Brittany Higgins is planning to sell her taxpayer-funded chateau in the south of France, ahead of blockbuster defamation trial against her old boss.
The former Liberal staffer and her now-husband David Sharaz bought the rustic five-bedroom home in Lunas, country’s historic Dordogne region, last year for about $600,000.
They bought the house almost two years after Ms Higgins was awarded a $2.4million compensation payment from the Commonwealth based on claims her political career was in ruins following her rape in Parliament House in 2019.
On the day of the big move in December, they arrived at Brisbane Airport dressed in suffragette white to symbolise ‘strength’ and new beginnings ahead of their new life.
However, their European dream was short-lived.
Daily Mail Australia understands the couple are now strapped for cash amid the ongoing defamation battle with Ms Higgins’ former boss, Senator Linda Reynolds who is suing them both over a series of social media posts.
They have to cover the cost of defamation lawyers, who can charge more than $11,000 per day. If they lose, they would also have to cover Senator Reynolds’ legal fees.
The trial could cost well over $1million.
The matter is set down for six-week hearing in the WA Supreme Court on August 2.
Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz are pictured just after moving to France last year
Pictured: Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz’s French home
Talks to settle the matter have failed, with WA Supreme Court last week hearing that Senator Reynolds will see a copy of the Brittany Higgins Protective Trust to find out the trustee in the event the proceedings go in her favour.
The court heard Ms Higgins established the trust a day after she signed a deed of settlement with the Commonwealth of Australia in December 2022.
The settlement was part of a personal injury claim submitted by Ms Higgins over allegations she had been sexually assaulted by her colleague Bruce Lehrmann at Parliament House.
Ms Higgins was awarded $2.4million in compensation as part of that claim.
Martin Bennett, Senator Reynold’s lawyer, told the court the trust was set up to protect Ms Higgins from any potential future creditors, including his client.
He said an article published in Daily Mail Australia on August 21, 2023, talked about how Ms Higgins had been running out of money when she received a ‘$3million lifeline’.
He said it was easy to draw an inference that the trust was created to protect Ms Higgins from creditors when a person had cried poor, then received a financial lifeline which was placed in a protective trust.
He said Ms Higgins must have known the potential for future action against her because of untruths she allegedly told the Commonwealth in her personal injury claim.
‘You do not need to be a creditor, it can be a future creditor, which falls squarely within the law,’ he said.
Mr Bennett also told the court that Senator Reynolds had made a complaint to the National Anti-Corruption Commission about the compensation payment made to Ms Higgins.
He said the senator told the commission that the money should be given back to the Commonwealth and that she wanted a finding made against the people who authorised the ‘extraordinarily fast payment.’
The court heard that Ms Reynolds was excluded from mediation talks that led to the compensation payment being made to Ms Higgins in December 2022.
More to come
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