David Sharaz has been ordered to pay $92,000 for social media posts the Western Australian supreme court found were defamatory against former defence minister Linda Reynolds.
Sharaz, a former journalist and Higgins’ now-husband, has also been found jointly responsible for another defamatory tweet to which Higgins responded, according to the court’s orders.
Higgins was ordered to pay $135,000 plus interest in the court’s judgment in August in her trial against Reynolds. The ruling means both are now jointly liable for the single payout.
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Justice Paul Tottle said Sharaz was also liable for Reynolds’ legal costs on an indemnity basis. The total will be determined at a later date but is expected to exceed $500,000.
“The defamatory publications were indefensible. A settlement offer should have been made. At the very least an offer to make an apology should have been made,” Tottle’s judgment said.
“There was nothing about the defendant’s conduct of the proceedings which would otherwise make it unjust to make an indemnity costs order against him.”
On Wednesday, Brittany Higgins’ legal team filed an appeal notice against the court’s orders in August that she pay $341,000 and 80% of legal costs to Reynolds, her former boss.
Tottle had ruled Reynolds’ reputation was damaged by Higgins’ response to Sharaz’s tweet.
Higgins’ legal team, however, had successfully defended a third social media post – also found to be defamatory – as honest opinion, fair comment and qualified privilege.
Reynolds was unable to prove Higgins and Sharaz had concocted a conspiracy to publicly release the details of Higgins’s alleged rape with the “sole or predominant purpose” of destroying the former senator’s reputation, Tottle’s judgment said.
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The court ruled that Higgins pay $315,000 in damages with an additional $26,109.25 in interest. Earlier this month, the court made a separate ruling on additional costs, ordering Higgins to pay 80% of Reynolds’ legal costs for the five-week defamation trial.
It’s expected the total legal bill will surpass $1m.
