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The political women locked in an undying Brittany Higgins-inspired feud · The Front

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  Speaker 1: From The Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey.
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  Speaker 1: It's Friday, October seventeen, twenty twenty five. Australia is about
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  Speaker 1: to get caught in the middle of a vicious trade
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  Speaker 1: war between the US and China, with Beijing flagging new
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  Speaker 1: export controls on the critical minerals essential for modern technology.
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  Speaker 1: One of Donald Trump's most powerful officials, US Treasury Secretary
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  Speaker 1: at Scott Bessant, is now talking about America and its
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  Speaker 1: allies decoupling from China. It's an unassuming suburban home in
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  Speaker 1: Western Australia, but now it's at the center of allegations
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  Speaker 1: of a vote rigging scandal involving a huge Native title settlement.
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  Speaker 1: More than one hundred nunar people who are eligible to
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  Speaker 1: vote for the board of an indigenous corporation are registered
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  Speaker 1: to the same address, adding to fears within Aboriginal commit
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  Speaker 1: unities about the integrity of the system. That's an exclusive
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  Speaker 1: by our Indigenous Affairs editor Paige Taylor, live now at
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  Speaker 1: Beaustralian dot com dot A. Former Coalition Cabinet minister Linda
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  Speaker 1: Reynolds is taking aim at Labour's most powerful women. Finance
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  Speaker 1: Minister Katie Gallagher and Foreign Minister at Penny Wong, and
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  Speaker 1: it all goes back to Brittany Higgins. Today, the Australians
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  Speaker 1: revealing Reynolds, who's already won defamation proceedings against Higgins and
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  Speaker 1: her husband, David Scharraz, now wants Federal Parliament to investigate
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  Speaker 1: whether Wong and Gallagher misled the Parliament or committed an
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  Speaker 1: active contempt in their furious pursuit of false claims Reynolds
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  Speaker 1: covered up higgins rape. Today, Stephen Rice and I look
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  Speaker 1: at Reynolds's seemingly unstoppable crusade. Linda Reynolds is a woman
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  Speaker 1: on a mission to clear her name, and it would
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  Speaker 1: seem to pursue some righteous vengeance against the people who
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  Speaker 1: she believes has wronged her. Stephen Rice is The Australian's
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  Speaker 1: new South Wales editor and he's been covering this story
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  Speaker 1: since the beginning. Stephen, this is all part of the
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  Speaker 1: ongoing Brittney Higgins matter. Linda Reynolds was Brittney Higgins's boss
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  Speaker 1: in Federal Parliament. When Britney Higgins said that she was
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  Speaker 1: sexually assaulted, Linda Reynolds sacked Bruce Lemmon, the man whom
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  Speaker 1: Britney Higgins accused basically on the spot because he'd come
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  Speaker 1: back to the office after hours against the rules. But
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  Speaker 1: it's what happened after that that has caused her a
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  Speaker 1: huge amount of distress. She's won a defamation action in
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  Speaker 1: the WA Supreme Court against Britney Higgins and her husband.
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  Speaker 1: Now and now she's going after some of her political enemies.
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  Speaker 1: Who are they and what does Linda Reynolds want?
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  Speaker 2: Okay, well, there's quite a long list of Linda Reynolds's
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  Speaker 2: political enemies. Let's exclude Britney Higgins and David she has
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  Speaker 2: for the moment, because what Reynolds is trying to do
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  Speaker 2: now really is to look at what happened to her,
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  Speaker 2: especially in Parliament during these last four or five years,
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  Speaker 2: when she's been under an extraordinary level of attack by
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  Speaker 2: the Labor government and previously when Labor was in opposition
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  Speaker 2: by the then opposition. So there are two or three
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  Speaker 2: main characters who Reynolds believes not only went after her
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  Speaker 2: in a very vicious and immoral way but also may
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  Speaker 2: have misled Parliament, and in particular Katie Gallagher, who is
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  Speaker 2: now the Finance Minister of very senior Labor minister. But
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  Speaker 2: was then, let's call her one of Labour's chief attack dogs,
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  Speaker 2: and she went after Linda Reynolds in Parliament and later
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  Speaker 2: in estimates committees, very very viciously.
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  Speaker 3: My final question, Senator Reynolds, was it your decision to
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  Speaker 3: send miss Higgins to Perth for the duration of the
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  Speaker 3: election campaign? Senator Gallagher again, that's also subject, so please investigation,
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  Speaker 3: how hands that was your final question.
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  Speaker 1: Thank Senator Gallagher, that was beneath you. When this scandal
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  Speaker 1: first aired on the Channel ten show The Project, Katie
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  Speaker 1: Gallagher and Petti Wong were up in Parliament very quickly afterwards,
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  Speaker 1: asking questions about what Linda Reynolds had known about this beforehand,
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  Speaker 1: because the implication in the project, no matter what Channel
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  Speaker 1: ten says Ricey, is that this was a political cover up,
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  Speaker 1: that Linda Reynolds had deliberately concealed a sexual assault for
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  Speaker 1: her own political purposes or to protect the government of
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  Speaker 1: the day, the Morrison government. Linda Reynolds has always denied that.
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  Speaker 1: So what is wrong we in Linda Reynolds argument Labor
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  Speaker 1: senators asking questions.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I guess there are a couple of things wrong,
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  Speaker 2: and the main one is that Linda Reynolds believes that
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  Speaker 2: this was a stitch up from the beginning, a political
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  Speaker 2: stitch up, that these allegations against her and against various
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  Speaker 2: members of the.
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  Speaker 4: Coalition were false.
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  Speaker 2: She's not saying that the Britney Higgins rape allegations were false,
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  Speaker 2: but she's saying that the whole idea that there was
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  Speaker 2: a political conspiracy to shut down these allegations to you know,
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  Speaker 2: essentially fob off Britney Higgins rape allegations because there was
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  Speaker 2: a federal election coming up and nobody wanted to think
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  Speaker 2: that they'd been of this dreadful thing happened in the
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  Speaker 2: office of a prominent Liberal Party person. As it turned out,
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  Speaker 2: it became very clear that in fact, the opposition had
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  Speaker 2: known about the fact that these allegations, the rape allegations
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  Speaker 2: were going to be made. You know, the then Labor
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  Speaker 2: opposition had known right from the beginning that they were
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  Speaker 2: going to be made. So Reynolds is saying that there
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  Speaker 2: was a counter conspiracy, if you like, by the Labor
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  Speaker 2: Party to weaponize these allegations against the Morrison government. And
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  Speaker 2: she's saying that she never stood a chance in Parliament.
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  Speaker 2: There was a complete onslaught of questions against her. And
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  Speaker 2: then later on, when this came before an Estimates committee
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  Speaker 2: in Parliament, Reynolds confronted Katie Gallagher with the allegation that
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  Speaker 2: she had known all along about these allegations before they
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  Speaker 2: were made public and had weaponized them. Now, Katie Gallagher
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  Speaker 2: was outraged by this. She said, how dare you how
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  Speaker 2: dare you suggest that.
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  Speaker 3: You just did aged that we put you in hospitals?
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  Speaker 3: You just said I put you in the hospital at
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  Speaker 3: Senator Reynolds withdraw.
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  Speaker 1: Well, if so, you're order, Senator.
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  Speaker 3: Wal nobody, nobody takes pleasure.
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  Speaker 4: Well.
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  Speaker 2: Not long afterwards, the Australian that is Janet Orbertson and
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  Speaker 2: I got hold of texts that David Sharraz had sent
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  Speaker 2: to Britney Higgins, where it becomes very clear that Katie
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  Speaker 2: Gallagher knew all along. You know, Sharaz was messaging Brittany,
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  Speaker 2: his partner, four days before she appears on the project, so,
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  Speaker 2: in other words, four days before this becomes public, saying Katie,
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  Speaker 2: that is Katie Gallagher is going to come to me
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  Speaker 2: with some questions you need to prepare for. She's really
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  Speaker 2: invested now, ha ha. And then later on Sharaz says
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  Speaker 2: to Brittany, Oh, Katie Gallagher messaged me. She's angry and
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  Speaker 2: wants to help. She's got the context. Says they knew
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  Speaker 2: something was wrong because they fired Bruce and not you
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  Speaker 2: and so on and so on. So very very clear
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  Speaker 2: that Gallagher knew what was going on before it became public. Now,
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  Speaker 2: Labor had always denied and consistently denied that it ever
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  Speaker 2: knew anything. So what's happening now is that Linda Reynolds
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  Speaker 2: is it's a bit blunt. She's pissed off. She's been
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  Speaker 2: through the courts, She's won in the courts. The courts
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  Speaker 2: have recognized that there was never any political cover up
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  Speaker 2: by her, that she didn't treat Britney Higgins badly in
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  Speaker 2: the aftermath of this rape. Linda Reynolds is very wounded
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  Speaker 2: by all this. She's got justice from the courts. Now
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  Speaker 2: she wants justice from Parliament. You know, she's saying that
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  Speaker 2: Parliament never acknowledged what had happened to her, never acknowledged
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  Speaker 2: its own responsibility for the kind of merciless onslaught that.
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  Speaker 4: She was subjected to.
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  Speaker 2: That she eventually wound up in hospital with heart problems
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  Speaker 2: as a result of all this, so she's now to
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  Speaker 2: essentially get some change affected in Parliament the way that
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  Speaker 2: Parliament deals with these kind of issues.
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  Speaker 1: It's so understandable that Labor would have been frothing at
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  Speaker 1: the mouth at this story. Risey, that the idea that
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  Speaker 1: in the coalition government there was a senior minister and
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  Speaker 1: other staff who were willing to cover up a rape
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  Speaker 1: of shocking allegation. But it really strains credulity, doesn't it
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  Speaker 1: if you think about it for more than a minute.
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  Speaker 1: You know, would this middle aged woman and her chief
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  Speaker 1: of staff conspire to conceal the rape of a young woman?
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  Speaker 1: You know, probably not. It just it just only bears
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  Speaker 1: a minute thinking about.
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  Speaker 4: And for what purpose really?
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  Speaker 2: I mean Linda Reynolds and as you say, Theona Brown.
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  Speaker 2: What's wounded them most out of all of this is
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  Speaker 2: that the idea, the claim that they walked past another
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  Speaker 2: woman's rape. For both of these women, that's just been unbearable.
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  Speaker 2: It's at the root of Linda Reynold's continuing battle to
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  Speaker 2: get some kind of justice, and I don't mean justice
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  Speaker 2: in a monetary way, although obviously she's hugely in debt
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  Speaker 2: now as a.
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  Speaker 4: Result of the civil legal.
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  Speaker 2: Actions that she's taken, but some justice out of the Parliament.
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  Speaker 4: That's what she's seeking here.
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  Speaker 2: She wants Parliament to examine its own rules and indeed
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  Speaker 2: examine its own conscience about the way this was allowed
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  Speaker 2: to unfold.
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  Speaker 1: This whole saga Rice has the elements of a morality
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  Speaker 1: play for me, especially as someone who thinks a lot
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  Speaker 1: about issues of feminism. You hear about a young woman
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  Speaker 1: being badly done by and you think that's terrible. But
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  Speaker 1: then Britney Higgins, as a twenty three year old, very quickly,
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  Speaker 1: I think, got co opted by a movement that was
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  Speaker 1: much bigger than her, that wanted this to be about
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  Speaker 1: much more than just an interaction between two individuals. They
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  Speaker 1: wanted it to be systemic. Big, powerful forces kind of
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  Speaker 1: swept her up and suddenly she was all dressed in white,
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  Speaker 1: addressing rallies out the front of Parliament talking about a
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  Speaker 1: culture of rape apology allowing this kind of thing to
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  Speaker 1: go on that has turned out to just not be
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  Speaker 1: true at all. But now there are big ethical questions
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  Speaker 1: for Linda Reynolds as she pursues some financial justice as
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  Speaker 1: well as the legal justice that she's got. She has
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  Speaker 1: initiated bankruptcy proceedings against both David Charaz and Britney Higgins.
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  Speaker 1: Now because she's concerned she's not going to ever get
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  Speaker 1: her legal bills paid. That's a real moral quandary, isn't
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  Speaker 1: it for someone who, as Linda Reynolds said, has devoted
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  Speaker 1: her life to the a'smen of women pursuing a rape victim.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, look, I mean it doesn't sit easily with her,
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  Speaker 2: I think. And look, this was something that Brittany Higgins
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  Speaker 2: lawyers expressly threatened her with as they were trying to
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  Speaker 2: negotiate their way out of this defamation action. They wrote
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  Speaker 2: to Linda Reynolds saying, well, look, how does it look
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  Speaker 2: for you chasing after this rape victim.
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  Speaker 4: It's not a good look.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think actually Reynolds is beyond that now.
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  Speaker 4: She believes that lots of other people.
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  Speaker 2: Have been wronged in the course of this whole episode,
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  Speaker 2: and in particular her chief of staff Fiona Brown, who
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  Speaker 2: to this day has never recovered from the accusations that
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  Speaker 2: she knew about Britney Higgins's rape and not only did
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  Speaker 2: nothing about it, but actively conspired somehow to cover it up.
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  Speaker 2: It's essentially destroyed Fiona Brown's life, and I think those
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  Speaker 2: kind of things for Reynolds make this idea that, oh,
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  Speaker 2: she's going after a rape victim. I think it's gone
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  Speaker 2: beyond that. I think in her mind, Brittany Higgins made
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  Speaker 2: more than two and a half million dollars out of
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  Speaker 2: the Commonwealth by making demonstrably false allegations about Reynolds, and
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  Speaker 2: now Reynolds simply would like at least some of that
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  Speaker 2: money back to cover the enormous costs that she's had
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  Speaker 2: to bear in fighting to clear her name.
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  Speaker 1: Coming up, will Linda Reynolds ever actually get the money
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  Speaker 1: the courts have awarded to her? Where do you think
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  Speaker 1: it ends up?
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  Speaker 4: Rice?
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  Speaker 1: He I mean, do you feel think she's likely to
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  Speaker 1: get any money from Higgins Insurance?
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  Speaker 2: Look, I doubt it. I think that money is long gone.
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  Speaker 2: I would hope that Reynolds has more chance of succeeding
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  Speaker 2: in the action that she's taken against the Commonwealth. Both
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  Speaker 2: she and Fiona Brown are are suing the Commonwealth on
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  Speaker 2: the grounds that they were never given an opportunity to
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  Speaker 2: defend themselves in that case, in that Commonwealth negotiation with
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  Speaker 2: Britney Higgins, where they were both slammed as being these
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  Speaker 2: uncaring monsters who just hung their employee out to dry
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  Speaker 2: after she'd been raped. Reynolds was actively told that she
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  Speaker 2: couldn't even attend the mediation meeting to defend herself. The
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  Speaker 2: then Labor Attorney General told her, do not attend. You
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  Speaker 2: cannot attend this meeting, or we will not cover any
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  Speaker 2: of your costs. So I think Reynolds would be very
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  Speaker 2: happy if the Commonwealth just finally lentered. At the moment,
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  Speaker 2: the Commonwealth has hired two very expensive barristers to defend
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  Speaker 2: the action that Reynolds is taking against them, and it's
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  Speaker 2: clear they're essentially trying to bankrupt their former political enemy,
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  Speaker 2: and it's something that Reynolds feels very deeply that she
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  Speaker 2: must fight.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: You don't often meet a litigant who is prepared to
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  Speaker 1: almost sacrifice everything in the pursuit of justice, do you
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  Speaker 1: rise people usually give up before.
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  Speaker 2: Now, Yeah, especially when you're fighting a litigant like the
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  Speaker 2: Commonwealth now with the current labor government of political enemy.
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  Speaker 2: It's an enormously expensive process for her, and it's not
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  Speaker 2: as if she's been getting a lot of money along.
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  Speaker 4: The way to help with this process.
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  Speaker 2: In another world, perhaps she might have recovered some of
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  Speaker 2: the money from Britney Higgins and David Shiraz, but as
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  Speaker 2: I said, I think the chances of that are slim.
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  Speaker 1: Stephen Rice is The Australian's new South Wales editor. You
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  Speaker 1: can check out his reporting right now at the Australian
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  Speaker 1: dot com dot au