Brittany Higgins was sad and feared that everyone would hate her because the coalition would lose the federal election after campaigning against Scott Morrison.
Texts obtained by Daily Mail Australia show the former Liberal staffer feared she would be blamed after female voters turned savagely against the Prime Minister and the LNP was ousted in May 2022.
‘I’m going crazy. It was never my intention to help destroy the Liberal Party. Does everyone hate me?’ she asked.
Ms Higgins became a household name and a figurehead for women’s rights after she claimed she was raped by Bruce Lehrmann in former Defense Secretary Linda Reynolds’ office after a night out in 2019. Mr Lehrmann has strongly denied the allegation.
Brittany Higgins is pictured with her fiancé, David Sharaz. She alleged that Bruce Lehrmann raped her in 2019. He denies the allegations
In a WhatsApp exchange between Ms Higgins and political journalist Samantha Maiden four days after the election, the former Young Liberal complained that the result was ‘much sadder’ than she had imagined.
Ms Higgins’ fears about the election result came after she had more than one years rubbing shoulders with Labor MPs and anti-government plots with her now-fiancé David Sharaz, whom Mr Morrison sometimes referred to as ‘c**t’ in their private conversations.
Speaking to Mr Shiraz on March 26, 2021, Higgins said of Mr Morrison: “He’s about to get screwed. Wait a second. We’ve got him.’
Polls conducted by the Australia Institute showed that only 30% of women expressed their first preference for the coalition in the last election, amid claims that female voters felt Mr Morrison did not take violence against women or sexual harassment seriously.
In the text exchange obtained by Daily Mail Australia, Ms Maiden tried to calm Ms Higgins down“I don’t think any of them are making it personal to you or that you are responsible for it in any way.”
Pictured: A mock-up of WhatsApp messages between Brittany Higgins and political journalist Samantha Maiden
So I wouldn’t panic. I don’t think anyone thinks you destroyed the Liberal Party. I think Scott Morrison did that himself.’
Mrs. Higgins replied, “Okay. Thank you. Election night was a lot sadder than I ever imagined and the whole Twitter squad the next day made it even worse.”
Ms Higgins’ allegations were first published by Ms Maiden on news.com.au on the morning of 15 February 2021. Later that evening, she made the same allegations in a TV interview with Lisa Wilkinson on The Project.
A month later Ms Higgins’ famously accused the Morrison government of failing to protect her while addressing a crowd of 5,000 at a ‘March 4 Justice’ rally for women on the lawn outside Parliament House in Canberra.
While Ms Higgins told Ms Maiden she was upset when the Liberal Party lost government in 2022, she herself appeared to be at war with Mr Morrison ahead of the election.
Her allegations were deliberately broadcast on national television before Senate estimates – to ensure she could send questions to the Coalition by “friendly” Labor MPs during question time.
She was taped about two weeks in advance wargaming the broadcast, in a five-hour meet-and-greet with Mr Sharaz, Wilkinson and Channel 10 producer Angus Llewellyn.
During that conversation, Mr Llewellyn asked: ‘Do you know any friendly MPs who could ask questions in Question Time?
Ms Higgins stood on the front lawn of Parliament House and accused the coalition of treating her allegations as an inconvenience
Samantha Maiden (pictured) first published Ms Higgins’ allegations online, on February 15, 2021
Ms Higgins met with former Liberal leader Scott Morrison (pictured). He lost the 2022 election
Mrs. Higgins replied, “We can find some.”
Mr Sharaz said: ‘I have a friend in Labour, Katy Gallagher on the Labor side, who will look into it and take it forward.
“So next week, the story gets out, they have to answer questions during question time, it’s a mess for (the Liberal Party).
On the Acts of Parliament a month later, Ms Higgins stood on the lawn of the House of Parliament and accused the Coalition of treating her allegations as an inconvenience.
“I was (allegedly) raped in the House of Parliament by a colleague and for so long it felt like the people around me only cared about where it happened and what it might mean for them,” she told the cheering crowd .
Brittany Higgins claims that Bruce Lehrmann (pictured left, with his lawyer) raped her in Parliament House. He denies the allegation
“I wasn’t someone who had just experienced a life-changing traumatic event, I was a political problem.”
Less than two weeks after giving that speech, she texted Mr Sharaz to say that Mr Morrison was ‘about to get screwed’.
“Wait a minute,” she wrote. ‘We’ve got him.’
Two weeks after, Mr Sharaz also referred to Mr Morrison when he texted Ms Higgins to say: “I still hate the c**t.”
A month after that, Mr. Sharaz texted Ms. Higgins about Senate estimates, calling Labor leader Anthony Albanese “Albo” and Mr. Morrison just “c**t.”
Ms Higgins and her fiancé also arranged multiple meetings with Labor and Green senators, including Sarah Hanson-Young, who visited the former staffer at her Brisbane apartment, and the then opposition leader, Mr Albanese.
She also went for tea with former Labor leader Kevin Rudd in a “$10 million penthouse.”
Mr Lehrmann was tried by the ACT Supreme Court in October last year.
Under cross-examination, Ms. Higgins told the court she intended to bring down the Liberal party: “I loved my party, I loved the Liberal party.”
‘It sounds absurd. I didn’t necessarily want to hurt them. I wanted to reform this issue,” she told the court.
A mistrial was declared after a juror brought banned investigative material to court, before the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions dropped the assault charge entirely out of concern for Ms Higgins’ mental health.
A day after the DPP announced the failure of the case, Ms Higgins received a compensation payment from the Labor government – worth up to $3 million.