Editorial
A note on Linda Reynolds

A brief list of things that can be said about Linda Reynolds without defaming her:

She took legal action against a woman who was raped in her office. In his judgement this week, Western Australian Supreme Court Justice Paul Tottle found Brittany Higgins “was the victim of one of the most serious crimes known to the law”.

She took legal action against a woman who was deemed by Tottle to be “unfit by reason of a mental condition to attend or give evidence”.

She gave evidence that “created the impression she was being unnecessarily defensive and, at times, evasive”.

She describes herself as an advocate for gender equity.

She joined the Liberal Party’s Women’s Working Group a year after entering politics.

She directed her chief of staff on March 29, 2019, to report an incident in her office to police in a “low-key” way. Her chief of staff refused, telling her it was “morally and ethically wrong” to do so without Higgins’s consent.

She insisted her chief of staff speak to police and had to be convinced over several conversations that this was not appropriate. Neither yet knew a rape had occurred.

She “had a very limited recollection of her involvement with the events that took place in that period”.

She was not actively hostile to Higgins after she heard about her rape. She did not cover up the rape. She did not harass Higgins.

She called Higgins a “lying cow” while watching the interview in which Higgins first disclosed her rape publicly. She did this because she was angry but was not referring to the rape itself.

She accepted in cross-examination that she had not apologised after staff complained about the statement.

She found it stressful when the media suggested her position as a minister was untenable.

She had to be forced by a legal deed to apologise to Higgins for calling her a “lying cow”.

She found entering this deed “a painful process because I was still very angry with her for the lies”.

She corresponded with the lawyer representing Higgins’s rapist during the criminal trial, sending him “catty” comments about the clothes Higgins wore to court.

She sent confidential documents related to Higgins to a columnist at News Corp because she was “incredibly angry”.

She referred a settlement paid to Higgins to the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

She won a defamation case against Higgins, the woman raped in her office, who must now pay her $315,000 in damages plus $26,000 in interest. This will likely bankrupt Higgins.

Outside the court, she said: “This has been an incredibly emotionally and financially taxing journey, but I never gave up on the truth and on seeking justice.”

This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on August 30, 2025 as "A note on Linda Reynolds".

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