Natalie Barr forced to ask Labor minister the same question from Brittany Higgins SIX times after Bruce Lehrmann spoke out in his first-ever TV interview
- Sunrise host asked the same question six times
- Tanya Plibersek named as ‘nice’ MP in Higgins case
Natalie Barr asked Tanya Plibersek six times if she had been approached to raise the alleged sexual assault of Brittney Higgins during question time.
The Sunrise host put 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 ask questions about the sexual assault allegation before her interview on The Project in February 2021.
In the recording of the five-hour luncheon, first broadcast by 7News Spotlight during an interview with Bruce Lehrmann on Sunday evening, Ms Wilkinson said Ms Plibersek would be ‘definitely’ a friendly MP who could offer by raising the subject bring to parliament.
Ms Higgins claims she was raped by Mr Lehrmann in the House of Parliament after a night out in 2019. Mr. Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence.
Sunrise presenter Natalie Barr (pictured) asked Tanya Plibersek SIX times if she had been approached to raise the alleged sexual assault of Brittney Higgins in Question Time
On Sunrise this morning, Ms Barr repeatedly asked Ms Plibersek if she had been approached to raise Ms Higgins’ complaint and asked her to ‘answer the question’ after initially deviating.
“With all due respect, can you answer the question?” Mrs. Barr said.
“Were you approached by Lisa Wilkinson or her producer to raise the alleged abuse of Britney Higgins in Question Time, Tanya?”
Ms Plibersek eventually said she had not been contacted by Ms Wilkinson or her producer, but admitted she had spoken to Ms Higgins.
The host of Sunrise then asked her several times whether Mrs Higgins had asked her to raise her allegations in Parliament.
Ms Higgins (pictured outside court with her partner David Sharaz) alleged that Mr Lehrmann, her former colleague, sexually assaulted her in Parliament House in 2019 after a night out. He has always denied the accusation.
Lisa Wilkinson (pictured leaving a bar hours before Bruce Lehrmann’s Spotlight interview aired) had a five-hour luncheon 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 didn’t have to approach me – I checked on her,” Ms Plibersek replied.
“I wanted to make sure she was okay and I was very concerned about a woman young enough to be my daughter making a very serious allegation of a very serious crime in Parliament,” she said .
But when Ms Plibersek was asked for the sixth time whether Ms Higgins had asked her to raise her case in parliament, Ms Plibersek finally said she ‘couldn’t remember anything like that’.
“She’s a very — was very upset and vulnerable young woman that I checked 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 interview.
“I’m not deciding the matter here, this has gone through the courts and the result is as the result is and it doesn’t matter if I look at it or not,” she said.
