Natalie Barr asked Tanya Plibersek six times if she was approached to raise Brittney Higgins' alleged assault in Question Time.
The Sunrise host pinned the former deputy leader of the Labor party on the subject after last night's explosive revelations that Ms Higgins', her boyfriend David Sharaz and Lisa Wilkinson had 'brainstormed' friendly MPs who could 'fire questions' over the sexual assault allegation before her interview on The Project in February 2021.
In the recording of the five-hour lunch, aired for the first time by 7News Spotlight during an interview with Bruce Lehrmann on Sunday night, Ms Wilkinson said Ms Plibersek would 'definitely' be a friendly MP who could do their bidding by raising the subject in parliament.
Ms Higgins alleges she was raped by Mr Lehrmann in Parliament House after a night out in 2019. Mr Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence.
Sunrise host Natalie Barr (pictured) asked Tanya Plibersek SIX times if she was approached to raise Brittney Higgins' alleged assault in Question Time
On Sunrise this morning, Ms Barr repeatedly asked Ms Plibersek whether she was approached to raise Ms Higgins' complaint, even demanding she 'answer the question' after she initially deflected.
'With respect, could you answer the question?', said Ms Barr.
'Were you approached by Lisa Wilkinson or her producer to raise Britney Higgins’ alleged assaults in question time, Tanya?'
Ms Plibersek eventually said she had not been approached by Ms Wilkinson or her producer but admitted that she had spoken to Ms Higgins.
The Sunrise host then asked her multiple times if Ms Higgins had asked her to raise her allegations in parliament.
Ms Higgins (pictured outside court with her partner David Sharaz) alleged Mr Lehrmann, her former colleague, sexually assaulted her in Parliament House after a night out in 2019. he has always denied the allegation
Lisa Wilkinson (pictured leaving a café hours before Bruce Lehrmann's Spotlight interview aired) had a five-hour lunch with Brittany Higgins and her boyfriend David Sharaz a few days prior to Ms Higgins' interview on The Project - when she first aired her rape allegations
'I checked on her, she did not have to approach me – I checked on her,' replied Ms Plibersek.
'I wanted to make sure she was going OK and I was very worried about a woman young enough to be my daughter who made a very serious allegation about a very serious crime in Parliament House,' she said.
But asked for a sixth time whether Ms Higgins asked her to highlight her case in parliament, Ms Plibersek eventually said she did not 'recall anything like that'.
'She is a very - was very upset and fragile young woman that I was checking on,' she said.
'That's my involvement here.'
Ms Plibersek, who is now environment minister, later added that she had no intention of watching Mr Lehrmann's explosive interview.
'I don't wanna platform Bruce Lehrmann, sorry,' she said, shaking her head.
Ms Barr then asked her if she did not want to get a 'fuller picture' of the situation.
But Ms Plibersek again said she refused to watch it.
'I'm not deciding the case here, this has gone through the courts and the result is as the result is and it makes no difference whether I watch it or not,' she said.
CCTV footage captured the pair at a Canberra bar earlier that night. During his interview, Mr Lehrmann was grilled over an alleged eyewitness account of him and Ms Higgins kissing at the venue - but he denied anything of the sort took place
Mr Lehrmann broke his two-year media silence in an interview with 7News Spotlight on Sunday night, with Liam Bartlett grilling him over his version of events.
The former parliamentary staffer has remained quiet about the night in question, speaking only in a recorded interview with police in 2021 - which was played before the ACT Supreme Court during his criminal trial in October last year.
But now Mr Lehrmann has responded to a number of direct questions, including: Did you rape Brittany Higgins? Did you have consensual sex? Did you kiss her? Were you intimate with her at all?'
To each question, Mr Lehrmann replied emphatically: 'No'.
The interview aired a recording of the lunch between Ms Higgins, her boyfriend, Ms WIlkinson and her producer Angus Llewllyn on January 27, 2021 a few days before they filmed the interview which revealed Ms Higgins’ claims she had been raped in Parliament House.
David Sharaz, Ms Higgins' boyfriend, asks Ms Wilkinson: 'Do you have friendly MPs? You know, that could fire questions at Question Time?'
'Oh, certainly Albo,’' Ms Wilkinson replies, before adding: 'Tanya Plibersek, definitely.'
Ms Higgins also tells the group: 'We’re doing a parliamentary showcase before all this starts. So it’s going to be great, we’re having fun.'
Ms Higgins is seen here after making her way through Parliament House security
The episode also aired for the first time vision of Mr Lehrmann and Ms Higgins arriving at Parliament House moments before she alleges he raped her inside the office of then minister Linda Reynolds, in February, 2021
At the time, Anthony ALbanese was the opposition leader, while Ms Pliersek was his deputy. The Labor Party strongly pursued the allegations in parliament.
The audio was handed over by Channel 10 under subpoena during the criminal trial last October, though much of the material aired was never played to the jury and has now been made public for the first time.
Mr Lehrmann is suing Ms Wilkinson and Channel 10 for defamation in the Federal Court.
Ms Higgins pursued a civil suit against her former employers, which led to a massive payout.
Although the sum has never been disclosed, it is widely believed that she walked away from a one-day mediation with the government with up to $3million of taxpayers' money.
On Thursday morning, 2GB's Ben Fordham called on the government to confirm the dollar figure of the settlement.
He said: 'We are never going to know for sure what happened inside the minister's office that night in Parliament House.
'We know that Bruce was lying to his girlfriend about what he was up to, but he's always denied he assaulted Brittany Higgins and detectives... had questions about Brittany's credibility. They described her as evasive.
Ms Higgins woke up in the ministerial suite (pictured) naked
'So why was she given $3million?... If all of that doesn't stink, I think you've lost your sense of smell.'
On Sunrise this morning, Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce said he was not concerned if Ms Plibersek had been asked to ask questions on Ms Higgins' behalf to drive the story forward.
Instead, he said the 'much bigger issue' was the alleged $3 million payout and he called on the then finance minister Katy Gallagher to publish any correspondence with Ms Higgins.
'I think a much bigger issue is Katy Gallagher being the finance minister, if she was in correspondence with Brittney beforehand I want to see all those emails - any of that correspondence - because Katy Gallagher was the finance minister that was responsible for the alleged $3 million payout,' he said.
He added: 'That is the part that concerns me and we need to get to the bottom of that. That's an awful lot of money and we've just got to make sure this is completely and utterly transparent because it's not out money, it's the taxpayer's money.'
Daily Mail Australia recently revealed Ms Higgins' claim was approved by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, in a decision which was informed by external legal advice.
