Brittany Higgins declared bankrupt as court steps in over debt to Linda Reynolds
Brittany Higgins was officially declared bankrupt after she lost by slandering her former boss, former Liberal senator Linda Reynolds, and the Federal Court ruled that Higgins’ finances had to be taken over so Reynolds could get back the money she was owed.
The orders mark a major turning point in the long-running legal dispute between Reynolds and his former employee following Higgins’s alleged rape by colleague Bruce Lehrmann in Parliament House in March 2019.
In orders issued Friday morning, Federal Court Judge Michael Feutrill bound the former Liberal staffer’s assets to the bankruptcy order dated Oct. 8. It set Reynolds’ legal costs at $6,330, to be paid from Higgins’ estate.
Feutrill ordered Reynolds to forward a copy of the order to Daniel Peter Juratowitch within seven days.
Earlier this year, Higgins and her husband, David Sharaz, were ordered to pay Reynolds more than $341,000 in damages and possibly more than $1 million in legal fees following a successful defamation lawsuit against the couple.
Higgins had previously received a $2.4 million compensation payment from the Commonwealth, which was transferred to a trust and the administration of that money is now at the center of the bankruptcy process.
The decision follows a contentious court hearing earlier this week in which Reynolds’ lawyer Martin Bennett claimed Higgins had failed to comply with the bankruptcy declaration.
A key issue raised at Monday’s hearing was whether the bankruptcy notice was properly served; Bennett argued that the notification was valid because it was made through Higgins’ attorney, Carmel Galati.
The court was also told that Higgins had relied on mental health grounds in previous proceedings, including his decision not to give evidence in the Federal Court’s libel case before Judge Michael Lee, but relied instead on findings from the separate libel case that Lehrmann brought against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson, which he ultimately lost.
Feutrill said he needed time to consider the issues raised, but ultimately accepted the creditor’s petition.
The bankruptcy ruling clears the way for the creditor’s case to continue, following Higgins’ decision last month to withdraw his appeal against the defamation ruling.
Start your day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
Carla Hildebrandt is a journalist at WAtoday. She previously worked as a courts reporter for the ABC’s Four Corners and for The Daily Telegraph in Sydney. For secure communication: carlahildebrandt@proton.me.Connect via email.
