Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of former Western Australian senator and my very good friend the Hon. Linda Reynolds CSC. Last week, after four and a half years, Linda was finally and fully vindicated by the Supreme Court of Western Australia. This is Linda's public statement, issued on 27 August 2025;

For more than 4 years, I have fought, at enormous personal and financial cost, to expose the truth in relation to Ms Higgins' persistent allegations concerning my conduct.

I am relieved that the judgment delivered this morning by Justice Tottle comprehensively details what his Honour found to be the dishonest allegation of a political cover-up made against myself and my then Chief of Staff, Ms Fiona Brown.

I am pleased that his Honour recognised from the outset that the trial was never about Ms Higgins' rape allegation. Rather, it was always about the subsequent serious, hurtful and entirely false allegations made about my conduct and that of my staff.

Critically, Justice Tottle found that there was no political coverup, finding '…the allegation of a coverup had no foundation in fact and the allegation of inadequate support was based on an incomplete and misleading account of the facts'.

Justice Tottle found that 'the simple but untrue story that [I] had been involved in the cover up of the rape of Ms Higgins by a 'rising star' of the Liberal Party was so sensational and achieved such currency it was impossible for [me] to defend myself'.

In April 2024, I welcomed Justice Michael Lee's judgment in Mr Lehrman's defamation action where his Honour made findings on the critical matters relating to Ms Higgins' allegation of rape. I said at the time, that I sincerely hoped that it would give Ms Higgins peace. In my statement, however, I noted that Ms Higgins had publicly observed that regardless of Justice Lee's findings her "perceptions and feelings of what happened in the days and weeks after my rape were different from mine". I said at the time that what lay between Ms Higgins and myself were not different perceptions, but the common ground that we needed to find must be based on the truth.

Justice Tottle has definitively established the truth. The allegation of a political cover-up has had a tremendous adverse effect on not only me but also on Ms Brown for whom I care very deeply. I am profoundly pleased that his Honour, like Justice Lee, has found so clearly in favour of Ms Brown's recollection of the events.

In paragraph [455] of his Honour's detailed reasons, Justice Tottle identifies 26 statements made by Ms Higgins in her media interviews that were objectively false or misleading and so indifferent to the truth that they could only be regarded as dishonest. These findings of fact by his Honour absolutely dispel the allegation of political cover-up and are matters that ultimately formed the foundation for Ms Higgins' civil claim which resulted in a rapid and unchallenged multimillion-dollar settlement by the Labor Government.

His Honour concludes that Ms Higgins' account of how she was treated (which has now been proven to be false) could not be attributed to difficulties in recollection. He finds that the account of Ms Higgins was plainly dishonest.

It was vitally important for me to establish in a manner binding upon Ms Higgins (who was not a party to the proceedings before Justice Lee) that her statements concerning me were false and dishonest.

It was clear to me that Ms Higgins' attack on me was not going to end without a binding judgment. She had evidenced her intention to write a book and engage in public speaking activities as an advocate of the victims of rape and for workplace reform. It was therefore essential for me to protect and restore of my reputation and stop her from continuing to perpetuate her false and dishonest allegations about me.

I emphasise that I do not consider this judgment to be about recovering substantial damages. It has always been about the truth.

This judgment allows me to move forward confidently and assuredly.

Finally, I address 3 key findings by his Honour.

The first is my statement that described Ms Higgins as a "lying cow". His Honour accurately found this to be an emotional and involuntary reaction on my part responsive to Ms Higgins' description in the nationally broadcast television show The Project of how she was treated by me and Ms Brown. Matters which I knew to be fundamentally untrue, and which Justice Tottle has so found. His Honour correctly held that my comment was an emotional reaction expressed in my private office and I had no expectation about to the extent to which the statement would be disseminated.

The second concerns my exclusion from the private multimillion dollar settlement that occurred between the Commonwealth and Ms Higgins after the Commonwealth took over the defence of Ms Higgins' claim against me. A claim was compromised in a single meeting. His Honour correctly recognised that my concerns were based on, 'first, the fact that the settlement of the claim could be regarded as a validation of Ms Higgins's public criticisms of me in the face of which I wished to defend my conduct. Second, that I knew that the claim rested on allegations made against myself and Ms Brown and I knew those allegations were untrue, thirdly, that not only was I deprived by the Commonwealth of the opportunity to defend my conduct and my reputation, but no one acting on behalf of the Commonwealth asked me about the allegations and finally my perception that the decision-makers (the Attorney-General, Mr Dreyfus) had a conflict of interest and were therefore acting beyond power'. His Honour found that I was justified in raising my concerns publicly about the process and that I had both a legitimate interest and a public interest in doing so.

The third is confirmation that Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz concocted a deliberate plan to weaponise Ms Higgins' legitimate rape allegations for a false political purpose. Justice Tottle made findings concerning Ms Higgins' experience with the media and held that she 'must be taken to have understood the seriousness of the enterprise she and Mr Sharaz had embarked on and to have thought about how she wanted to tell her story'. He found that the timeline document created by Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz was prepared as a 'briefing document for the use of journalists and sympathetic politicians' and that 'the focus of the document was [Ms Higgins'] interactions with Ms Brown and myself'. He further found that many of the statements contained in the document were incorrect and presented a misleading impression of events in significant respects.

He also found that Ms Higgins' willingness to speculate and embellish reflected a desire on her part to enhance the credibility of her allegations of a political cover up and her allegations that I (and Ms Brown) treated her poorly. He found that Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz (together with Ms Maiden, Ms Wilkinson and Mr Llewellyn) had reached 'an understanding about the strategy to be adopted for ensuring the disclosure of [Ms Higgins'] story achieved widespread attention in the media and major political impact'.

Finally, he found that there was an intention to inflict political damage on me and through me on the Coalition government. He finds that 'it is clear such [political] damage was intended by making the disclosure at the beginning of a sitting week and ensuring [my] political opponents were briefed with the materials necessary to question [me] in the Senate.

It is now time that the Prime Minister and the Federal Labor Government (the only party that has not yet been forced to defend its reputation) accept the significant impact their conduct has had in enabling Ms Higgins to perpetuate her lies. Had the plainly false allegations against me been properly investigated by the Commonwealth and its lawyers, and had I been permitted to defend the plainly defensible allegations she had made against me, I (and many others) would not have incurred the cost and stress of litigation that has been so damaging financially and emotionally.

I thank Justice Tottle for his careful consideration of the evidence and his decisive and comprehensive judgment.

I also thank Martin Bennett and his amazing team for fighting for me.

Finally, I thank Robert, my family and my many friends who stood by my side. They never stopped believing in me and supporting me.

Today as I look to the future, having served my country for over 40 years I look forward to finding new ways to serve.

Thank you.

That was the statement of the Hon. Linda Reynolds, CSC.

As Martin Luther King Jr said, 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'

Senate adjourned at 21 : 07