Harper Matheson
Harper Matheson (2023-present)
Jessica Redmayne
Episodes: 8093-present
Siblings: Dana Matheson
Occupation: Social Worker
Harper arrived in Summer Bay in the latter half of 2023 and quickly applied to Irene’s advertisement for a room to let, introducing herself as a social worker on leave. John was suspicious of her on seeing her avoiding the police and asked Cash to look into her…only for it to turn out she was actually an old friend of Cash’s, with them often having worked together in the city. Harper did have an ulterior motive for being there, however: Her sister Dana was on the run after being accused of drug theft when drugs stolen from the hospital where she worked were found in the flat she shared with her boyfriend Olly, and she wanted Cash to look into it. What she didn’t tell him was that she knew exactly where Dana was, having smuggled her into her room at Irene’s.
The heat was taken off slightly when Irene went to visit her granddaughter in the city, leaving Harper in charge of the house. Harper returned her favour to Cash by giving his sister Felicity advice when Jeremy Holding, the man who raped her, asked to meet her as part of restorative justice. Cash learned the truth about Dana’s whereabouts but accepted she would be in danger from corrupt cop Will Madden if he turned her in. Harper was herself interviewed by Madden about Dana’s whereabouts and told Cash she was having lunch with Dana at the time of the theft, something Madden had never asked her about. However, Madden got to the CCTV footage before Cash could, tipping them off to the fact that Madden was in contact with Olly. Harper had to go back to hiding Dana when Irene came back, then Madden turned up at the house and tried to force her to come with him. Irene stepped in and sent Madden away, before uncovering Dana hiding in the bedroom. Irene agreed to help the pair but then Madden turned up and tried to arrest Harper. Dana gave herself up instead but promptly disappeared, with Madden claiming she had escaped. Harper alerted Cash and his colleague Rose when she got a mysterious silent phone call she realised was from Dana, resulting in Dana being found and Madden’s attempt to kill her being exposed.
Although Dana was cleared, Rose warned Harper they could all still faces charges for helping her, and Cash’s girlfriend Eden blamed her when he was suspended for rule-breaking. Harper admitted she’d lost her own job during her absence, since her boss had never liked her. She was then arrested, and charged with hindering a police investigation: She and Irene both had to spend a night in lock-up before the magistrate could see them. After pleading guilty, they were released pending sentencing. She was informed by her lawyer that Irene had a prior conviction, and was advised to distance herself from her but refused, instead suggesting she and Dana get jobs in the area to help her in court. When Irene asked them to move out, Harper realised it was Dana’s doing and insisted on supporting Irene, with both her and Dana going to court with her. To her relief, not only were the charges against Irene dismissed but her charges were dropped too.
Harper began spending a lot of time at gym sessions and befriended Tane, giving him a sympathetic ear as his marriage broke up. She took a job with Northern District Health and Tane put her through a training session beforehand but their closeness led to Felicity telling Harper to stay away from her husband and Harper feeling uncomfortable that she bit back at her instead of defusing the situation. She considered distancing herself from Tane but Felicity ended up apologising. Harper was involved in the discussion for a fundraiser Xander was planning to put on for SCAD research.
Shortly after the event, Tane kissed her during a training session but she immediately pulled away. Tane offered to find her a new personal trainer but they decided to go back to being friends. She felt down after learning her ex-fiance Tony, who she had left at the altar when he forced her to choose between him and Dana, had had a baby. She was mortified when Dana arranged for Xander to take her to the Moonlight at Salt event as his date but ended up having a good time even though they only saw each other as friends. She signed up to a dating app but her first date, Derek, was only interested in using her to make his ex jealous. She learned Dana liked Xander and encouraged her to ask him out although it ended in disaster.
She became involved with the case of a baby girl Tane found abandoned on the beach in her capacity as social worker. She saw finding the biological family as the best outcome, causing her to clash with Dana, who noted they’d have been better off if their addict parents had abandoned them. She advised Roo over applying to be a foster parent and eventually found a local foster family for the baby, who Tane had named Maia. Before the matter could be finished however, Tane kidnapped Maia and then Sonia Rickards turned up and revealed the baby was her daughter Poppy. Harper blasted Dana for messing up again on learning she had sneaked Tane into the hospital.
When Mali heard from Tane, Harper went with him to meet him and helped convince him to return Poppy. Charged with kidnapping, Tane refused to discuss his court date with her, and Felicity told her they needed to help Tane whether he wanted them to or not. They worked together to ambush him, after which Harper contacted Tane’s lawyer, Marshall Aldrych, and convinced him to stick around in town while she persuaded Tane to see him. She was then subpoenaed to testify against Tane. When she told him, he suggested they keep their distance. Despite being warned it could lead to a contempt of court charge, she claimed not to remember anything on the stand. Tane encouraged her to tell the truth and she emphasised that Tane chose to return the baby. She slept with Tane before his sentencing and was unable to discuss it with him before he had to go away for mandatory counselling.
She admitted to Dana that she liked Tane and got Marilyn to give her a tarot reading which indicated change and a bond between two people (which Marilyn stressed could be romantic, friendship or with a sister), She quickly befriended Bronte Langford, a supposedly terminally ill woman Irene had invited to stay with them, and recorded the video for a crowdfunding page for her. She dismissed Dana’s suspicions that Bronte was faking. Tane returned and told her he thought they should just be friends, then roped her into helping him with a proposal to use the gym to help young offenders get themselves straightened out. She pulled out of helping him with a pitch, admitting she liked him and couldn’t be friends with him, but encouraged him to stick with the idea.