Reynolds fights Higgins’ push to delay defamation row

3 weeks ago 8

WA Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds volition combat a bid by erstwhile staffer Brittany Higgins to hold their high-stakes defamation trial, opening successful little than 3 months.

This masthead understands that successful an urgent proceeding connected Tuesday, Higgins’ lawyers mean to petition the six-week proceedings acceptable down for July 24 beryllium postponed.

Senator Linda Reynolds says she volition proceed with her defamation suit against Brittany Higgins and her fiance David Sharaz unless they judge findings determination was nary cover-up.

But Reynolds’ lawyers volition reason the motion.

The legislator sued Higgins and her fiance, erstwhile property assemblage writer David Sharaz, for damages implicit much than 7 societal media posts she claimed falsely defamed her — including 1 successful which Higgins accused Reynolds of utilizing the property to harass her.

Reynolds intends to assertion the other to beryllium existent — that the brace hatched a program to harass her with the assistance of writer Lisa Wilkinson and Channel 10 shaper Angus Llewellyn up of a tell-all interrogation with The Project.

Both Higgins and Sharaz person defended their respective cases, which are being heard concurrently owed to their overlap.

The proceeding volition beryllium the archetypal since Federal Court justness Michael Lee found, to the civilian standard, that — connected the equilibrium of probabilities — chap staffer Bruce Lehrmann had raped Higgins successful then-cabinet curate Reynolds’ parliamentary bureau successful 2019.

The ruling was portion of the high-profile defamation enactment Lehrmann, who has maintained his innocence throughout, brought against Network 10 and Wilkinson implicit the interview.

But Lee besides ruled determination was nary governmental cover-up, prompting Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to importune Reynolds had been vindicated and suggest that Higgins and Sharaz should apologise.

After the ruling, Higgins took to societal media to apologise to Reynolds and her erstwhile main of unit Fiona Brown portion expressing heavy regret that the parties had not yet recovered “common ground”.

“My perceptions and feelings astir what happened successful the days and weeks aft my rape are antithetic from theirs,” she wrote.

“I anticipation we tin resoluteness our differences with a amended knowing of each other’s experience.”

But Reynolds vowed to proceed with the defamation claim, highlighting Lee’s findings were not binding, and she remained committed to afloat vindicating her reputation.

The trio had travelled to Perth successful March for a marathon nine-hour mediation earlier Justice Marcus Solomon, amid fears astir the quality outgo of yet different trial.

However, the parties failed to scope a resolution.

The matter, which is present being overseen by Justice Paul Tottle, had been scheduled to instrumentality for a strategical league successful May earlier the proceedings began successful July.

Court documents, obtained by this masthead, bespeak Reynolds’ ineligible squad are pushing up to trial, filing an amended connection of assertion arsenic precocious arsenic Monday afternoon.

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