Former defence minister Linda Reynolds says she does not regret pursuing legal action against rape victim Brittany Higgins and will continue her pursuit of justice against the government “until the bitter end”.
Ms Reynolds is suing the Commonwealth and its lawyers, claiming they breached a duty of care to her when they assumed control of her defence in the handling of Ms Higgins’s $2.4 million payout.
The former WA senator is also pursuing Ms Higgins for almost $350,000 she is owed in damages after she successfully sued her over a series of social media posts that were made in 2022.
Ms Reynolds told 7.30 she had not received “a cent” of that money.
The former senator is still pursuing the government and wants more than an apology.
The issue was raised last week in Senate Estimates as Liberal senator Anne Ruston questioned the Commonwealth for fighting the compensation claims of Ms Reynolds and her former chief of staff, Fiona Brown.
They say they were wrongly accused by Ms Higgins of trying to cover up her rape in 2019.
Ms Reynolds told 7.30 her fight to clear her name will be worth the cost, even if it bankrupts her, as she attacked Labor for the way it “weaponised” the issue against her.
Anthony Albanese’s government is the subject of an attack by Linda Reynolds. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
“I either had to fall over and just let these lies carry me away or I stood up and fought for the truth and for justice for me and for everybody else who’s been so damaged by these lies and by the weaponisation of these lies,” Ms Reynolds told 7.30.
“My life was completely destroyed, my reputation, my career and my health. No-one can undo that.
“Labor’s behaviour the whole way through this, it has been despicable, it has been cruel, it has been relentless.
“They have shown no sign that they accept the finding of two superior judges in Australia’s justice system.”
Katy Gallagher was one of the critics of Ms Reynolds. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
Ms Reynolds said she still wants an apology from Labor but does not expect one, and felt that even if it comes, it would be hollow.
Challenged that Senator Katie Gallagher had apologised to her before she left parliament by saying: “I’m sorry that you have been hurt by all this”, Ms Reynolds said it was not enough.
“That’s an apology you make when you’re not making an apology,” the former senator said.
Apology all that was needed from Higgins
Ms Reynolds said all the legal action she has taken has resulted in her and her partner taking out a second mortgage on their house, and that they are millions of dollars in debt.
Brittany Higgins was found to have been raped by Bruce Lehrmann in parliament housem in 2019. (AAP Image: Richard Wainwright)
However, she says she does not regret that — nor pursuing Ms Higgins, a rape victim — for damages for defamation.
In April 2024, Justice Michael Lee found on the balance of probabilities that Bruce Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins at Parliament House in 2019.
Ms Reynolds had sued Ms Higgins and her partner, David Sharaz, over a series of social media posts made in 2022.
The former senator told 7.30 that the matter with Ms Higgins could have been resolved with an apology.
“The judge who awarded the damages after — in a 360-page document — found that the allegations against me, the lies that were at the heart of the biggest and longest political scandal of its type in Australia’s history — it was all based on lies, and that I was defamed,” she said.
David Sharaz and Ms Higgins were sued for defamation by Ms Reynolds. (ABC News: Jack Stevenson)
“Ms Higgins could have settled with an apology and saying ‘I believed it at the time, but I now know it wasn’t true and I’m sorry, I won’t say it again’.
“It would have cost both parties a few thousand dollars — it could have been over — but she didn’t.”
Let down by Liberal colleagues
Ms Reynolds also told 7.30 she had felt let down by her former colleagues and felt she was “collateral damage” in Labor’s bid to unseat former prime minister Scott Morrison.
Peter Dutton was singled out for criticism by Linda Reynolds. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
“I am disappointed at the behaviour of some of my colleagues at the time,” she said.
“I think I was let down by my colleagues more generally … including Peter Dutton and a range of others.
“I wasn’t surprised, in hindsight.”
Asked to name those colleagues, Ms Reynolds failed to name most but said being the defence minister made her a target.
“I was pretty upset with Scott Morrison at the beginning, but what people didn’t see is that Scott was amazing with me when Labor broke me.
“Scott was truly amazing — when I collapsed in the chamber, he rushed over — he sat with me for an hour while I was sobbing uncontrollably and completely devastated.
“Since then, he was in contact with my doctor, and what he did do is I think, in some ways, he actually, in a funny way, helped save my life, because many of my colleagues were undermining me because [they] wanted the defence portfolio.”
