Michaelia Cash demands release of full audio of Brittany Higgins and Lisa Wilkinson lunch

Michaelia Cash has demanded the release of the full five-hour tape of the controversial lunch between Lisa Wilkinson and Brittany Higgins – after Daily Mail Australia revealed that The Project host encouraged the staffer to secretly meet with the minister at to take.

A conversation between Ms Higgins and her old boss, then Education Minister Ms Cash, recorded on 5 February 2021, was later part of a formal complaint made to the Australian Federal Police during Bruce Lehrmann’s rape trial in October.

This masthead revealed earlier today appeared to support Ms Wilkinson’s secret recording idea during a five-hour meeting with her producer Angus Llewellyn, Ms Higgins and her boyfriend David Sharaz in a Sydney hotel room on January 27, 2021.

Now Ms Cash, the opposition’s legal affairs spokeswoman, has spoken of her dismay at the “incredibly disturbing” revelations.

“Channel 10, The Project and Lisa Wilkinson have some very, very serious questions to answer,” Senator Cash told Sky News on Sunday morning.

“The whole of Australia really should see what happened in that interview – that a senior journalist in Lisa Wilkinson and the producer of The Project actively encouraged a young woman in distress to actually commit what is considered an illegal crime. considered. .’

Ms Cash denounced the alleged behavior of Wilkinson and her producer for encouraging Ms Higgins to record her and called on Channel 10 to release the full transcript of the luncheon.

“I would call on Channel 10 to formally release the five hours so we can all see what happened in this interview,” she said.

She added: “The encouragement to record a phone call and search the jurisdiction to find a forum where there is a loophole – that is incredibly disturbing to all Australians, that a news broadcast should encourage you to do that. ‘

Ms Wilkinson and Ms Higgins met over a long lunch five days before her televised rape allegations against fellow politician Bruce Lehrmann.

The purpose of the luncheon was to decide how best to handle Ms Higgins’ upcoming interview on The Project, which aired two weeks later, in which she claimed that she was raped by Mr Lehrmann in the parliament building in 2019.

Mr Lehrmann has always denied the allegations. His trial on the charges ended without a verdict, as the jury was dismissed when a juror brought in outside material for consideration.

During the pre-show talk, the group spoke at length about Ms. Higgins’ experience as an assistant media adviser to former Labor Secretary Michaelia Cash in the years following her alleged assault.

A court previously heard that Ms. Higgins revealed her alleged rape to several colleagues, including Senator Cash, but she ultimately decided not to take the case to the police because she feared she would lose her job.

However, at the January 2021 meeting, Ms Higgins said she had gathered the information to use as evidence, saying all the devices used by parliamentary assistants had software installed by the government.

Ms. Higgins told the group that her personal phone had been mysteriously wiped — including screenshots of WhatsApp conversations with Senator Cash and her former boss, then-Secretary of Defense Linda Reynolds.

Mrs Wilkinson then said: ‘What are you thinking about on the last day, when Brittany said, ‘Can someone please tell me what happened to my phone? Because all data has been erased and so have all my photos.”

“Just to see what their reaction is. Because we don’t get an answer from them when we ask the question. But it could be interesting if you ask.’

Mrs. Higgins replied, ‘However, what is the point of me recording one of these conversations? If I did have that conversation, I would feel safer if it was recorded. But can I record those conversations?’

Mrs. Wilkinson turned to her producer, Mr. Llewellyn, invited him to reply, and said, “You are better at legal than I am.”

Mr Llewellyn pointed out that there are laws in NSW against recording conversations without the consent of all parties before realizing that Ms Higgins would be on the ACT.

‘While everywhere else is okay. You can somehow get away with it, but then again, Canberra operates and Parliament House operates in a crazy, crazy world. So that may also differ from ACT rules,” he said.

Mrs. Higgins said, ‘Even off-the-record, just for confirmation, I’d be willing to record some of that conversation, if that happens. Yes.’

Finally, Mrs. Wilkinson said, “It may mean we can’t use it… But this is just for yourself…”

To which Mrs. Higgins replied, ‘Yes, exactly. And just kind of, for your background, I guess… Like kind of, a sounding board about what it’s like. I would do that for you.’

The ACT’s Listening Devices Act 1992 states that it is illegal to record a private conversation unless you have the consent of all parties.

The ACT Supreme Court learned last October, during Mr. Lehrmann’s jury trial, that Ms. Higgins had secretly taped a conversation with Senator Cash on Feb. 5, 2021 — 10 days before her interview on The Project aired.

During that phone call, the senator tried to dissuade her from resigning.

Ms. Higgins told the court that Senator Cash pretended not to know about her rape allegations and pretended that a guard had assaulted me.

“It was the weirdest phone call of my life,” she told the court.

During the trial, Mr. Lehrmann’s attorney, Steven Whybrow, questioned her about Senator Cash’s recording: “Did you record her during that conversation without her knowing?”

“That’s right,” Mrs. Higgins confirmed.

Ms Higgins said the recording was sent to several friends for ‘safekeeping’.

The recording was part of an official complaint from Mr Lehrmann’s lawyer, Steven Whybrow, to the Australian Federal Police on October 24 – while the jury was in deliberations.

The complaint, obtained by Daily Mail Australia, contained a series of allegations against Ms Higgins – ‘violations of Sections 4-6 Listening Devices Act’.

It read: “Creditively taped, using wiretaps, conversations with numerous individuals without their knowledge or consent, including Senator Michaelia Cash and Mr. Daniel Try (Chief of Staff to Senator Cash).”

She was also charged with “distributing those conversations to multiple individuals, including journalists and public relations consultants, without the consent or knowledge of the other party.”

Further complaints from Mr Whybrow included ‘destroying or concealing evidence’, which related to a photo of a bruise on her leg that Ms Higgins claimed was from the alleged attack.

However, investigators were unable to find evidence of the photo before January 2021. She also signed a legal statement for Channel 10 stating that the photo was taken 11 days after the alleged attack.

Mr Whybrow also accused her of ‘deleted and/or concealed communication’ with witnesses during the trial, and using Instagram to question the honesty of one of the witnesses during the trial.

When contacted by Daily Mail Australia, AFP would not confirm whether an investigation into Mr Whybrow’s complaints is still ongoing.

Mr. Lehrmann’s criminal trial in the ACT Supreme was aborted last December.

Ms Wilkinson was approached for comment but declined.

A spokesperson for Ms Higgins told Daily Mail Australia: ‘I refer you to transcripts from the court where Brittany answered all these questions under oath when they were put to her by the defense solicitor.’

Comments have also been requested for Channel 10.