Brittany Higgins wished her beloved grandfather a “speedy recovery” in an emotional post on her social media.
Ms Higgins, who married her boyfriend David Sharaz last month, posted a series of photos of her grandfather on Instagram on Friday.
“Sending love to my amazing grandpa – who insists on surfing with a helmet on, watching sports with the sound off, and shared his love of politics with me. Thinking of you + praying for a speedy recovery,” she wrote.
The photo carousel showed Brittany as a young girl on a horse, her grandfather in his youth and a series of cheerful snapshots with family members.
She was grateful to him for igniting her passion for politics. The 29-year-old subsequently worked as a political advisor to various government organisations, MPs and ministers in state governments and the federal government.
The health update comes just over a month after Ms Higgins married Mr Sharaz on July 1 in front of around 80 guests at The Valley Estate.
The wedding, which was held at the sprawling, luxurious Gold Coast venue, was rumoured to have cost more than $100,000.
The special day followed a tumultuous few years for the couple, who were thrust into the spotlight when Ms Higgins went public with her rape allegations.
Brittany Higgins wished her grandfather (pictured right) a ‘speedy recovery’ on Friday
Ms Higgins, who married her long-term boyfriend David Sharaz last month, posted a series of photos of her grandfather (pictured far left) on Instagram
Ms Higgins said her former colleague Bruce Lehrmann raped her in Parliament House in 2019, when they were both junior political staffers.
Mr Lehrmann denied this, but in April a federal court judge ruled, on the balance of probabilities, that Ms Higgins had been raped.
In December last year, Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz bought a chateau in the south of France with the $2.4 million she received from the Commonwealth in compensation for the way her rape allegations had been handled.
On Tuesday, Ms Higgins hit back at Linda Reynolds after she accused her in court documents of plotting with her husband to overthrow the Morrison government.
The documents were filed by Senator Reynolds’ legal team. The former Minister for Defence Industry is separately suing Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz in the Federal Court of Western Australia over comments they made on social media, which she claims defamed her.
A lawsuit is scheduled for early August, after several rounds of mediation between the parties failed.
The court documents have been amended to allege that Ms Higgins, a former aide to Senator Reynolds, and Mr Sharaz were involved in a political conspiracy aimed at using her rape allegations against the Liberal/National Party government.
The health update comes just over a month after Ms Higgins married Mr Sharaz on July 1 in front of around 80 guests at The Valley Estate (the couple are pictured at the wedding)
A spokesman for Ms Higgins responded to the new claims on Tuesday, saying: ‘Brittany Higgins stands by her position on the aftermath of her rape in Parliament House.
“She is being forced back into court for the third time to discuss these harrowing events.”
Senator Reynolds’ updated statement, obtained by The Australian newspaper, alleges Ms Higgins “acted maliciously” by posting on social media about the government’s handling of her rape allegations.
“They were published in support of a plan by the defendant and Mr. Sharaz to use the defendant’s allegations of rape and the political cover-up… as a weapon to inflict immediate political damage on the plaintiff and the then government,” the summons said.
Senator Reynolds alleges that part of that plan involved arranging meetings with Labor figures such as Finance Minister Katy Gallagher and Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who were allegedly fed false information.
Senators were then encouraged to ask “aggressive questions” during Question Time in February 2021, shortly after Ms Higgins went public with her rape allegations against her former colleague Bruce Lehrmann in March 2019.