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Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has welcomed Brittany Higgins’ expression that she was “sorry” for hurt caused to Senator Linda Reynolds and has called for further examination of the government’s handling of the former political staffer’s $2.4m compensation payout.
In a landmark judgment in the Federal Court last week, Justice Michael Lee found that Ms Higgins was raped by former colleague Bruce Lehrmann.
As he dismissed Lehrmann’s defamation suit against Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson, Justice Lee found, on the civil standard of the balance of probabilities, that Lehrmann had sexually assaulted Ms Higgins inside the office of their then-boss Senator Reynolds in Parliament House in March 2019.
Ms Higgins, in speaking for the first time about the judgment, released a statement via social media on Saturday night.
She thanked Justice Lee for taking into a “trauma-informed approach” in his judgment and said she hoped to move on with her life.
She also offered an olive branch to Senator Reynolds, who is currently pursuing defamation action against Ms Higgins and her partner David Sharaz.
Justice Lee, in his judgment, rubbished claims of a political cover-up made during The Project broadcast, finding that Senator Reynolds had wanted the police called.
He described the allegations as being “without reasonable foundation” which caused “much collateral damage”.
He also found that Fiona Brown, the chief of staff in Senator Reynolds’ office at the time, had gone “out of her way to reassure Ms Higgins and supported and assisted her in contacting the police”.
In her statement, Ms Higgins said that she did not agree with “all of Justice Lee’s findings”, but she did “respect his observations about the many people scarred and damaged in the aftermath of my rape.”
“Senator Reynolds and Fiona Brown have also been hurt and for that I am also sorry,” Ms Higgins said in her statement.
“My perceptions and feelings about what happened in the days and weeks after my rape are different from theirs.
“I deeply regret that we have not yet found common ground.
“I hope we can resolve our differences with a better understanding of each other’s experience.”
On Sunday, Mr Dutton told ABC’s Insiders that Ms Higgins’ statement was “gracious”.
“I don’t believe any workplace should be unsafe for women, or for men for that matter, and there are a lot of changes that have taken place at Parliament House which is a good thing,” Mr Dutton said.
He added that he thought Senator Reynolds should be offered a full apology, though he noted: “That’s a party for the court and for the parties”.
Mr Dutton has previously said he supported calls for the details of Ms Higgins’ $2.4m compensation payout from the Commonwealth being referred to the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
Documents released by the Federal Court during Lehrmann’s defamation trial revealed that Ms Higgins received $2,445,000 from the government after settling her personal injury claim with the Commonwealth following mediation.
The deed of settlement and release revealed that Ms Higgins received $400,000 for hurt, distress and humiliation, $1.48m for lost earnings, $220,000 for medical expenses, $100,000 for “past and future domestic assistance” and $245,000 for her legal costs.
In her claim, Ms Higgins said she was the victim of sexual assault and associated physical injuries, psychiatric injuries, was subject to bullying and harassment and that the Commonwealth had failed to provide adequate support.
Senator Reynolds has previously raised concerns about the speed of the process, as well as claiming she was denied the chance to take part in mediation.
Mr Dutton said the issue was not with Ms Higgins’ and her lawyers’ actions during the payout.
“I don’t think the problem in relation to the payout is on Brittany’s side,” Mr Dutton said.
“I think it’s on the government side and others have pointed that out.
“If there is inappropriate that Katy Gallagher and others tried to eke out of an alleged sexual assault, firstly that reflects poorly on Katy Gallagher, but others as well.”
Ms Gallagher was not involved in Ms Higgins’ pay out. But she has been targeted by the opposition with questions about her knowledge of the her allegations before they were aired publicly.
Lehrmann faced trial in the ACT Supreme Court in late 2022 after pleading not guilty to one count of sexual intercourse without consent.
His trial was abandoned due to juror misconduct and the Director of Public Prosecutions abandoned the trial due to concerns for Ms Higgins’ welfare, leading to the charge being dropped.
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