Former prime minister Scott Morrison says shortcomings in process, rather than Senator Linda Reynolds’ conduct, were to blame for the handling of Brittany Higgins’ rape allegation.
Former prime minister Scott Morrison says shortcomings in process, rather than Senator Linda Reynolds’ conduct, were to blame for the inadequate handling of Brittany Higgins’ rape allegation.
Beaming into the high-profile defamation trial from Sydney on Tuesday, Mr Morrison told court the senator had a strong track record of supporting women, insisting the blame laid squarely on parliamentary processes for a lack of support after Ms Higgins raised the rape claim against Bruce Lehrmann.
“It was the processes, not the conduct of the people who were seeking to provide that support,” he said.
“I want to make that very, very clear.
“The culture in the time I was in parliament had improved, but clearly not enough.”
The WA senator launched the defamation action against Ms Higgins, claiming her reputation was damaged by a series of social media posts relating to Ms Higgins’ rape allegation against Mr Lehrmann.
The trial to date has focused on Senator Reynolds’ deteriorating health in the period following publication of the rape allegation in 2019.
Court heard last Monday Senator Reynolds’ cardiologist thought she could die after collapsing in the Senate while under intense scrutiny by Labor senators during question time.
Senator Reynolds told court Mr Morrison had consoled her after that incident and had confided in her how the situation had tested the relationship with his daughters.
On Tuesday Mr Morrison backed that story, claiming there was concern the senator’s condition could be fatal.
“She was quite visibly physically stressed, and in a highly fragile emotional state at that point when I went to see her in the whips office, I was unaware of her cardiac condition,” he said.
“That only deepened my concern; for a period there we were very fearful that this could be a fatal outcome for her.
“She took that sick leave as she should, she was just not capable of continuing her duties in that physical and mental state.”
Mr Morrison said after five weeks of leave it became apparent Senator Reynolds could not return to her defence ministerial role due to extreme stress associated with nailing down the AUKUS deal, at which point she was replaced by Peter Dutton.
He added Labor’s “weaponising” of the matter sought to discredit his government, adding claims of a cover-up were “completely and utterly false”.
WA Senator Linda Reynolds last week recounted to court how her standing in the halls of parliament changed dramatically after the story broke in national news.
“In the space of a couple of days I had gone from a senator and minister doing her job and doing it well, to being nationally vilified as somebody who would do something so despicable,” she said.
“Everybody looked at me differently, even people on my own side were keeping their distance asking ‘had she really done this thing’.”
The trial to date
Senator Reynolds argues Ms Higgins’ implications her former boss had not supported her caused distress, health problems, and reputational damage.
Beginning a week of giving evidence in person last week, Senator Reynolds told the court she did not know Ms Higgins had been raped in her office days prior to meeting the former staffer in the same room.
Ms Higgins’ lawyer Rachael Young argued in her opening submission last week that Senator Reynolds had a “mountain of evidence” to show her staffer had been sexually assaulted, even though the words “rape” or “sexual assault” were not used during the discussion in that room.
Ms Higgins’ case will rely on the truth defence.
Day one of the trial last saw Senator Reynolds’ lawyer Martin Bennett argue Ms Higgins and her partner David Sharaz had concocted a “fairytale” in which the senator was cast as the “villain”.
That argument was based around what Mr Bennett described as a plan created by the pair to damage Senator Reynolds, for which journalists Lisa Wilkinson and Samantha Maiden were used.
Ms Young told court those claims were “harassing and re-traumatising” Ms Higgins and had trivialised reasons for speaking out about rape and workplace culture.
The defamation case is being presided over by Justice Paul Tottle and is due to take place over five weeks.
Mr Lehrmann’s rape trial was aborted in 2022 due to juror misconduct and concerns for Ms Higgins’ welfare.
In separate defamation action this year, Mr Lehrmann was on the balance of probabilities found to have raped Ms Higgins by the federal court.
Mr Lehrmann has always insisted he was innocent.
