Former defence minister Linda Reynolds says she sent confidential documents about Brittany Higgins to a journalist because she believed the attorney-general was “muzzling” and “stitching” her up.
The senator is suing Ms Higgins for defamation over a series of social media posts containing alleged mistruths that she believes have damaged her reputation.
She told a Perth court on Thursday that she sent three documents to a journalist from The Australian, Janet Albrechtsen, related to Ms Higgins’ commonwealth settlement.
Questioned by Ms Higgins’ lawyer, Rachael Young, the senator said she wanted the reporter to know she had been denied the ability to counter Ms Higgins’ claims that she’d mishandled her alleged rape.
“I was incredibly angry because I could see the attorney-general of this nation was stitching me up. So absolutely I did want her to know and I wanted the public to know,” Senator Reynolds said.
She denied choosing Albrechtsen because she believed the journalist would be less favourable to Ms Higgins in her reporting than others.
“I provided her with evidence of my claims of corruption and then it was up to her in how she reported it,” she replied during a robust cross-examination.
“I never saw the final claims against me, the statement of liability and I was not provided any opportunity to defend the claims.”
She agreed that she was pleased when she saw Albrechtsen’s article a few days later.
But she denied her motivation for passing on the documents was to raise questions about Ms Higgins’ $2.4 million settlement.
“It’s the other way around … it’s about the way the Commonwealth dealt with the claim,” she said.
“I had no issue with Ms Higgins in this process at all. I was very clear that this was about the attorney-general and how he had, I believe, corruptly manipulated the law to muzzle me.”
Ms Young questioned Senator Reynolds’ motivation for sending the journalist information in early-2023 about the “abrupt resignation” of Ms Higgins’ now-husband David Sharaz from his job.
“Was your state of mind … anytime you received some information related to Ms Higgins you’d forward it on to the journalist of your choice?” Ms Young said.
“It was a public news story,” the senator replied.
“You forwarded it on because you wanted Ms Higgins and her partner to be denigrated in the media?” Ms Young pressed.
“Absolutely not,” Senator Reynolds replied.
The senator denied her motivation for sharing another “secret” email with the media was to “raise questions about the veracity of the settlement with Ms Higgins”.
“It wasn’t about the settlement … it was actually about the truth,” she said.
She agreed one of her reasons for continuing to “feed information to a journalist with very wide readership” was to challenge Ms Higgins’ version of events about the alleged mishandling of her rape.
“I was seeking to have my voice heard,” she said.
Senator Reynolds was quizzed about her conduct during a Spotlight program interview about the settlement.
“I never said to (reporter Liam Bartlett) that I disbelieved the rape allegation … this is not actually the interview we did, it’s how they cut it,” she said.
The senator also denied attempting to besmirch Ms Higgins during the program when Bartlett asked if she had recovered her jacket that her former staffer wore when she left parliament after she was allegedly raped.
But she agreed she wanted it known it had been stolen.
“You were wanting to tell him, and through him the public, that Ms Higgins had stolen your Carla Zampatti jacket?” Ms Young said.
“That’s correct because I never got it back,” Senator Reynolds replied.
Ms Higgins alleged colleague Bruce Lehrmann raped her in Senator Reynolds’ office in 2019.
Lehrmann has always denied the allegation and his criminal trial was derailed by juror misconduct.
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