Lisa Wilkinson, Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz gossip about ministers in leaked recording

Julie Bishop is ‘always the maid of honor, never the bride’, ‘nobody’ wants to sit next to Linda Reynolds, an MP is nicknamed ‘Scary Eyes’ and the culture of Parliament House is ‘come to Canberra, have an affair’.

These are just some of the snarky comments made about politicians at a planning meeting with Lisa Wilkinson, Brittany Higgins, David Sharaz and TV producer Angus Llewellyn – two weeks before the political staffer would accuse her ex-colleague Bruce Lehrmann of having her during an interview raped. to the project.

Mr. Lehrmann has consistently denied the allegations against him.

An audio recording of the conversation documented the meeting at a Sydney hotel on January 27, 2021, where Mrs Higgins drank a mimosa and Mr Sharaz a gin and tonic as they discussed the upcoming episode with Wilkinson and Llewellyn.

In an extraordinary moment, Mr Sharaz said he had a ‘friend’ in the Chancellor of the Exchequer Katy Gallagher who could table questions in parliament on his behalf – a detail that has so far never been reported.

During the conversation, the group could be heard laughing at several federal ministers and senators as they shared bawdy details about the inner workings of Parliament House.

At one point, Wilkinson said the nation’s highest office operated in such a way that “bad behavior goes unchecked … and that’s why business is always going on.”

Mr. Sharaz chimed in, “Come to Canberra, my wife’s home. Have an affair. Go back home to my family.’

Wilkinson then compared the Australian parliament to American pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, who trafficked young girls for decades – in full view of the world’s elite, whose secrets he kept – before finally being convicted of his crimes.

“It’s like Jeffrey Epstein: Everyone has a thing for everyone, so no one talks,” she said.

Wilkinson’s interview with Ms Higgins aired on The Project on 15 February 2021 – just over two weeks after the taped meeting – and marked the former media consultant’s first time making her allegations against Mr Lehrmann public.

Mr. Lehrmann has always denied any allegations.

A ‘friend’ in Katy Gallagher

Chancellor of the Exchequer Katy Gallagher knew Mr Sharaz before Ms Higgins first made her rape allegations.

It was previously reported that Mr. Sharaz informed the Senator of the impending sexual assault allegations. He didn’t reveal the details, but told her “it was going to be big.”

It can now be revealed that Mr. Sharaz hoped Senator Gallagher would play a major role in his plan to increase publicity around Ms. Higgins’ allegations and cause political disaster ahead of the federal election.

Speaking at the meeting on January 27, 2021, Mr Sharaz told Ms Wilkinson and network producer Mr Llewellyn: “The Senate starts in March and then I’m going to talk to [Senator Gallagher].

“I have a friend at Labor, Katy Gallagher on the Labor side, who will look into it and take it forward.

“So sit week, story gets out, they have to answer questions at question time, it’s a mess for them.”

Mr Sharaz then said: ‘Britt chose that timeline’ so that her accusations would affect the federal election.

Senator Gallagher advanced the allegations, as scheduled, during Senate estimates on Feb. 15, 2021 — the day The Project interview aired.

‘Has anything changed in the way the ministry [of Parliamentary Services] responds to incidents at APH since March 2019? And the answer is: there are no policy changes. Is that correct?’ she asked.

Last December, Senator Gallagher’s department signed a multimillion-dollar settlement with Ms. Higgins over her claim that she was not supported by then-Secretary of Defense Linda Reynolds, her boss at the time of the alleged attack.

A spokesman for Senator Gallagher previously said: “The Treasury Secretary has no decision-making role in processes involving important legal matters.”

Linda Reynolds and ‘creepy eyes’ Andrew Hastie’s birthday

Ms Higgins also told Ms Wilkinson and Mr Llewellyn that she went to Western Australia with Senator Reynolds and other colleagues in the weeks following her alleged rape in Reynolds’ ministerial office in 2019.

She went to help with the election campaign, but described her six weeks in Perth as “hell” – in part because Senator Reynolds reportedly “didn’t want a bar from me, she didn’t want to be around me.”

Ms Higgins remembered the candidates in the Perth seats of Hasluck, Canning and Swan and confirmed they were Steve Irons and Ken Wyatt – but struggled to recall the member for Canning.

“Canning was… scary eyes, scary eyes, scary eyes,” she said, trying to remind herself of his name, before finally saying “Hastie,” referring to Andrew Hastie.

Moments later, Mr. Sharaz told the group that Senator Reynolds’ birthday was within the campaign window.

“Britt told me that when she arrived at Linda’s birthday dinner, there was only one seat available next to Linda and Linda was not happy,” he said.

Mrs Higgins said: ‘It was during the campaign, yes. So that was in WA.”

Wilkinson interjected, “So even on her own birthday nobody wanted to sit next to her?”

Mrs. Higgins replied, “Yes.”

Julie Bishop is ‘never the bride’

Towards the end of the meeting, the conversation turned to how best to publicize and support Ms Higgins’ allegations after the interview aired.

Mr Llewellyn suggested Julia Banks, the member of Chisholm, speak at ABC breakfast, before briefly putting forward the idea of ​​former deputy leader of the Liberal Party, Julie Bishop.

“Julie Bishop has nothing to gain,” he said, before turning to Wilkinson and asking, “Do you know Julie?”

“I know Julie well,” she replied.

“Do you think she would talk to the culture in that place the next day?” he added.

Wilkinson went on to say Ms Bishop was “frustrating” because “she had so many opportunities to speak out against the culture” of sexism in politics, but had failed to do so.

She said, “And to one woman, what was she, deputy of thirteen different Prime Ministers over the course of her time in Parliament?”

Mr Sharaz then joked that she was never the leader of the coalition, saying: ‘Always the Loyal too – bridesmaid, never the bride’.

Wilkinson replied, “The moment she got out of there [she said], “Oh, it’s really sexist.” I’ve tried so many times to get her on the record with that, when she actually could have brought about change, but she didn’t.’

The group then questioned whether Ms. Bishop would speak out, or whether she would support Senator Reynolds and Michaelia Cash, who Ms. Higgins worked for after she left the defense portfolio.

“They’re all girls from Perth,” said Mrs. Wilkinson, to which Mrs. Higgins replied, “They’ve never been friends.”

“I don’t know why, but they never liked each other,” Ms Higgins added.

Mr. Sharaz said, “Julie has no friends.”

More gossip

The five-hour meeting would invariably alternate between mocking different news outlets.

News.com.com was labeled “dinky,” in contrast to The Project, which Wilkinson said was “well-produced.”

Sharaz, a former journalist for Sky News Australia, said only a parliamentarian ‘with no media experience’ would tip The Canberra Times.

“You don’t go to The Canberra Times,” he said.

The gossip session ended with a conversation complaining about a Sky News reporter for being a supporter of Donald Trump.

A little over two weeks later, The Project aired Ms. Higgins’ allegations – sparking a convoluted political, media and legal saga that continues to this day.