Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison will give evidence via video link at the Western Australian Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Mr Morrison was leader of the Coalition in 2019 when Ms Higgins, a Liberal Party staffer, was raped by her colleague Bruce Lehrmann in Linda Reynolds’ ministerial suite in Parliament House.
Mrs Reynolds was at the time Minister for Defence Industry.
The Coalition was still in government in February 2021, when Ms Higgins went public with her rape allegations in a News Corp online article and a television interview on The Project.
Her claims were a disaster for the Liberal Party. Ms Reynolds was questioned about the situation for a week during Question Time. The court heard she suffered a complete breakdown and nearly died from a heart condition.
She was accused of trying to cover up the rape, failing to support Ms Higgins and forcing her to choose between going to the police and her political career.
Mrs Reynolds strongly denies these allegations, but she did not defend herself properly at the time because she did not want to betray Mrs Higgins’ trust.
She also believed that a criminal charge should not fall under the protection of parliamentary privilege.
Ms Reynolds told the court last week that on the last day of the hearing she left the Senate and collapsed, her knees shaking, her chest pains buckling and Mr Morrison comforting her.
(Pictured below: Linda Reynolds with Scott Morrison)
A month later, in March 2021, it was revealed that Ms Reynolds had called Ms Higgins a “lying cow” in an open area of her office, in front of her staff, while she was watching The Project broadcast.
Ms Reynolds said she was referring to Ms Higgins’ allegations against her, not the rape itself.
Mr Morrison condemned her comments and removed her from the defence portfolio.
On March 25, 2021, Mr Morrison appeared on A Current Affair and was grilled by former presenter Tracy Grimshaw about Ms Higgins’ rape claims.
That hearing will take place before the judge on Tuesday.
About a year later, in February 2022, Mr Morrison stood up in Parliament House and apologised to Ms Higgins. At the time, Lehrmann had been charged with rape and was due to appear in court two months later.
He said, ‘I’m sorry. We’re sorry. I’m sorry Mrs Higgins for the terrible things that happened here.
‘The place that should have been a place of safety and contribution turned out to be a nightmare.
‘I apologize for much more than that. For everyone who came out for Ms. Higgins.
“And she enjoyed it, but she had the courage to speak up, and so here we are.”
The hearing will resume at 10:30 local time, 12:30 AEST.
(Pictured below: Brittany Higgins in Parliament House watching Scott Morrison’s apology in 2022)
