Linda Reynolds says failed mediation with Brittany Higgins disappointing for those ‘damaged and wounded by this saga’

A pair of high-profile defamation cases pitting the Liberal senator Linda Reynolds against her former political staffer Brittany Higgins and her fiance are likely to head to trial after mediation talks were unsuccessful.

The former defence minister, who plans to retire from politics at the next election, is suing Higgins and David Sharaz over a series of social media posts she says have damaged her reputation.

Reynolds said she was disappointed the talks did not resolve the matter "for all of those who have been damaged and wounded by this saga for the last over three years now".

"Too many people have been damaged irreparably by this."

When she arrived at the court for the talks, Reynolds said it was time for her opponents "to admit they got it wrong".

Reynolds also said the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, and attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, should accept Lee's findings in the federal court.

Lee's judgment in Bruce Lehrmann's defamation case against Network Ten and the journalist Lisa Wilkinson found that on the balance of probabilities he did rape Higgins, but the allegation of a political cover-up "was objectively short on facts but long on speculation".