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The ACT government has paid senator Linda Reynolds $90,000 and issued an apology for comments made by former director of public prosecutions Shane Drumgold.
The Liberal senator sued the ACT government and Mr Drumgold over a letter he penned to the Australian Federal Police after Bruce Lehrmann’s rape trial.
Mr Lehrmann had been on trial for the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins at Parliament House, but the trial was abandoned due to juror misconduct, leaving no findings against him. Mr Lehrmann maintains his innocence.
Mr Drumgold’s letter accused Senator Reynolds of “disturbing conduct” and when the letter was later released via a freedom of information request, the correspondence was reported in the media.
In the letter, Mr Drumgold accused Senator Reynolds of suspected political interference after she sought transcripts of the testimony given by Ms Higgins.
He later withdrew the claims during a board of inquiry into how Mr Lehrmann’s trial was handled.
That inquiry found Mr Drumgold’s comments to be baseless.
ABC News: Matt Roberts
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ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury said the ACT government had reached a compromise settlement with Senator Reynolds that included $70,000 in damages and $20,000 in legal fees.
“The territory has accepted that allegations about Senator Reynolds made by the former DPP were found by the board of inquiry to be defamatory,” he said.
“The settlement does include a formal apology from the territory.
“That apology is made by the director-general of the Justice and Community Safety Directorate on behalf of the ACT government.”
Mr Rattenbury said he now considered the matter to be settled.
“The territory has given certain undertakings that the material that was previously published will not be published again, unless required to by law,” he said.
The ABC has contacted Senator Reynolds’s office for comment.
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