David Sharaz erupts as wife Brittany Higgins is mocked by Prue MacSween for being forced to sell her French chateau after just a year to fund her rapidly escalating legal bills

Brittany Higgins’ furious husband has branded a controversial Australian commentator ‘vile’ after she spoke out about the couple’s plans to sell their French chateau ahead of an impending libel case

On Monday it was revealed that Ms Higgins plans to sell her taxpayer-funded chateau in the south of France ahead of a major defamation trial against her former boss, Senator Linda Reynolds.

The former Liberal Party staffer and her new husband David Sharaz bought the rustic five-bedroom home in Lunas, in the historic Dordogne region, last year for around $600,000.

They made the purchase about a year after Ms Higgins was awarded $2.4 million in damages by the Commonwealth, based on claims her political career was in ruins following her rape in Parliament House in 2019.

Outspoken television commentator Prue MacSween could not hide her delight as she ridiculed Ms Higgins after the latest developments emerged on Monday.

“Too smart by half. Mon Dieu Higgins must sell her French Chateau to pay her mounting legal bills. C’est la vie,” she tweeted.

A few hours later, Mr Sharaz stood up for his wife by posting an angry tweet.

“You are… mean,” he wrote in the retweet.

Sharaz’s tweet prompted others to defend the couple and attack MacSween.

“Why is Prue so bitter? Because you’ve been irrelevant for so many years,” someone commented.

Another added: ‘You really are some kind of piece of work Prune. I don’t think even the bowlo crowd would agree with your constant vitriol towards anyone who disagrees with your twisted position.

A third wrote: ‘You are a mean person. Why do you get so much pleasure out of being mean to people? There isn’t a compassionate bone in your body.’

Meanwhile, Ms Higgins also responded to the headline of an online news article on Monday evening about the latest developments.

The headline ‘Brittany Higgins to sell French holiday home’ has been changed from holiday home to ‘home’.

The final move comes just seven months after Mrs. Higgins and Mr. Sharaz fled to France to start a new life.

Daily Mail Australia has learned the couple are now strapped for cash due to an ongoing defamation case with Senator Linda Reynolds, who is suing them both over a series of social media posts.

They must cover the costs of defamation lawyers, who can charge upwards of $11,000 a day. If they lose, they must also cover Senator Reynolds’ legal fees — meaning they could face a legal bill of more than $1 million.

It is further believed that they plan to move back to Australia before the birth of their first child.

Since her payout in 2022, the couple have enjoyed a year-long luxury rental on the Gold Coast and have holidayed in the Maldives, Europe, the ski slopes of Australia and Disneyland in Paris.

In May, they flew back to the Gold Coast in preparation for their wedding at The Valley Estate, a sprawling, luxurious venue on the Gold Coast. The wedding was rumoured to have cost over $100,000.

Ms Higgins’ lace dress was a custom design by South Australian tailor Paolo Sebastian and cost around $30,000.

Last week, the couple announced on Instagram that Mrs. Higgins is pregnant.

“I can’t wait to meet you!” she wrote in the caption.

“Beyond excited to welcome a new member to our little family. Your parents are already obsessed with you and you’re not even here yet.”

Mr Sharaz, 33, has not held a full-time job since leaving his media role at Southern Cross Austereo in Brisbane in 2023, shortly after Ms Reynolds announced she would sue him.

Earlier this year, he waved the white flag and said he would not fight Mrs. Reynolds again because he did not have the financial resources. The case is still unresolved, but he conceded defeat.

Ms Reynolds’ case against them is scheduled for a six-week hearing in the Supreme Court of Western Australia on August 2.

Talks to resolve the matter have failed. Last week, the court heard that Senator Reynolds will review a copy of the Brittany Higgins Protective Trust to determine who the trustee is, should the proceedings go in her favour.

The court heard that Ms Higgins set up the trust the day after she signed the deed of establishment with the Commonwealth of Australia in December 2022.

The settlement was part of a personal injury claim filed by Ms Higgins alleging she was sexually abused by her former colleague Bruce Lehrmann.

Martin Bennett, Ms Reynolds’ lawyer, told the court the trust had been set up to protect Ms Higgins from potential future creditors, including his client.

He said an article published in Daily Mail Australia on August 21, 2023, reported that Ms Higgins was close to running out of money when she received a “$3 million lifeline”.

Mr Bennett said it was easy to conclude that the trust had been set up to protect Mrs Higgins from creditors, when someone had declared themselves poor and then received a financial lifeline placed in a protective trust.

He said Ms Higgins must have been aware of the potential future action against her because of the untruths she allegedly told the Commonwealth in her personal injury claim.

“You don’t have to be a creditor, it can also be a future creditor, which is completely within the law,” he told the court.

Ms Reynolds has filed a complaint with the National Anti-Corruption Commission over the compensation paid to Ms Higgins.

Her lawyer said the senator told the committee the money should be returned to the Commonwealth and that she wanted a judgment against the people who authorized the “extraordinarily rapid payment.”

Ms Higgins was awarded $2.445 million in damages by the government, including $1.48 million for loss of earning capacity over 40 years; $400,000 for injury, distress and humiliation; $220,000 for medical expenses; $100,000 for home help; and $245,000 for legal fees.

She accused Ms Reynolds and Senator Michaelia Cash, who was her boss in 2020, of failing to properly support her after her rape. However, both senators were excluded from mediation talks with the Commonwealth.

At the time, Ms Higgins’ rape claims had not yet been proven in court.

In April, more than a year after she won the case, Federal Court Judge Michael Lee ruled that Mr Lehrmann had raped Ms Higgins, based on the probability of rape.

He has filed an appeal. The first case management hearing is scheduled to take place in the Federal Court in Sydney next Thursday.