Reynolds’ lawyer throws spotlight on Higgins, Sharaz texts amid political furore

“I still hate the c---,” Sharaz responded.

The senator sat at the bar table behind Bennett as he lambasted Higgins for claiming she never intended to hurt Reynolds or bring down the Morrison government, claiming the ex-staffer’s public and private positions differed.

He pointed to another text message exchange between Higgins and journalist Samantha Maiden on February 19, 2021, as the political furore over Higgins’ alleged rape and Reynolds’ handling of it took hold.

Bennett said it was telling Higgins wanted her genuine, honest view kept out of the public discourse.

Reynolds claims Higgins and Sharaz, as a co-conspirator, devised a plan to attack her via the media and her political opponents.

Bennett took the court through a list of text messages he claimed Higgins had deleted from her phone as proof the record of events she reproduced had been “heavily curated”.

Later, he detailed at length the thousands of people who had viewed and engaged with the social media posts Reynolds is now suing over, which Bennett accused Higgins of deliberately using as press releases.

Higgins is standing by them on the basis they were true and that the senator mishandled her rape claim, as well as claiming Reynolds has been using the media to harass her.

Bennett narrowed in on an Instagram story the former staffer published on July 4, 2023, in which she accused Reynolds of engaging in “questionable conduct” during the 2022 criminal rape trial of her alleged rapist, harassing her in parliament and suing her then-fiance.

“Reach is one thing, but republication via the media is another. The reach, we would say, is enormous,” he said.

“The impressionistic reader draws from that, and what have we got? Senator Reynolds is attacking Ms Higgins in parliament and in the media.

“It’s highly defamatory and highly critical of Senator Reynolds.”

And he accused Higgins of trying to milk Reynolds’ private slur in which she called her a “lying cow” during a broadcast of her tell-all interview with The Project, stating it was a “wink in the dark” not intended to harass.

Justice Paul Tottle put to Bennett that it appeared he was saying it was Sharaz who had more animus towards the senator, but Bennett insisted the pair were acting together, and his involvement could not be isolated.

Bennett told the court Reynolds’ reputation was damaged by Higgins as a result of interviews she gave that created “a cloud of suspicion” over her and the continued “pile-on”, which warranted a financial remedy.

He cited four recent defamation cases in which the complainants were paid between $100,000 and $675,000.

“The idea the defendant is not liable to pay anything because Senator Reynolds’ reputation was ‘baked-in’ is wrong, and a false premise not based on the authority in this state and nation, neither is this idea that because you’re a politician you should take a dagger to the back with some kind of stoicism,” Bennett told the court.

Young, SC, doubled down during her reply, stating that a whole series of events occurred that demonstrated damage to the senator which could not be disregarded, from her demotion from the defence portfolio to her hospitalisation.

Bennett defended Reynolds’ conduct during the criminal trial and doubled down on Reynolds’ decision to leak confidential documents concerning Higgins’ $2.4 million personal injury settlement with the federal government to The Australian, claiming she was entitled to do so.

And he decried Higgins for claiming Reynolds mishandled her alleged rape and failed to adequately support her, claiming there were more than 20 occasions on which she was offered support in the weeks after the incident.

Bennett also attacked Higgins’ claims she was kept at arm’s length from Reynolds and relegated to her hotel room while working in Perth between April and May before the 2019 federal election.

He pointed to a gallery of images showing Higgins smiling while on the campaign trail, rubbing shoulders with senior Liberal Party figures and text messages in which she addressed it as a “work-cation”, poring over Higgins’ pleading while claiming swaths of it were “palpably wrong” and contained a “mishmash of errors”.

Higgins’ barrister, Rachael Young, SC, has played down the relevance of the images, highlighting that text messages to her former boyfriend showed the former staffer was processing her trauma.

The hearing comes just hours after shock revelations Sky News anchor Peta Credlin helped finesse a draft statement Higgins later gave to the media.

The host has since said she did so with the permission of her boss and the knowledge of the Morrison government.

The month-long trial concluded after more than 700 pieces of evidence and 22 witnesses taking the stand – including Morrison and former foreign affairs minister Marise Payne.

Outside court, Reynolds told the media it was “highly regrettable” she had to take the defence of her reputation to the Supreme Court but said she was content that she had finally had her say.

“I think it’s important to note that I never doubted her … [alleged rape], in fact, I did everything I could to support her with the allegations,” she said.

“But this case was not about the allegation and the finding of rape, this was about what was said and what was alleged about my actions, the actions of Fiona Brown and the actions of Michaelia Cash and this non-existent cover-up.

“For me, that’s what this is all about.”

Justice Tottle reserved his decision.

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