Brittany Higgins has revealed a recent new role at the United Nations devoted to ending discrimination against women – as the ex-political staffer confirms rumours that she and fiancé David Sharaz recently jetted overseas for an extended trip.
The former Liberal staffer on Friday shared a series of photos of herself posing outside Palais des Nations, the United Nations’ conference centre in Geneva, Switzerland.
‘Honoured to intern at this year’s @unitednations convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW),’ Ms Higgins wrote.
The images showed Ms Higgins standing at the front gates of the international peace organisation’s headquarters in Switzerland in a variety of outfits as she attended the three-week conference in May.
Her wardrobe choices included a baby pink suit and blazer matched with Gucci-style high heels. A similarly designed shoe costs $1000.
The posts are confirmation of long-running whispers that Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz had jetted overseas as part of her role associated with former prime minister Julia Gillard’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership.
Ms Higgins is a visiting fellow for the institute, which operates out of a college in London and the Australian National University.
Brittany Higgins has revealed she recently interned at the United Nations for a convention dedicated to improving women’s rights
Ms Higgin shared a series of snaps of herself outside the Geneva United Nations headquarters, sporting various outfits
The convention Ms Higgins attended – dedicated to the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women – ran from May 8 to May 26, about the same time rumours were circulating Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz had left their Gold Coast home.
Ms Higgins, a former Liberal party staffer, came forward in 2021 to accuse her colleague Bruce Lehrmann of raping her inside a minister’s office in Parliament House in March 2019.
Mr Lehrmann has always strenuously denied the allegations, and they were never proven in court.
His case resulted in a mistrial due to juror misbehaviour and prosecutors declined to take Mr Lehrmann’s case to a retrial over concerns over Ms Higgins’ mental health.
Ms Higgins’ UN announcement comes after she and Mr Sharaz were spotted back on the Gold Coast last weekend.
Senator Linda Reynolds’ lawyers had been unsuccessfully trying to locate Mr Sharaz for months.
Senator Reynolds is suing Mr Sharaz in the Supreme Court of Western Australia over five social media posts he uploaded that she alleges were ‘falsely defamatory’.
However, the case had been languishing since January as Ms Reynolds lawyers had been struggling to serve the elusive former journalist with court papers.
In May, rumours swirled Ms Higgins and her fiancé David Sharaz (pictured together) were in Europe for her to carry out duties related to her role at Julia Gillard’s foundation
At one stage, he was seen chatting to a woman, not believed to be his fiancée Ms Higgins, who was carrying a baby on her hip
Dressed in a casual green sweater and jeans, Mr Sharaz was pictured last Saturday grabbing a take-away coffee at a cafe near the couple’s home.
Following publication of the story, Mr Sharaz confirmed on Sunday morning he had provided Senator Reynolds’ lawyers with his ‘actual email address’ and had ‘accepted service from Senator Reynolds’.
Mr Sharaz and Ms Higgins have been living together in a rental home since March this year, as the former political staffer continues her studies at Bond University. Mr Sharaz now describes himself as a ‘reformed journalist’.
Their move to Queensland came after Ms Higgins received a substantial payout, rumoured to be up to $3million, from the Commonwealth, after she sought damages for sexual harassment, sex discrimination, disability discrimination, negligence and victimisation.
The mediation with the government is believed to have taken less than a day – which officials defend as a wholly appropriate practice.
Earlier last week, Senator Reynolds’ lawyer Martin Bennett revealed her defamation claim against Mr Sharaz had expanded from two of Mr Sharaz’s tweets to five social media posts in total.
Mr Bennett also explained his office had been trying, and failing, to serve Mr Sharaz with a writ since January of this year.
Hours after Mr Bennett’s comments in court, Ms Higgins posted photos on Instagram of herself alongside Mr Sharaz celebrating her lawyer Leon Zwier’s birthday at an upmarket Chinese restaurant in Melbourne.
He then pointed to media reports stating Mr Sharaz was living in a rental property on the Gold Coast with Ms Higgins, and said locating his address would be impractical.
The court heard his office also contacted Mr Zwier following media reports suggesting he was also representing Mr Sharaz.
However, Mr Zwier said he had not received instructions to accept the writ on behalf of his ‘client’s fiancé’.
Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting Mr Sharaz was deliberately trying to avoid being served, only that Senator Reynolds’ lawyers had previously been unable to locate him and Ms Higgins’ lawyer had not been advised to accept writs on Mr Sharaz’s behalf.
Supreme Court justice Marcus Solomon said he was satisfied that it was impractical for Mr Sharaz to be served in person and allowed Mr Bennett’s office to send the writ to the two personal accounts.
Within 24 hours of those emails being sent, Mr Sharaz will be considered to have been served.
Mr Sharaz and Ms Higgins have been living together in a rental home on the Gold Coast since March this year, as the former political staffer continues her studies at Bond University
It is understood Mr Sharaz hadn’t received the writ by last Friday morning, but Mr Bennett told Daily Mail Australia his office emailed it to him immediately following Justice Solomon’s orders.
It is further understood the two Gmail addresses Mr Bennett’s office acquired were previously unmonitored by Mr Sharaz.
According to the writ, seen by Daily Mail Australia, Senator Reynolds claimed she was defamed in three Twitter posts between January and December last year, one Instagram post in April, and one Facebook comment in December.
Mr Sharaz appears to have deactivated his Facebook profile, made his Instagram account private and removed about 2,000 followers recently.
Senator Reynolds is seeking damages and an injunction against Mr Sharaz from publishing the allegedly defamatory material, and costs.
She is also seeking interest on damages at a rate of six per cent from the date of publication to the date of judgement.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk