David Sharaz has been declared bankrupt in the federal court just days after his wife, Brittany Higgins, was bankrupted in the same Perth court by her former boss Linda Reynolds.
The former Liberal senator launched bankruptcy proceedings in October against Higgins and Sharaz after successfully suing the couple for defamation.
On Tuesday registrar Camille Goucke ordered Sharaz’s estate be sequestrated under the Bankruptcy Act and that Reynolds’ costs be fixed in the sum of $5,690, according to documents filed in the Western Australian registry.
The court backdated the act of bankruptcy to 31 October.
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Bankruptcy means a trustee appointed by the court takes control of a bankrupt’s estate and assets. The trustee decides whether to sell off any assets to pay off creditors and whether to garnishee any earnings.
Bankruptcy typically lasts for three years and comes with reputational damage and implications for obtaining credit.
Trustee Daniel Juratowitch has been appointed to assess both Sharaz and Higgins’ financial affairs.
In September Sharaz was ordered to pay $92,000 for social media posts the Western Australian supreme court found were defamatory against the former defence minister.
He was served the bankruptcy notice at a Melbourne cafe on 10 October as part of Reynolds’ attempt to pursue the damages awarded to her.
Sharaz, a former journalist, was also found to be jointly responsible for another defamatory tweet to which Higgins responded.
Sharaz was found also liable for Reynolds’ legal costs on an indemnity basis. The total will be determined at a later date but is expected to exceed $500,000.
In April 2024 Sharaz announced he would no longer fight the case as he couldn’t afford the legal fees. But Higgins’ trial went ahead and she was ordered to pay $135,000 plus interest in the court’s judgment.
Reynolds’ high-profile defamation victory over Higgins concerned a series of social media posts she asserted damaged her reputation and in a 360-page judgment Justice Paul Tottle agreed.
Tottle said the imputations 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.
While working as a staffer for Reynolds, Higgins alleged she had been raped by Lehrmann in the minister’s Canberra office.
A criminal trial of the rape allegations was abandoned in 2022 due to juror misconduct. Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence
Justice Michael Lee found in a defamation case launched by Lehrmann against Network Ten that Higgins was, on the balance of probabilities, raped by her former colleague in the office.
