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Brittany Higgins’ finances revealed in court
Brittany Higgins has less than $10,000 in assets, with the remainder of his multi-million pound Commonwealth payout locked up in a managed fund.
The 29-year-old continues to defend a defamation lawsuit brought by her former boss, Liberal senator Linda Reynolds, and during the latest in a series of court hearings on Wednesday, the politician won the right to access details of the fund.
The former defence minister, who plans to retire from politics at the next election, is suing Ms Higgins for damages over a series of social media posts which she says have damaged his reputation.
Ahead of that case’s August trial, the senator’s legal team prevailed on Wednesday over Ms. Higgins’ legal team in a fight to access Ms. Higgins’ trust documents.
It was created in late 2022 to retain the proceeds of a $2.4 million financial settlement made with the federal government amid allegations that she was not supported by Senator Reynolds after Bruce Lehrmann allegedly raped her.
Senator Reynolds’ attorney, Martin Bennett, told the Supreme Court in Perth Your client wants the document to understand who the trustee is and what jurisdiction’s laws are relevant to him.
This could prompt the senator to launch further legal action to have the trust funds returned to Ms Higgins before the defamation trial is handed down.
Brittany Higgins (pictured left alongside husband David Sharaz) has less than $10,000 in assets, with the remainder of her multi-million pound Commonwealth payout locked up in a managed trust
“(It) is likely to be the only proceeding through which Senator Reynolds will recover damages and costs if successful,” he told reporters outside the courthouse.
‘If you are broke and have mortgaged your home to the limit to pay for litigation, recouping those costs is something you should try to do as quickly as possible.’
During the hearing, the court was told that an affidavit written by one of Ms Higgins’ lawyers, Leon Zwier, in June stated that she had liquid assets worth less than $10,000.
“We know that, to all intents and purposes, Ms Higgins leads a wonderful lifestyle of travel and events,” Mr Bennett said as he outlined the reasons why his client wanted to access the trust deed.
Her lawyers challenged the request, saying it was speculative, frivolous, premature and unnecessary because the Bankruptcy Act provided measures to allow the senator to access funds if she won the defamation case.
They also raised the tension created by Senator Reynolds’ concerns about whether compensation given to Ms Higgins might have to be returned to the Commonwealth and her possible attempt to access it for compensation.
Senator Reynolds’ legal team said the trust was set up to protect Ms Higgins from future creditors such as the Commonwealth, Mr Lehrmann, Penguin Australia and the senator.
Chief Justice Peter Quinlan said its name — Brittany Higgins Protective Trust — suggested it was set up to protect her from something or someone, but there was no direct evidence to support the senator’s claim.
He said the document could have been created to protect Ms Higgins from exploitation amid her current health issues.
Senator Linda Reynolds is suing Brittany Higgins for defamation over a series of social media posts
However, Chief Justice Quinlan concluded that it would be in the interests of justice for Senator Reynolds to have access to the fund’s documents.
He also said this may be the only way Senator Reynolds could receive damages if she wins the defamation case before asking the parties to resolve their disputes before trial.
“I don’t want to sound like King Canute trying to hold back the ocean,” he said.
‘It is not too late for these parties to take the resolution of all disputes between them into their own hands.’
Lehrmann denied raping Ms. Higgins with criminal proceedings ending in a mistrial. Prosecutors then dropped the charge and ruled out a new trial due to concerns for Ms. Higgins’ mental health.
In April, Justice Michael Lee found, based on the civil standard, that Lehrmann, on the balance of probabilities, had raped Ms Higgins and dismissed her defamation lawsuit against Network Ten.