications between Ms Higgins, journalists and a senator, which Ms Young said explained why her client had spoken out.

The senator’s lawyer Martin Bennett objected, but the evidence was accepted by Justice Paul Tottle.

Further evidence put forward by Senator’s Reynolds lawyer Martin Bennett included diary entries which he said showed Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz working with the Australian Labor Party discussing plans.

Entries also included dinner and drinks with Lucy and Malcolm Turnbull and a reference to buying a white dress, but the evidence was rejected by Justice Tottle.

Mr Bennett presented evidence which he said showed Ms Higgins engaged in counselling with the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre in the weeks after the alleged rape took place.

The court was told during the trial, Ms Higgins was offered counselling through the centre after her chief of staff Fiona Brown took her to the Australian Federal Police to make a complaint.

He said it contradicted a statement made by Ms Higgins during a media interview she gave with news.com.au political editor Samantha Maiden about two years after the alleged incident.

He said during the interview, Ms Higgins stated she had to wait about a month to access counselling through the Employment Assistance Program (EAP).

“It is this failure to mention in The Project interview or to Ms Maiden that she was getting counselling,” he said.

The defence argued the statement made by Ms Higgins was in relation to the delay in being able to access the EAP counselling program, which was a different, but Justice Tottle allowed the evidence to be tendered.

Other evidence that was tendered showed text messages between Mr Sharaz and former senator Kristina Keneally.

Mr Bennett said the text messages showed Mr Sharaz prompting Ms Keneally to ask questions in parliament, in conjunction with Ms Higgins.

Other text messages that were tendered included communication between Ms Higgins and her ex-boyfriend Ben Dillaway on April 3, 2019.

Mr Bennett said it showed the pair had gone to dinner and stayed in a hotel on April 3, 2019, after an event Mr Dillaway attended for former senator Steven Ciobo’s retirement.

He said the next day Ms Higgins sent a message to work stating she had a doctor’s appointment.

The trial continues.