Linda Reynolds Wins Defamation Battle Against Brittany Higgins

Former West Australian senator Linda Reynolds has won a defamation case against her former staffer Brittany Higgins; One person is dead and several injured following a bus crash earlier today; An update on the shooting in the Victorian high country; AFL player Mitch Brown is the game’s first openly bisexual man; All the easter eggs in Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement post. 

The Quicky is the easiest and most enjoyable way to get across the news every day. And it’s delivered straight to your ears in a daily podcast so you can listen whenever you want, wherever you want...at the gym, on the train, in the playground or at night while you're making dinner.

Support independent women's media

CREDITS 

Host/Producer: Cassandra Green

Audio Production: Lu Hill 

Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
You're listening to a Muma Mea podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Mumma Mea acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters
that this podcast is recorded on.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Hi.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
I'm Cassandra Green from Mamma MIA's twice daily news podcast,
The Quickie with Your Headlines for Wednesday, August twenty seven.
Former West Australian Senator Linda Reynolds has won a defamation
case against her former staffer Brittany Higgins. She accused Higgins
of orchestrating a campaign to end her career. In a
series of social media posts, Miss Higgins alleged she was

(00:42):
raped by former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehman in Linda Reynolds's
ministerial suite in March twenty nineteen. She posted on social
media several times after the incident. Reynolds said she was
defamed in certain posts. Justice Tottle found three of the
social media post's word offamatory, resulting in damages. However, Reynolds's
claim over a tweet she alleged implied she was seeking

(01:02):
to silence a sexual assault victim, failed, as well as
a claim that Higgins and her husband David Scheraz engaged
in a conspiracy to injure her reputation. Linda Reynolds was
awarded three hundred and fifteen thousand dollars in damages plus
twenty six thousand dollars in interest payments. The ruling signals
the end of a six year saga of suits and
countersuits for both women dependent on off Higgins appeals. Miss

(01:24):
Higgins did not give evidence at the trial for medical reasons.
The executive principle of Christian College, Geelong has confirmed one
person is dead following a bus crash earlier today, according
to the Age. In an e mail sent to the
school community, Matilda Duba said a female student lost their
life while several other students were injured and are now
receiving treatment. This has now also been confirmed by Victoria Police.

(01:49):
The major incident occurred in Stonehaven, just outside of Geelong,
earlier on Wednesday morning, after a school bus rolled closing
the highway. Emergency services responded to the call around eight
twenty am. Ambulance Victoria said paramedics arrived at the scene
and are prioritizing their patients. There were twenty eight students
on board at the time of the incident, ranging from

(02:09):
primary to secondary school age. There has been little development
on the police shooting in the Victorian High Country. Authorities
are still searching for the alleged shooter, Desi Freeman, with
Victoria Police Commissioner Mike Bush telling media they have set
up a wide cordon as part of a very wide
search area. Freeman is an alleged conspiracy theorist and self

(02:29):
described sovereign citizen who rejects government and law. Aged fifty six,
he has a long history with police and his hatred
of authority is well documented. Commissioner Bush that they're pouring
all available resources into the search for him. Victoria Police's
Secretary Wayne Gatt told Iron Breakfast the loss of two
of his colleagues and another being injured has been an
emotional blow to the force.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
They're just enormously said that, you know, some of them,
in fact, hundreds of them are having to suppress the
way they're feeling emotionally as they turn up to work
and get on with this dangerous job, but so important
job of holding this offended to account.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
As the search continues, politicians are turning to the scourge
of far right eas extremism. Prime Minister Anthony Alberizi said
that the federal government takes the threat of ideologies like
sovereign citizenship very seriously, he said. Mike Burgess, the Director
General of ASIO, has been warned about the threat, although
he acknowledged it is difficult to defend against such individuals. Today,

(03:27):
AFL player Mitch Brown has become the games first openly
bisexual man. The former West Coast Eagle played ninety four
games for the club from two thousand and seven to
twenty sixteen. He spoke to The Daily Oz talking about
the AFL's culture of hypermasculinity that made questioning his sexuality impossible.
He said at one point he asked the teammate how
to know if you were gay, to which he was

(03:48):
laughed at. Throughout his time on the field, he said,
countless homophobic insults were leveled at him, not because they
suspected his sexuality, but because such words were used interchangeably
with insults. Even after retirement, he struggled to explore and
accept his sexuality. Deciding to go public was a big decision,
but something his ex partner, Shay, with whom he shares

(04:09):
two kires kids, was very on board. With his current
partner Lou was entirely in his corner, he said, he
wanted to share his experience so other players could feel seen.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey are getting married, news they
shared with fans on their social media this morning. However,
eagle eyed fans have been pointing out a series of
subtle messages in the post. Taylor Swift is a known

(04:31):
mastermind leaving hints for her swifties, so it's no surprise
this would continue in her engagement post. Perhaps the biggest
was the caption your English Teacher and your gym teacher
are getting married. It's a reference to her song so
High School, which was written for Travis about how their
love swept her off her feet like a first love
in high school would. It features the line you know

(04:53):
how to ball? I know Aristotle, clearly a reference to
the fact that he is a champion football player and
she is a singer songwriter. She also added a dynamite emoji,
also known as TNT. The pair have been going by
the abbreviation for some time, meaning Taylor and Travis, with
Swift even having it emblazoned on a diamond bracelet. She
also posted the news on the thirteenth hour of the

(05:15):
twenty sixth day of August. Now to do so. Mass
thirteen plus thirteen equals twenty six for the uninitiated. Taylorswift's
favorite number is thirteen and the Kicker. It's been thirteen
days since she appeared on Travis Kelsey's podcast. How she
even thinks of this is beyond us. That's your evening
news headlines. On Thursday's episode of The Quikie, Daniel's Law

(05:38):
is now Live. We explain the rules around the new
sex offender registry, plus everything you need to know as
diplomatic relations between Australia, Iran and Israel reach a new low.
Listen to The Quikie wherever you get your podcasts.