Brittany Higgins’ husband David Sharaz also declared bankrupt after being sued by Senator Linda Reynolds

The husband of former federal government staffer Brittany Higgins has been declared bankrupt in a Perth court, paving the way for administrators to find out what happened to the $2.4 million settlement Ms Higgins received. Former Liberal senator Linda Reynolds on Tuesday succeeded in her bid to have David Sharaz declared bankrupt. Federal Registrar Camille Gouke made the decision after Ms Reynolds lodged a creditor’s petition, saying she had not received one cent of the damages awarded to her after a bitter defamation case. Ms Reynolds’ lawyer Martin Bennett told the court Mr Sharaz had been served with the creditor’s petition in person at a cafe near his workplace at the PR firm Third Hemisphere in Melbourne on October 10. Mr Bennett said Mr Sharaz had also been emailed the petition, and had provided a “quaint” response. In the response, read out in court, Mr Sharaz wrote he had followed the legal proceedings through reporting by newspaper journalist Steven Rice, who he described as “Ms Reynolds’ stenographer”. Mr Sharaz’s bankruptcy comes after Ms Higgins was declared bankrupt on December 12, after she too failed to pay Ms Reynolds damages. Trustee Daniel Juratowitch will now look through the couple’s finances to recoup the “millions” Ms Reynolds says she spent defending her reputation. The defamation case centred on allegations the couple made that Ms Reynolds mishandled Ms Higgins’ claim she was raped by colleague Bruce Lehrmann in the former politician’s Parliament House office in Canberra in 2019. Ms Higgins received a $2.4m settlement from the Federal Government after the case became public. Outside of court on Tuesday, Mr Bennett said if the trustee could not recoup the damages owed, Mr Sharaz would have to serve out a period of bankruptcy. “If he is working he will be assessed so that he can make contributions to the estate, his travel will be restricted, he will be obliged to cooperate and he won’t be able to keep luxury items,” he said. Mr Bennett said Mr Sharaz, had been a “mystery person” throughout the case choosing not to give evidence to defend Ms Higgins’ account or open himself up for cross examination. “When he withdrew from defending the Supreme Court action against him, he had his barrister tell the court that he wasn’t going to buy a ticket on the Titanic. Perhaps he couldn’t afford a ticket on the Titanic, but he certainly goes down with the ship now,” he said. Ms Higgins is liable for more than $340,000 in damages, while Mr Sharaz was ordered to pay up to $220,000 in damages from the defamation case. That comprises $85,000 payable by him alone and $135,000 for which the couple are jointly liable. Mr Bennett has previously said the trustee would immediately zero-in on a protective trust that his client alleges Ms Higgins set up to ringfence her huge compensation payout from creditors. Mr Lehrmann continues to maintain his innocence after his 2022 rape trial was aborted due to juror misconduct. The charge was then dropped by prosecutors due to fears for Ms Higgins’ health. He recently lost an appeal against a finding in a related civil case that he had raped Ms Higgins on the balance of probabilities. Civil cases have a lesser burden of proof than a criminal trial. Ms Reynolds’ legal battle to defend her reputation is far from over. In a separate Federal Court action, she is now targeting the Commonwealth’s decision to award Ms Higgins the $2.4m payout. In that case, she claims she was completely sidelined from the mediation despite the mishandling claim being “entirely defendable”.