Former minister sues Higgins’ fiance

Senator Linda Reynolds is suing Brittany Higgins' partner, David Sharaz, the second writ about defamation claims that she lodged in the Supreme Court of Western Australia this month.

The former federal defence minister's claims revolve around two tweets on Mr Sharaz’s Twitter account published in January and December last year, according to the Supreme Court writ.

Ms Reynolds alleged the two tweets were written by Mr Sharaz and were falsely defamatory of her, causing her loss and damage.

She is claiming damages, including aggravated damages, an injunction to restrain Mr Sharaz from publishing the defamatory material or words, and interest on the damages.

Mr Sharaz's twitter account had been taken down but has been reactivated as of Friday night. It is not yet known what has been alleged to be defamatory.

Business News has contacted Mr Sharaz, with the legal firm representing him saying they are not in a position to comment at this stage but confirmed Arnold Block Leibler partner Leon Zwier was advising Mr Sharaz.

In 2021, Bruce Lehrmann was charged with the rape of Ms Higgins, which allegedly occured in Ms Reynolds' office, but the much-publicised trial was aborted last year.

The ACT Director of Public Prosecutions decided not to continue with a retrial, bringing the prosecution to an end in December 2022.

Senator Reynolds also lodged a WA Supreme Court writ against national book published HarperCollins Publishing Australia and Australian Financial Review journalist Aaron Patrick this month.

In the writ, she alleged the book Ego: Malcolm Turnbull and the Liberal Party’s Civil War, authored by Patrick and published by HarperCollins in June 2022, had content that was falsely defamatory of her.

Senator Reynolds similarly claimed the material caused her loss and damage, and is seeking damages, an injunction to remove the book from sale and for it not to be republished until the alleged defamatory comments about her have been removed.

The injunction also seeks to restrain HarperCollins Publishing Australia and Patrick from publishing defamatory materials or words similar to them, according to the writ.

There had been an earlier attempt to pull the book from bookshelves, when ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold reportedly asked HarperCollins Australia to recall copies from the retailers in June over concerns it could interfere with the trial involving rape allegations by Ms Higgins against Mr Lehrmann.

Patrick is a senior correspondence at the Australian Financial Review, based in its Sydney newsroom.