‘You don’t scare me’: Higgins responds to Reynolds’ legal move
Brittany Higgins has lashed out at WA Senator Linda Reynolds. Photo: AAP/TND
Brittany Higgins has declared she will “not be bullied” after reports her former boss Senator Linda Reynolds was investigating if she could freeze Higgins’ assets in France, where she now lives.
Higgins was responding to a Daily Mail article which revealed the WA senator, who is suing Higgins and her fiance David Sharaz for defamation, was seeking French legal counsel.
The article was headlined ‘The French Resistance’ and stated: ‘Linda Reynolds makes extraordinary move against Brittany Higgins after she flew to France with her $2.4m payout’.
Reynolds was quoted confirming: “I am considering my position and awaiting advice from French Counsel on my right to enforce an Australian judgment against assets in France.”
Higgins responded on Instagram on Saturday (AEDT) alongside a screenshot of the Daily Mail article, writing: “I’m not the naive 25 year old girl from Parliament House.
“You don’t scare me anymore and I won’t be bullied.”
Brittany Higgins responded to the article in The Daily Mail. Photo: Instagram (Brittany Higgins)
Earlier in the week Higgins had shared snippets of her new life and travels in France away from the media spotlight.
She posted pictures of herself and fiance David Sharaz wandering cobble-stoned streets with their cavoodle Kingston, visiting galleries and churches and touring Parisian sites like the Arc de Triomphe.
The collection was captioned with a French quote ‘Nous sommes nos choix’ which translates to: ‘We are our choices’.
Higgins wrote: “Here are a few of mine as of late.”
The Daily Mail reported on Saturday that Reynolds was doubling down on her legal pursuit of Higgins.
Higgins and Sharaz moved to France in December after Higgins gave evidence in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Channel 10 and journalist Lisa Wilkinson.
Brittany Higgins posted photos of her quiet life in France. Photo: Instagram (Brittany Higgins)
In December, Reynolds wrote to Higgins’ lawyer Leon Zwier about reports the couple had bought a home in the French village of Lunas and were planning to permanently relocate.
“If such reports are true, we consider that an application for freezing orders is appropriate,” the letter read.
Reynolds, a former Liberal Defence Minister, was Higgins’ boss when the political staffer alleges she was raped in Parliament House in 2019.
She is suing Higgins and Sharaz over social media posts that she said had damaged her reputation.
The senator has accused Higgins of posting defamatory material on social media. Sharaz is being sued over tweets and a 2022 Facebook comment.
Brittany Higgins shares a picture of a feast with fiance David Sharaz. Photo: Instagram
Among the defamatory imputations claimed against Sharaz’s tweets are that Reynolds pressured Higgins not to proceed with a complaint to police, “is a hypocrite in her advocacy for women’s interests and empowerment”, interfered in Lehrmann’s trial and bullied Higgins.
Reynolds claims she was also defamed by Sharaz’s reply to a public comment on her Facebook page that asked how she was still in politics having “destroyed” Higgins.
“You’re a monster who deserves to be in jail,” it said.
Sharaz responded: “Thanks for reminding her. I hope she hears this every day until she dies”.
-with AAP