Higgins and her husband’s ‘creepy’ social media posts left Senator feeling stressed, she says
Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz’s “creepy” social media posts compounded Senator Linda Reynolds’ distress amid her alleged mishandling of rape allegations, a defamation trial has been told.
Liberal senator Linda Reynolds talks to the media outside the David Malcolm Justice Centre in Perth, Tuesday, March 5, 2024. Brittany Higgins and her partner David Sharaz held a day of mediation talks with Liberal senator Linda Reynolds as part of an ongoing defamation matter. (AAP Image/Richard Wainwright) NO ARCHIVING
Ms Higgins is being sued over a series of social media posts the former defence minister believes have damaged her reputation.
Senator Reynolds has told the Western Australian Supreme Court the newly-married couple’s posts were “incredibly hurtful” because they made allegations that “weren’t true”.
“They will put out a tweet or an Insta post and then the media pick it up … and what they’ve said becomes a story that’s published nationally, and that happened many times,” she told the court on Tuesday.
She said the posts left her feeling angry, depressed and frustrated and in one instance “sick”.
“It’s calling me a hypocrite. It’s awful,” she said of one of the posts her lawyer Martin Bennett highlighted during her evidence.
“It’s hard to put in words because it’s just a constant reminder that they were always there.”
Senator Reynolds is due to continue giving evidence on Wednesday.
She described one of Mr Sharaz’s posts – when he allegedly said “Linda I see you” – as stalking.
“It was creepy, it was threatening. I was upset,” she said.
In another post, Mr Sharaz allegedly said he wanted Senator Reynolds to suffer for the rest of her life, which she initially interpreted as a death threat.
Senator Reynolds told the trial she had a mental and physical breakdown in parliament in 2021 amid intense scrutiny following a News Corp article and Network Ten’s The Project episode about Ms Higgins’ alleged rape and mistreatment.
She said she felt humiliated after her breakdown was publicised.
“I wasn’t sleeping. I was quite teary. I was not in a good headspace,” she said, adding she had received a “continual barrage of the foulest social media trolling.”
She was admitted to hospital, where she was diagnosed with a cardiac disorder.
Ms Higgins’ defence relies on truth and that it was reasonable to comment and provide opinion on issues of public interest concerning government and political matters.
She alleged that 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.
Senator Reynolds was also pursuing Mr Sharaz for defamation but he announced in April he would no longer fight the case and consented to judgment.
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