The defamation battle between senator Linda Reynolds and her former staffer Brittany Higgins is entering its final stages, with only two witnesses left to take the stand.
Senator Reynolds’ legal team will on Wednesday call news.com.au political editor Samantha Maiden to the stand, while Ms Higgins’ team will call former Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Leanne Close as its only witness, after it was announced Ms Higgins would not take the stand as originally planned.
Ms Maiden interviewed Ms Higgins and broke the story about her rape allegation on February 15, 2021.
Outside of court on Wednesday, Mr Bennett said without Mr Sharaz and Ms Higgins giving evidence, they had to go through evidence tendered to the federal court during Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial against Network Ten and find an interview with Lisa Wilkinson.
Now, he said, they had to go through Ms Maiden’s tape recordings and interviews, and needed one party to tender them.
“Unfortunately, it is Ms Maiden’s turn,” he said.
Mr Bennett told reporters she would be appearing unusually represented by senior counsel and other solicitors in the room.
“It will be defensive rather than hostile,” he said.
The defence will call former Australian Federal Police commissioner Leanne Close to give evidence on Thursday.
Ms Higgins’ barrister, Rachael Young SC, told the court Ms Close would be called to test evidence given by Senator Reynolds’ former chief of staff, Fiona Brown.
Ms Brown’s evidence claimed she was not present during key parts of a meeting with Ms Close and Senator Reynolds on April 4, 2021.
Ms Young said they were deprived an opportunity to test Ms Brown’s recollection of events, as she did not take the stand, and they would like to call Ms Close to test that evidence.
Senator Reynolds is suing Ms Higgins and her husband David Sharaz over a number of social media posts the pair made in 2022 and 2023.
The posts were critical of Senator Reynolds’ handling of Ms Higgins’ allegation she was raped in Parliament House in 2019 by her then colleague Bruce Lehrmann.
The former political staffer was later charged with rape and faced trial in 2022, but the trial was aborted due to juror misconduct.
The charge was ultimately dropped and Mr Lehrmann continues to maintain his innocence.
Mr Lehrmann lost a subsequent civil defamation case in April this year when the Federal Court determined, on the balance of probabilities, that he had raped Ms Higgins at Parliament House.
He is appealing the decision.
SENATOR ‘BROUGHT TO HER KNEES’
On Tuesday, Senator Anne Ruston told the court senator Linda Reynolds was “brought to her knees” after weeks of sustained attacks from the media and in parliament in the wake of a rape allegation.
Senator Ruston told the WA Supreme Court how the storm that erupted over allegations Senator Reynolds had mishandled the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins left her friend unable to do her job or sleep.
She was giving evidence in Senator Reynolds’ defamation trial on Tuesday, and said how it was horrifying to see the event unfold because it was so far from her true character.
On Tuesday, former senator Marise Payne also gave evidence telling the WA Supreme Court how she saw Senator Reynolds shaking and holding a desk tightly after intense questioning in the senate over the rape allegation.
Ms Payne said she observed how her colleague had tried to respond to questions in the most appropriate way, but it was deeply concerning how distressed she became.
She said Senator Reynolds was under an enormous amount of pressure from other senators in the senate chamber.
“A level of pressure I had rarely seen before or since,” she said in court.
“There is no question the chamber is meant to be a place of debate and contest, but it was a significant amount of pressure.”
The trial continues Wednesday and will hear evidence from News Corp journalist Samantha Maiden, who broke Ms Higgins’ story in February, 2021.
Former Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Leanne Close is also likely to be called by the defence on Thursday.