Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has been offered a private apology from Network Ten after audio was leaked of host Lisa Wilkinson making disparaging comments about the Indigenous senator.
In the leaked audio, reported by media outlets on Friday, Wilkinson appeared to mock the Coalition by raising questions regarding the validity of Price’s preselection to the National party and struggling to pronounce her name.
The audio was recorded during a private meeting with Brittany Higgins and her partner, David Sharaz, while in discussions over an upcoming exclusive interview with The Project in 2021.
In it, Wilkinson can be heard saying the Liberal party preselected “over 20 new and wonderfully diverse and strong female candidates like, and what’s her name, Nam… Nampinjumba? (sic). She’s an Indigenous woman.”
Sharaz replies: “She clearly got in. Clearly it was a safe seat.”
Network Ten producer Angus Llewellyn goes on to comment, of the preselection process: “See, we know brown people.”
Price vehemently rejected the comments on Friday morning, telling 2GB they were “racist” and “derogatory” and demanding an apology from Wilkinson and Llewellyn.
“I certainly didn’t get to where I am now without hard work, without the respect of my community,” she told Ben Fordham.
“Without outlining very truthfully the real issues that confront those marginalised individuals, those who are part of my family, whose first language is not English, who still live under cultural confines and who live in the remote communities.
“I would absolutely expect an apology from the Ten Network, from Lisa Wilkinson herself. That would be the decent thing to do.”
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, was among conservative MPs including the shadow attorney general, Michaelia Cash, who called for a formal apology on Friday.
On social media, Dutton wrote Price was a “highly respected and capable member of the Coalition shadow cabinet and very accomplished individual in her own right”.
“Lisa Wilkinson, the Ten Network and others involved owe her a genuine apology for their unacceptable and derogatory comments,” he wrote.
A spokesperson for Network Ten told Guardian Australia Price graciously accepted the apology.
The Network later issued a statement saying the five hour, private conversation had been leaked by an unidentified source and what had been made public was not in context and no comment had been sought prior to publication.
“Network 10 was subpoenaed to provide confidential documents and audio recordings to the DPP and Bruce Lehrmann’s legal team during the criminal case brought against Mr Lehrmann,” the statement read.
“With the criminal proceedings now concluded, there is no justifiable reason for this material to be made public. Network 10 regrets any distress caused by the unauthorised publication of these intended private conversations.”
It follows explosive allegations on Friday made by lawyers for Network Ten and Wilkinson that a “calculated” and “concerted” media campaign using restricted court material was being waged to pressure and dissuade witnesses from giving evidence in an upcoming defamation trial brought by Higgins’ accuser, Bruce Lehrmann.
Backbenchers were critical of the decision by media outlets to leak the audio recorded with Higgins, including that of private text exchanges that had been offered to federal police.
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, said it was “disgusting political mudslinging” while the independent MP Zali Steggall called out attacks on Higgins as “vile”.
