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Linda Reynolds would be unlikely to win top spots on a Liberal election ticket because of her handling of Brittany Higgins' alleged rape and accusations it was covered up, a senior party figure has told a defamation trial.
Senator Reynolds is suing her former staffer Higgins – who is defending the claim – over a series of social media posts containing alleged mistruths she believes damaged her reputation.
Western Australian Liberal Party selection committee chair Jeremy Buxton told a Perth court if the senator had stood for preselection and not retired she would have probably been relegated to position three or lower on the ticket.
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"Linda Reynolds has been a well-regarded senator but it is very likely … there would be a feeling among a considerable number of delegates that (she) had mishandled the situation in her office, that she may have been unethical in her cover-up," he told the Supreme Court on Monday in answer to a hypothetical question from the senator's lawyer Martin Bennett.
"She may well have been judged a little more harshly as a female senator that she did not adequately support a young female staff member, even if not all the allegations would be believed across the mass of the delegates, there would be a very considerable reservation putting her at a disadvantage to other colleagues who didn't have to answer those sorts of questions.
"She would have been struggling … to get the third position."
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Buxton said position three on the ticket was problematic and position four put a candidate in an unwinnable position unless there was a landslide.
He said Justice Michael Lee's Federal Court judgment in Bruce Lehrmann's failed defamation against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson when he debunked allegations of a cover-up by the Morrison government would have been helpful.
But Buxton wasn't sure it would have "covered all doubts, problems and insinuations on the matter".
Medical doctor Antonio Di Dio was called to parliament after the senator broke down in February 2021 in the days after Higgins appeared on Network Ten's The Project.
"I recall that Senator Reynolds was very anxious and very stressed," he said.
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"I had been asked to see her because of acute anxiety and this was confirmed during my meeting."
Di Dio said the senator told him she had been experiencing chest pain.
"Sometimes on the chest is a symptom of the anxiety itself, but sometimes it's a symptom of the targeted separate issue, such as a cardiovascular problem that is exacerbated by the concurrent anxiety or exists entirely separate to it," he said.
The senator was referred to a cardiologist and later to a psychologist and a psychiatrist.
"I was concerned about the high level of anxiety and the profound effect that that was having Senator Reynolds' work at the time," he said.
"She was obviously was doing important work and was incapable of attending which was causing her emotional distress."
He said he referred the senator to a psychiatrist for a diagnosis and to ensure there weren't underlying issues causing the symptoms.
The psychologist was tasked with implementing a course of therapy to reduce her anxiety symptoms.
Di Dio said a cardiologist found the senator's prolonged chest pain was triggered by anterior T-wave abnormalities triggered by heightened emotional stress and likely microvascular disease.
Senator Reynolds announced she would not recontest the next election in February 2024.
Lehrmann denies raping Higgins in the then defence minister's office and his criminal trial was derailed by juror misconduct.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
