Defence Minister Linda Reynolds pays alleged rape victim Brittany Higgins undisclosed damages after calling her a ‘lying cow’
Defence Minster Linda Reynolds has paid Brittany Higgins undisclosed defamation damages after calling her a ‘lying cow’.
Ms Higgins, who was allegedly raped in the minister’s parliament office by a colleague in 2019, said she would give the money to charity.
Senator Reynolds, who is on stress leave, released a statement apologising for the comment which she made in earshot of her staff on the day Ms Higgins went public with her shocking allegation last month.
Defence Minster Linda Reynolds has paid Brittany Higgins (pictured) undisclosed damages after calling her a lying cow
The staff later told journalists about the comment and the story appeared on the front page of The Australian.
Ms Higgins then sued Senator Reynolds, calling the insult ‘hurtful’.
In a settlement finalised on Friday, the minister was forced to retract her remark and pay damages out of her own pocket.
Ms Higgins, 24, said she accepted the apology and that the money she gets would pay her legal costs with anything left over given to charity.
‘I am pleased the minister has now withdrawn her comments and I accept her apology to me,’ she said.
‘This has been an immensely challending period for me and I wish to reiterate that the only reason I have chosen to come forward is to help others,’ she added.
Senator Reynolds insists her comment was not questioning Ms Higgins’ rape allegation but her claim that she was not well supported by the minister.
She said in her statement on Friday: ‘I did not mean it in the sense it may have been understood.’
Senator Reynolds, who is on stress leave, released a statement apologising for the comment