High-profile witness list grows in Reynolds, Higgins defamation trial

Fresh dates have been set down for Linda Reynolds’ defamation trial against former staffer Brittany Higgins, as the names of more high-profile witnesses prepared to take the stand emerge.

During a hearing in the Supreme Court on Wednesday, the parties agreed to the trial being delayed by more than one week to August 2 to accommodate Higgins’ new WA-based counsel Rachael Young.

Former Minister Linda Reynolds arrives at the Perth Supreme Court for a mediation session with Brittany Higgins, flanked by husband Robert Reid (left) and lawyer Martin Bennett.

The decision was also made to ensure the evidence does not interfere with parliamentary sitting dates in August.

The trial is expected to run for four weeks, the first two of which will be dedicated to Reynolds’ 22 witnesses — including former prime minister Scott Morrison, WA senator Michaelia Cash and Tasmanian senator Wendy Askew.

But Young said she believed only a handful of those witnesses would be required, given the rest provided evidence about events that predated the publications being sued upon.

Reynolds herself is expected to spend three days in the witness box from August 5, including cross-examination, before her parents, senior staffer Alexandra Kelton and doctor give sworn testimony.

Higgins will spend up to one week on the stand.

The former defence minister’s lawyer Martin Bennett told the court the evidence would pore over her relationship with Higgins in the years following allegations she was raped in Reynolds’ parliamentary office by fellow staffer Bruce Lehrmann in 2019 – a claim Lehrmann has long denied.

And that included the accounts of people on polling booths as well as photographs capturing Higgins’ attendance at election parties and Reynolds’ own birthday dinner.

“Mrs Reynolds did everything to make sure Ms Higgins was OK,” Bennett told the court.

The rape allegation was found to be true to the civil standard by Federal Court Justice Michael Lee in Lehrmann’s defamation trial against Network Ten, which the former staffer is now appealing.

A rape charge against him was withdrawn after his 2022 criminal trial was aborted due to juror misconduct.

The lawsuit centres around allegations Higgins made via several social media posts Reynolds claims were false and defamatory of her in 2023, for which she is now seeking damages and aggravated damages.

Reynolds launched an almost identical action against Higgins’ husband David Sharaz, who bowed out last month after declaring he did not have the financial means to take the matter to trial.

Higgins has fiercely defended the action, which was the subject of two unsuccessful mediation attempts.

Reynolds has long maintained the fallout from the ongoing row has had a significant impact on her and others, and continued to call upon those involved to accept Lee’s judgment, which dispelled political cover-up claims.

The former defence minister is also still working to establish who controls a trust in Higgins’ name, which she claims was established to safeguard Higgins’ $2.4 million federal government pay-out amid fears it may prevent her from getting damages if she wins the defamation case.

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