Brittany Higgins will not give evidence in Linda Reynolds’ defamation proceedings against her, the Western Australia Supreme Court has heard.
Higgins was listed as a key witness to the trial, but her lawyer Rachael Young told the court that, among other reasons for the decision, the defence believes they can win the case without calling Higgins to give evidence.
Senator Linda Reynolds is suing Higgins for defamation over a series of social media posts from last year. It is yet another episode of the years-long legal saga concerning former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins, who was raped by her colleague Bruce Lehrmann, the Federal Court of Australia found on the balance of probabilities this year. He has always denied the allegations.
The defamation trial itself is concerning a social media post Higgins made in July 2023 that Reynolds alleges damaged the WA Senator’s reputation.
On Monday, Higgins’ lawyer Rachael Young said there were three reasons the defence “will not be calling Ms Higgins” to give evidence.
“The first is the defendant is not obliged to go into oral evidence,” Young said.
“The second is… we don’t think we need to call Ms Higgins to satisfy Your Honour as to being successful in these proceedings.
“The third is a matter of Ms Higgins’ medical state.”
Higgins is pregnant and currently residing in France with her husband, David Sharaz. Medical reports that give further detail on Higgins’ “medical state” are expected to be filed to the court.
Martin Bennett, who is representing Linda Reynolds in the defamation proceedings, told reporters outside court on Monday that it was an “unsatisfactory” outcome, but said “these things happen”.
“I’m sure what Senator Reynolds would be unhappy about is the contest will not be her word against Ms Higgins,” Bennett said.
“It’ll always be a question of whether Ms Higgins says ‘if I was well enough I could have come and answered these allegations’.
“That’s unsatisfactory. Linda Reynolds has waited years to vindicate her reputation and this is the day, but these things happen in trials.”
With Higgins no longer listed to give evidence, the trial could conclude as early as next week, but a judgment on the case could take months to finalise.
The court also heard on Monday that Reynolds’ former chief-of-staff, Fiona Brown, would be exempt from giving evidence in court. A psychiatric and medical report confirmed she was not fit to testify.
Instead, the court will receive Brown’s redacted affidavit and cross-examination transcript from the Lehrmann v Network Ten defamation trial in late 2023.
Since Higgins made her rape allegations against Lehrmann public in media appearances in February 2021, Reynolds said she has been “the target of unwarranted criticism and abuse” and thus launched legal action against Higgins, alleging damage to her reputation over social media posts.
In April this year, Higgins released a statement apologising to Reynolds and Brown for any harm caused throughout the ordeal.
“Senator Reynolds and Fiona Brown have also been hurt and for that I am also sorry,” Higgins said.
“My perceptions and feelings about what happened in the days and weeks after my rape are different from theirs. I deeply regret we have not yet found common ground.”
Despite the olive branch gestures, Reynolds has pursued the case.