Former defence minister Linda Reynolds has sent a defamation concerns notice to Tanya Plibersek following an interview on Sunrise regarding Brittany Higgins.
In the interview, which aired on Monday, Plibersek said: “The central point here is that a young woman made an allegation that she had been sexually assaulted in her workplace and that it had been inappropriately investigated, even covered up by her employers.”
On Tuesday night, The Australian reported that Reynolds – Higgins’ former boss – had issued a concerns notice to Plibersek following the Sunrise interview. It said that Reynolds took issue with the suggestion the rape allegation made by Higgins had been “covered up by her employers”.
“Collectively your comments are plainly defamatory of my client, including but not limited to express references to my client as being responsible for the ‘cover up’ of a crime,” the notice said
Plibersek has since confirmed she received the concerns notice, telling The Australian that “all legal options were on the table”.
Meanwhile, lawyers for journalist Lisa Wilkinson have referred police to look into the leaking of a pre-interview recording of Wilkinson and Brittany Higgins ahead of her interview on The Project. The contents of this five-hour recording have appeared in multiple media stories over the past week.
Wilkinson’s lawyers have asked whether the leaking of the recording qualifies as contempt of court.
The pre-interview recording was first obtained by the Australian Federal Police in June 2022 to be used as possible evidence in the trial of Bruce Lehrmann. Parts of the recording have since been published by 7News Spotlight, the Daily Mail and The Australian.
It comes after Senator Katy Gallagher issued a statement on Tuesday that she “did not mislead the Senate” two years ago. She also said she feared for women who are being sent a message to “watch out”.
“The events of the past week, with the media coverage, the questions surrounding the publication of a young woman’s personal phone records provided for use in a court, splashed across TV and newspaper, with opposition members giddy with the courage, has done nothing but seriously damage this confidence,” she said.
“I fear the message out of this for women who want and need to come forward is watch out. Women who may now choose to keep allegations of serious sexual or violent abuse silent. To suppress the trauma and feel as though justice will always elude them.