Senator focused on ‘wrong ‘target’
Written by admin on September 3, 2024
There was no doubt senator Linda Reynolds faced scrutiny in the aftermath of Brittany Higgins rape allegations, but the heaviest burden would continue to be felt by Ms Higgins, a court has been told.
Ms Higgins’ lawyer Rachael Young SC began her closing statement in the five-week defamation trial on Monday, telling the court Senator Reynolds blamed her political demise on her former employee.
She said the senator described the politicisation of Ms Higgin’s allegations as“meritless” and the senator focused on the “wrong target”.
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, that Mr Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins at Parliament House.
Ms Young told the court, her client’s rape in 2019 had caused her a lot of suffering, but it also gave rise to the way gendered violence was handled in Australian workplaces, which ultimately led to reforms in legislation.
“Her goal was to prompt discussion about much needed reform about the way parliament house dealt with complaints,” she said.
“She sought sweeping reforms to the Staff Act and how staff in Parliament House were treated.
“As she said to Samantha Maiden (during her interview) it would have been easier to do nothing.”
Ms Young told the court the senator should not be considered a reliable witness and that her evidence was problematic, unreliable and self-serving.
The defence lawyer said the evidence presented to the court identified the senator’s hurt, distress and loss of reputation occurred two years before the social media posts were published by Ms Higgins, which she is now being sued over.
She said the fallout from calling Ms Higgins a lying cow, intense questioning in the senate, loss of the defence portfolio and missing out on a shadow ministry were all matters that hurt the senator and damaged her reputation.
She said Ms Higgins could not be found liable for that distress.
The trial continues.
