Court delays WA senator’s trust probe as Higgins, Sharaz prepare to wed

Brittany Higgins’ lawyers have successfully delayed a highly charged document swap in a probe into her trust fund levelled by former boss Linda Reynolds as she and fiancee David Sharaz prepare to tie the knot.

Reynolds opened up a new battlefront in her pursuit of damages against Higgins for defamation in March, asking the court to find out who controlled a trust she claimed Higgins set up to protect the $2.4 million she was awarded in compensation from the federal government.

Brittany Higgins outside the Federal Court in Sydney last November, with partner David Sharaz (left) and lawyer Leon Zwier.

Reynolds wants to have the court set aside the trust amid fears it may prevent her from getting damages if she wins the defamation case.

But Higgins’ counsel Leon Zwier asked for more time comply with Reynolds’ demand for documents, telling the court on Thursday that attempts to retrieve files from his client had been difficult because she was preparing to wed in early June.

He asked the court to grant more time to allow Higgins to focus on her wedding and for the Sydney-based counsel to brief WA-based lawyers.

Higgins will now have until mid-June to respond to sworn testimony filed by her former boss.

The matter has been listed for hearing on July 17.

Outside court, Reynolds’ lawyer Martin Bennett clarified his client was seeking a copy of the trust to find out who the trustee was, which state law governed the trust and the subsequent effect.

The hearing comes just 48 hours after a second attempt at peace talks in the defamation case between the former defence minister, Higgins and Sharaz ended without resolution.

Reynolds has been pursuing Higgins and Sharaz for damages and aggravated damages for more than a year over several social media posts she claimed were defamatory of her.

Both had been defending the defamation case until earlier this month, when Sharaz took to social media saying he could no longer afford to fight the action.

The matter has been listed for a six-week trial beginning on July 24.

It also comes after the Lee found, to the civil standard, that – on the balance of probabilities – Higgins’ then-colleague, Bruce Lehrmann, raped her in Reynolds’ parliamentary office when Reynolds was a cabinet minister in 2019.

Lehrmann has maintained his innocence.

Reynolds, the former boss of Lehrmann and Higgins, has faced years of criticism over her handling of Higgins’ rape allegation.

She claimed vindication after Lee’s findings were handed down and said they dispelled accusations of a political cover-up over her handling of the allegation.

Reynolds referenced the finding while addressing the press before the mediation hearing on Tuesday, saying it was time for “all parties”, including the finance minister and the attorney-general, to accept all of Lee’s judgments and “admit they got it wrong”.

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