Andrew L. Urban
Two judges, Justice Lee and Justice Tottle, have found Brittany Higgins lied about a political cover up of her alleged rape in then Minister Linda Reynolds’ Parliament House office. Yet Justice Lee accepted her word over Bruce Lehrmann’s to find on the balance of probabilities that Lehrmann had raped her.
This scenario raises troubling questions about Justice Lee’s finding about the rape: does Higgins evident unreliability, amplified by Justice Tottle’s finding, infect, undermine, her rape claim? In a criminal trial held now, it certainly would.
The consequences of the findings against Higgins’s credibility about the cover up are now rolling out and damaging Labor as the Prime Minister and the two “Mean Girls” (aka Attack Girls) Katy Gallagher and Penny Wong, dangle on the hook, denying reality. Have they stepped on a rake?
Labor senators Wong and Gallagher repeatedly accused Reynolds and the Morrison government of engaging in a political cover-up of the incident. Albanese on Wednesday repeatedly refused to answer questions on whether his government and those senior ministers should apologise to Ms Reynolds over their attacks, which were made under the cover of parliamentary privilege.
“Linda Reynolds and (her chief of staff) Fiona Brown are owed better treatment by their government and they continue to be denied basic answers to basic questions,” says Opposition Leader Sussan Ley. “Given Anthony Albanese was happy to make all sorts of claims about Linda Reynolds when he was Opposition Leader, it’s time for him to stop ducking and weaving, show leadership and directly answer questions.”
The consequences include the $2.4 million compensation payout to Higgins, with the PM trying to wash his hands as if anyone would believe that it has nothing to do with him or the Government.
“Yesterday,” said Linda Reynolds, “in response to a question about the settlement process, he was quoted as saying, ‘Those things are hands off from the government. I had no role in that as Prime Minister and that’s entirely appropriate’. Either that statement is true and it is highly alarming, or that statement is false – which will be borne out by the discovery, subpoena and evidence processes in the Federal Court.”
Albanese’s answer is perhaps best characterised as adding insult to injury. Stay tuned, this storm continues.
Justice Tottle’s 360 page judgment includes “… after long reflection on this difficult issue, I have concluded that in her concern to lend credibility to the allegation of a cover up the defendant demonstrated such an indifference to the truth that her account of the essential elements of the allegation can only be regarded as dishonest.”
Exhibits on the Inquiry into the ACT Criminal Justice System reveal Police concerns during the course of their investigation. Discrepancy headings listed include: – Intoxication, events at the nightclub 88MPH, The Scene at Parliament House, Ms Higgins Phone, the Injury to Ms Higgins leg, information regarding medical attention she said she had obtained (page 200 https://www.cjsinquiry.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/2220465/8-Exhibits-1-25-Whybrow.pdf
Police said Ms Higgins had been “evasive, uncooperative and manipulative”.
We did not hear much about the Criminal Trial in Canberra as a suppression order was put in place when many staff witnesses were giving evidence, but the online docs from the ACT Inquiry show that the defendant had concerns about possible – Falsifying evidence, destroying or concealing of evidence, breaches of the Listening Devices act by covertly recording some staff without their consent. falsifying statement in Stat Dec. And behaviour during the trial, eg “on 17 October 2022, after Mr XX had given evidence in the trial, Ms Higgins posted to her Instagram account (which has over 10,000 followers)several images directly calling into question the honesty of the evidence given by Mr XX and including excerpts of what purported to be a transcript of a covertly recorded conversation between herself and Mr XX (a) not reflective of the recorded conversation; and(b) not in evidence before the court.”
Investigators also found what appeared to be a mantra on her phone, “I am not scared, I don’t want to be a politician, this never felt like your world, you were just a tourlst, this is more than you expected, they did something terrible, they deserve to be held to account, Bruce raped you, he got away, they were complicit, they manipulated you, they made you feel they didn’t care, you are not the Liberal party, they wiped your phone, they continue to silence you, they are predators, sýstematically facilitating this behavlour, you are doing the right thing, move beyond them.”
The material online on the ACT Inquiry website, show that at the time of the criminal trial in 2022, Fiona Brown was advised by her legal rep to make urgent contact with the Crown Prosecutor. She had stated “I am disturbed by the evidence presented by Ms Higgins this morning after reading her testimony online. Statements made by Ms Higgins are false and misleading regarding what I said to her. She categorically has stated that 100% I said the following: Ms Higgins said Linda Reynolds’ chief of staff Fiona Brown offered to pay her six weeks’ wages to go to the Gold Coast during the election campaign but that if she went, there would be no prospect of her returning to work after the election. They said they would pay me out for the entirety of the election to go to he Gold Coast but there would be no prospect of me coming back,” shes aid. “That was 100 per cent said.“That was a conversation Fiona Brown and I had and that was the tippingpoint of me going to Perth.”Neither Minister Reynolds or I had the authority to pay any staff member out. And I did not at any time state or suggest this…I am deeply troubled by this serious misrepresentation in proceedings andI seek to have them corrected or put to me in court.Can you please advise what happens in times like this?” The online exhibits show that BH was offered 3 job options and she chose to go to Perth. Witnesses also said she was very involved in the campaign and photos show her seated next to L Reynolds at a birthday dinner.
After juror misconduct in the criminal trial, the Prosecutor stated that he had received “compelling evidence from two independent medical experts, that the ongoing trauma associated with this prosecution presents a significant and unacceptable risk to the life of the complainant. The evidence makes clear that this is not limited to the harm of giving evidence in the witness box, rather applies whether or not the complainant is required to re-enter the witness box in the re-trial. In light of the compelling independent medical opinions, and balancing all factors, I have made the difficult decision, that it is no longer in the public interest to pursue a prosecution at the risk of the complainant’s life.”
Ms Higgins gave evidence at the Sydney defamation trial at the end of 2023. At that time a secret recording was made in a luxury Hotel in Sydney of Ms Higgins Lawyer talking to David Sharaz and Emma Webster (who accompanied Ms Higgins at March4Justice. The National Press Club address, and all the criminal and civil proceedings. According to online profiles, Emma Webster worked for Julia Gilllard, Katy Gallagher when she was ACT Chief Minister from 2011- 2014, Daniel Andrews and Andrew Barr and is currently a Partner at the political lobbying firm Hawker Britton). News reports at the time of the defamation trial, stated that medical reports were mentioned during this meeting as well as Ms Higgins fear about going to jail.
On 12 June 2025, prior to Justice Tottle’s judgement, the NACC concluded its preliminary investigation into the $2.4 Million compensation payment to Ms Higgins: “The preliminary investigation was concerned with the probity and integrity of the process by which the Settlement was reached, and does not involve any conclusion about the validity or otherwise of Ms Higgins’ claims. As has been noted, the Settlement was on the basis of no admission of liability. Whether Ms Higgins made misrepresentations during the negotiations is not within the scope of the Commission’s jurisdiction, as at the relevant time she was not a Commonwealth public official. That question therefore was not and could not be covered by this preliminary investigatiori.” The Deed of Settlement is an exhibit of the Sydney defamation trial website https://www.fedcourt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/114062/Exhibit-59-Deed-of-Settlement-and-Release_Redacted.pdf. Much of the material in the Deef is contrary to evidence which is now online. Which govt Dept then should look into the validity of the claims? The Dept of Finance? And how is responsible for ensuring the validity of claims prior to payments being made?
Blumers Lawyers wrote to the Secretary of Finance in Dec 2021 about Higgins claim – this was before the criminal trial and the civil proceedings where much of the evidence was presented . Was Katy Gallagher Minister of Finance aware of the contents of the claim then? She was one of the main accusers of cover up by Linda Reynolds and the Liberal Govt. All the personal particulars of the claim are dated 16 Feb 2022. The particulars of liability seem to be media narrative presented on the Project.
In terms of CCTV, it is unclear why the multiple rounds of drinks bought by the female public servant NI at the Dock Hotel and given by herself and another male public servant to BH do not feature in the official AFP video on the Fed Court website, nor in the drinks summary table provided in Justice Lee’s judgment. The defence showed pictures of this at the trial and the witness said she was a generous drunk. This witness was hostile telling the court she had “bad vibes” about Bruce – it was her “women’s intuition”. Another public servant at the time CP who does not appear to have an affidavit online even though he said he was one of the first people that Brittany spoke to about the alleged incident revealed he had not disclosed to B Lehrmann he had escalated the classified document breach issue as a formal incident and written a report about this. The doc breach was just prior to BL leaving the office. Ms Higgins texted a male Parliament House security guard that she was friendly with in the lead up to and on the weekend of the alleged incident but those texts disappeared and the security guard did not appear to have been called as a witness. The female security guard said she could not recall the name of the guard who commenced his shift about 8am the morning Higgins left the suite. Why was he not identified and called?
Justice Tottle’s judgment also indicates that BH disclosed her allegations to some Canberra friends (husband and wife couple) in August 2020. This would have been when she was still working for the Lib Party. It appears that the wife was up until recently the ACT ALP Operations Manager and according to previous news repts, the husband disclosed Higgins allegation to the Canberra Victims of Crimes Commissioner HY. This was the person who arranged for BH, DS and their dog flights and accommodation in Canberra, drove them around Canberra and brought in tea and homemade pastries for Ms Higgins during the criminal trial. This disclosure was then some months before the ABC Canberra Bubble program that focussed on C Porter and A Tudge, with Higgins commenting at one point, she had provided some background info to the program.
Interestingly the day the Project story broke in Feb 2021, exhibits on the Fed Court file show that Lehrmann texted a friend that it was all about “getting Linda” and that he was a pawn. At Lehrmann’s recent appeal where his Lawyer ZB referred to his phone records that day, his mental health and checking himself into Royal North Shore Hospital for suicide ideation, one of the judges promptly shut that discussion down.
Still many unanswered questions in relation to this high profile case that dominated the 2022 election but where the evidence via exhibits were only presented recently.
G’day Andrew, Owen here. I have communicated this way many times; not posting; I lost my phone and your number so can’t ring or sms.
I have started to clean out my caravan, haven’t lived for nearly 2 years and paid full rent. That’s how fucked I’ve been. Physically and mentally. I have had offers of help butvI needed to do it myself when I was capable. The Park got on me because I let rent to slip into arrears, and then they also got on because the annexe was in a state of disrepair. Now I was head fucked by the new neighbour who was seemingly protected by the manager, whom had never been a manager before or worked in a caravan park. And I was the fifth person to be abused by the neighbour and technically assaulted by thrusting a cup towards me as I sat in my car whilst he was abusing me and telling me to kill myself, calling me a dog.
Anyway I am over that and have been forced into action, which will save me money. I am head fucked I can’t deal with issues like that, and regos on vehicles etc. But anyway I sent you video clips of my caravan interior sharing the truth with you where I was at; and going back I can’t believe anyone could live there.
I must have been so head fucked. I was being worked to death on contiuous nightshift of one one one off, and tryingbto sleep everyday, and the neighbour spent hours tap tap neiling his little fortress, and I was living in terrible pain, and the work place never told me to go to a Dr, and I couldn’t quit. WINNERS NEVER QUIT, QUITTERS NEVER WIN. My pain was so bad I never took any recycable out as the videos show. When, I was totally incapable of functioning as a tanker driver; my boss said, we don’t have to pay you sick pay, but we will.
Haha. And that was after over 10 years service, the first to reach 10 years, the longest serving employee, and I never took sickies, because they were always short of staff. Anyway I am facing it now, and it will be all, over within a couple of weeks when I have got my stuff out of the van. But yeah, it was truly a hovel, I must have been fucked…Hope you are well Andrew.
Always cheering for you Owen. I’m well thanks.
Surely the point is that Higgins was raped. She’s the victim. Yet somehow Reynolds is claiming victim hood. There are two parallel universes here where the definitions of being a victim are so different one objective the other subjective.
No John, the point of this story is that she lied about being the victim of a cover up. The prime minister tried to hide behind the rape (not proven beyond reasonable doubt) to avoid negative political consequences.
Bu it’s all but agreed she was raped. That to me is the real wrong here. To me that overrides lying,. It’s if you like ethics vs politics.
John Biggs, I respectfully challenge your comment — “… all but agreed”.
My question to you is agreed by whom?
Based on presumption of “innocent until proven guilty” my understanding is no criminal justice system has arrived at that finding. Until that happens, “all but agreed” seems a shallow opinion.
Claims of unfair hearing and, the benchmark of beyond reasonable doubt thus jury reached unsafe verdict, are repeatedly used in varying applications for review in the Tasmanian Sue Neill-Fraser case. Thus from where I view, for the sake of consistency of justice seekers, I dispute your statement, otherwise it appears citizens are cherry-picking when and where we use “beyond reasonable doubt”
1. “Beyond a reasonable doubt” is the higher standard of proof in criminal law, requiring the prosecution to be firmly convinced of the defendant’s guilt.
2. “Balance of probabilities” is the lower standard of proof used in civil law, where a claim must be shown to be more likely than not to be true.
3. The criminal standard is much higher to protect against wrongful convictions due to the severe consequences, like imprisonment.
Is is a victim of rape. The other is a victim of online defamation.
Higgins should be forced to repay all moneys “donated” to her.
Lied about a politcal coverup. There should be furthrr consequences for Higgins.