Brittany Higgins had counselling within days of her alleged rape in Parliament House, contradicting her claims to media none was available for months, a defamation trial has been told.
Higgins is fighting her former boss, senator Linda Reynolds, over a series of social media posts the ex-defence minister believes damaged her reputation.
The senator’s lawyer, Martin Bennett, told a Perth court a voice message from a Canberra Rape Crisis Centre counsellor revealed Higgins had an appointment within eight days of her alleged sexual assault in the senator’s ministerial suite on March 23, 2019.
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“It’s an audio file where [a counsellor] is saying, ‘We met last Monday [April 8, 2019]’,” he told the Western Australian Supreme Court on Wednesday during document tendering.
“It’s the provision of counselling services to Ms Higgins from April 8th onwards, this having been instituted on April 1.”
Bennett said Higgins told News Corp journalist Samantha Maiden she tried to contact the parliament employee support service and was told she would have to wait a month for counselling.
“By the time it gets to The Project interview, it’s a wait of two months,” he said.
Bennett said documents showed an employee program organised an appointment for Higgins with a psychologist on April 11.
“Ms Higgins didn’t take that up because she was already seeing [the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre counsellor],” he said.
“It’s this failure on the part of Ms Higgins to mention either in The Project interview or to Ms Maiden that she was getting counselling that is relevant … for the support that was offered and not taken up.”
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Higgins’ lawyer Rachael Young said her client’s allegations about a delay related to the employee assistance program not the rape crisis centre.
Bennett brought photos of Higgins’ diary to the attention of the court.
He said it was relevant because it showed the former staffer and her husband David Sharaz were working with members of the Australian Labor Party in August 2020 “discussing the plan”.
“[Laura] Tingle is a journalist,” Bennet said as he read other diary entries to the court.
“Drinks with Lucy and Malcolm is a reference to Lucy and Malcolm Turnbull and there’s a significant note on the right-hand card … ‘buy white dress’.”
Justice Paul Tottle disagreed but he admitted various emails and phone messages he deemed helpful.
Bennett said a series of communications revealed Higgins had been with her ex-boyfriend on April 3 when she had taken a day off work, telling the senator’s office she had a medical appointment.
“Went out to dinner with my former boyfriend, stayed the night at this hotel, went to drinks and a party and I didn’t go to the doctor’s appointment I told people I had gone to,” he said, reading one of Higgins’ messages.
Bennett said Higgins had deleted 15 messages between herself and Sharaz during discovery as he unsuccessfully fought to exclude some evidence from the case.
“We’ve always put that Ms Higgins before she produced her phone for police curated her messages [but] this is more than that, this is at the time of discovery,” he said.
“Deletion is destruction of evidence.”
Bennett attempted to tender documents related to Higgins’ $2.4 million federal government settlement and Reynolds’ Commonwealth-appointed lawyers “entertaining a ‘lying cow’ submission” a year after it had been settled in another legal action.
“These are matters which we want to elevate to show the legitimacy of Senator Reynolds’ fury at this conduct and determination to refer it … to the National Anti-Corruption Commission,” he said.
“Not to harass Ms Higgins but to deal with something poorly handled.”
Bennett foreshadowed further court action against the lawyers and the government.
Justice Tottle said he would think about the matter.
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