Anthony Albanese denies he colluded with Brittany Higgins and Lisa Wilkinson over rape allegations

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has denied colluding with Brittany Higgins or Lisa Wilkinson when he was Leader of the Opposition.

Mr Albanese and fellow Labor heavyweight Tanya Plibersek were mentioned by Wilkinson during a five-hour luncheon with Ms Higgins, her partner David Sharaz and Channel 10 producer Angus Llewellyn in January 2021.

The meeting took place before Ms. Higgins’ super interview on The Project on February 15, 2021.

An audio recording of the lunch aired during a 7News Spotlight interview with Bruce Lehrmann on Sunday night.

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.

Over lunch, Wilkinson claimed that Mr Albanese and Ms Plibersek were “friendly MPs” who could “ask questions in Question Time” about the rape allegations.

When asked if Wilkinson or Ms Higgins approached him to disclose the allegations, Mr Albanese said ‘no’.

The ex-project host also denied on Tuesday that he had approached Labor politicians to ask questions in parliament about the matter.

She said The Australian that she did not “talk to other politicians, their escorts or apparatchiks.”

Ms Plibersek also rejected any claims that Wilkinson or Ms Higgins contacted her or told her what to ask during question time during an interview with Sunrise presenter Natalie Barr on Monday.

“No, not by then, but I was in contact with Brittany to check on her well-being,” the environment minister said.

“I was very worried about her, I was very worried about her indeed.”

Barr continued to press Ms Plibersek and asked that Ms Higgins approach her to raise the subject in Question Time.

“No one tells me what to ask in question time,” she replied.

‘I can’t remember anything like that. She’s a very upset and fragile young woman that I was checking up on, that’s my involvement here.’

But Mr. Albanese and Ms. Plibersek asked five questions about Ms. Higgins in Question Time, just one day after The Project interview aired.

Mr Albanese first asked whether Mr Morrison would undertake an external assessment of culture in the House of Parliament in response to Ms Higgins’ allegations.

Six minutes later, Mrs. Plibersek made a direct reference to Mrs. Higgins for the first time. She said, “When and how did the Prime Minister first learn of the reported sexual assault of Brittany Higgins?”

Mr. Morrison flipped through his reply, insisting that he was aware of the allegations on the morning of The Project’s report and that his office only knew of the complaint days earlier.

But Ms Plibersek questioned his claims, noting in a second question that he had contradicted Ms Higgins’ version of events, which stated that the Prime Minister’s private secretary had been informed of the alleged attack in 2019.

Mr Morrison tried to sidestep the issue by quoting Ms Higgins herself, who earlier in the day had asked that her ‘privacy be respected’ as she ‘began to recover emotionally’.

Ms Higgins’ statement said she would not comment further on the allegations.

The Prime Minister said: “I will comply with that request and we will try to proceed with this matter through the mechanisms I have already announced today and possibly through the other mechanisms that have been proposed.”

Mr Albanese asked Mr Morrison a total of 18 questions about his government’s handling of the case over a three-month period after the allegations were announced.