Brittany Higgins has been bankrupted by her former boss, bringing Linda Reynolds one step closer to discovering where her former political staffer’s $2.4m compensation payout went.
Reynolds, a former Liberal senator, launched bankruptcy proceedings in October against Higgins after successfully suing her for defamation.
The federal court judge Michael Feutrill on Friday made orders to sequestrate Higgins’ estate under the Bankruptcy Act after a series of minor setbacks and technical difficulties that slowed the process.
The date of the act of bankruptcy was backdated to 8 October.
“[The estate will] be handed over to the trustee of the bankruptcy who will take control of her affairs and deal with the creditors in due course,” Reynolds’ lawyer Rachel Ross told reporters outside the court in Perth.
Reynolds’ high-profile defamation victory over Higgins concerned a series of social media posts the former defence minister believed damaged her reputation.
Reynolds was awarded damages of $315,000 plus $26,109 interest after Western Australia’s supreme court in August found some of the posts were defamatory.
Higgins was also ordered to pay 80% of her former boss’s legal costs, which are estimated to be more than $1m.
Reynolds’ lawyer Martin Bennett previously said the bankruptcy would allow Reynolds to find out how much of Higgins’ commonwealth settlement remained as she attempted to recoup her legal costs for the defamation case.
Higgins apologised to Reynolds after the former senator emerged victorious from the duo’s high-profile five-week defamation trial.
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Justice Paul Tottle found Higgins’ social media posts carried an array of imputations.
They included that Reynolds engaged in a campaign of harassment against Higgins, mishandled her rape allegation and engaged in questionable conduct during Bruce Lehrmann’s aborted criminal trial for rape.
The 360-page judgment made factual findings about the events involving Reynolds and Higgins, including her alleged 2019 rape and the events in the years after it.
Higgins made 26 false or misleading statements in media interviews after her alleged sexual assault, the judgment said.
She alleges former co-worker Lehrmann raped her in the senator’s ministerial suite.
A federal court judge overseeing a defamation case launched by Lehrmann against Network Ten found Higgins was, on the balance of probabilities, raped by her former co-worker in the office.
Lehrmann has lost an appeal against that finding but has flagged taking the case to the high court.
He denies the rape allegation and his criminal trial was derailed by juror misconduct.
Higgins’ husband David Sharaz was also served with a bankruptcy notice by Reynolds and is expected to declare bankruptcy.
He was also found to have defamed the former politician and was ordered to pay $85,000 in damages plus interest and costs.
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