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Lawyers for Western Australia senator Linda Reynolds and her former employee Brittany Higgins began their closing arguments this week Monday, as the defamation case brought against Higgins over a series of social media posts published in 2023 reaches its final days.
Representing Higgins, Rachael Young SC on Tuesday dismissed the allegation that Higgins was motivated by a desire to “hurt” Reynolds, and “bring down the Morrison government”. Instead, the Perth court heard Higgins’ motivation was to “call out” her alleged perpetrator, and to “achieve reform” in the parliamentary workplace.
Reynolds’ lawyer, Martin Bennett, described a number of the claims made by Higgins about Reynolds in her televised interview on The Project as a “litany of lies”. Bennett dismissed the defence’s claims that Reynolds’ hurt and distress was caused by “public scrutiny”, saying it was instead due to the “deliberate defamatory conduct” by Higgins. He pointed to a text message Higgins sent to her now-husband David Sharaz as evidence of her “visceral hatred” of Reynolds.
The trial before Justice Paul Tottle is expected to conclude on Wednesday.
How powerful is Australia’s environmental watchdog?
Will its bark be worse than its bite, wonders cartoonist Fiona Katauskas.
“Like an epidemic where a virus was introduced into young people in 2010 … and it has been spreading ever since.”
Research has revealed young people reporting increased feelings of stress and anxiety. Queensland’s chief health officer, Dr John Gerrard, blames social media as the instigator of what he describes as a public health crisis.
Research published on Tuesday found opposition to supervised injecting rooms has declined markedly over the past 20 years. This is despite there being only two functioning rooms nationwide, after plans to implement a third were scrapped.
‘There’s no need to be worried about forever chemicals in Sydney’s water catchment’
While it is important to keep updating drinking water advice as evidence emerges, Australian guidelines are not wrong or unsafe, writes Stuart Khan, a professor and head of the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Sydney.
Today’s starter word is: GAM. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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