Brittany Higgins has told her former boss Linda Reynolds “it is time to stop” and accused the Liberal senator of targeting her through the media and in parliament.
On Monday, Reynolds confirmed she still intended to refer the commonwealth’s settlement with Higgins to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nacc), with paperwork expected to be lodged in coming days.
Higgins settled a personal injury claim against the government for an undisclosed amount in December. The amount has been reported as high as $3m, but Higgins has said it was substantially lower.
On her Instagram story on Tuesday, Higgins highlighted media coverage of Reynolds’ comments about the expected Nacc referral and said: “This has been going on for years now. It is time to stop.
“These are just headlines from today. This is from a current Australian senator who continues to harass me through the media and in the parliament,” Higgins said. “My former boss who has publicly apologised for mishandling my rape allegation.
“Who has had to publicly apologise to me after defaming me in the workplace … Who is suing my fiance for a tweet.”
Reynolds was contacted for comment but did not respond by deadline.
Higgins was employed by the then defence industry minister Reynolds at the time she alleges she was raped by fellow staffer Bruce Lehrmann in the senator’s Parliament House office.
Lehrmann was charged but vehemently denies the allegations and maintains his innocence, including in a Channel Seven interview in which he claimed the assault “simply didn’t happen”.
Reynolds first raised the prospect of referring the settlement payment to the Nacc last month, highlighting concerns about the speed of the process and the “fairness” of the Labor government’s handling of the case.
She claimed the payment to Higgins was finalised in an “unusually swift” manner, “raising serious questions about how this significant sum of public money was determined and allocated”.
At the time, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said it would be “entirely inappropriate” for politicians to direct the national integrity commission to investigate a matter.
“One of the things about the anti-corruption commission, that people might not have noticed in the Coalition, is that it’s independent of parliamentarians,” Albanese said.
“It in fact could be regarded as an entirely inappropriate action by the prime minister, or any other politician for that matter, to try to direct the anti-corruption commission into what to do.”
In her criticism of Reynolds on Tuesday, Higgins highlighted stories that have been widely covered in the media.
In 2021, Reynolds offered an unreserved apology to Higgins for her handling of rape allegations, telling parliament “no woman should have to go through what she has been through”.
Last year, Reynolds apologised to Higgins for calling her “a lying cow” and agreed to pay legal costs and make a donation to a sexual assault charity as part of a confidential settlement with her former staffer.
In January, Reynolds sent a formal defamation complaint to David Sharaz, who is engaged to Higgins, over tweets her lawyers claim caused damage that “cannot be underestimated”.
