00:00This has been a long time coming for Senator Linda Reynolds.
00:05I'm feeling confident that the truth is about to be told.
00:08A high-stakes trial that's drawn huge media interest.
00:11What do you make of her allegation that you had a campaign of harassment?
00:14I'm going to leave my talking to the court today, thank you.
00:17Her case centres on a series of social media posts by Miss Higgins,
00:20which she says greatly injured her reputation,
00:23put her future job prospects at risk and caused her health issues.
00:28Senator Reynolds says the posts implied she mishandled Miss Higgins' rape allegation
00:32by failing to provide her with any support
00:34and pressured her not to proceed with a genuine complaint of sexual assault to police.
00:39Senator Martin Bennett describing some of the allegations as offensive nonsense
00:43and that Higgins constructed a series of events to damnify Senator Reynolds.
00:48The Senator says the damage was aggravated by Miss Higgins
00:51and her now-husband David Shiraz's later actions,
00:54alleging they drip-fed false information to the media and friendly Labor MPs.
00:59Mr Bennett telling the court every fairy tale needs its villain
01:02and Miss Higgins and her husband had cast Senator Reynolds in that role.
01:06But Miss Higgins' lawyers will in part rely on the defence of truth.
01:10Miss Higgins claims Senator Reynolds did mishandle her complaint
01:14by failing to disclose she'd been found naked or substantially naked,
01:17passed out on Senator Reynolds' couch,
01:20revealing details of the incident to others without her consent
01:23and minimising the significance of the assault
01:26by telling her this is something women go through.
01:29The trial is set down for five weeks.
Comments