Brittany Higgins has called out the leaking of “private” contents from her phone, after a photograph of her diary was referred to in an article over the weekend.
The material, which was seen by The Weekend Australian, had previously been provided to police to help them form the brief of evidence, however it was never tabled in court during the trial of Bruce Lehrmann last year. Higgins said no journalist should have been given access to to private information she had provided to police.
The trial of Lehrmann was discontinued last year after juror misconduct, and the sexual assault charges against him were later dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions. Lehrmann pleaded not guilty in the trial and has always maintained his innocence.
“I took a photo of an old page in my diary on the 7th of July 2021,” Higgins wrote on Twitter. “It is now being referenced in an article in the Australian.”
“This is the third time private images, texts and WhatsApps from my phone have been published by this particular news outlet.
“I voluntarily provided this material to the police to help them form the brief of evidence and none of it was tabled in court. Therefore, no journalist should have seen the photo of my diary
“Stop publishing the private contents of my phone. I entrusted police with my private information for the sole purpose that it could aid their investigation into my sexual assault, nothing else.”
The leaked material was referred to in an article that centred around an interview with Higgins’ former boss, Linda Reynolds. The former defence minister alleged she was the victim of a “political hit job” and that she was “hurt” by the accusation she had covered up Higgins’ allegation for “political purposes”.
Since that article was published over the weekend, the Daily Mail has published photographs of Higgins in a public space talking on the phone.
The Daily Mail’s headline reads: “EXCLUSIVE: Brittany Higgins looks tense as she’s seen for the first time since her ex-boss broke her silence on allegations she was raped in her office – as she fumes after her diary was made public.”
Higgins’ partner, David Sharaz, posted a screenshot to Twitter writing: “It’s taken me years to convince Brittany to leave the house on bad days. Now she’s being photographed by strangers who send it to the Daily Mail when she does. This is disgusting.”
Higgins also noted that she wasn’t given a right of reply to the story published by The Weekend Australian, and clarified that she had immediately donated the funds she received from her defamation case against Reynolds to the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre.
“I donated all funds from my defamation case against Senator Reynolds to a sexual assault charity the moment they were received by my lawyer in 2021. See the receipt below,’ Higgins wrote on Twitter, with an image of a receipt dated March 15, 2021.