Former host of The Project, Lisa Wilkinson has made a personal apology to Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, after controversial recordings from a private meeting between Wilkinson and Brittany Higgins were leaked this week.
In a Friday evening media statement, Lisa Wilkinson stated,
“I extend my sincere apologies to Senator Price for any perceived offence. The dialogue was intended to be private and I regret that it has been interpreted out of context in the public domain.”
She also emphasised that the main theme of their discussion centred on the necessity for tangible change within the Liberal party, particularly concerning the placement of their female pre-selections in untenable positions.
This week, several media platforms received leaked audio from a meeting involving Lisa Wilkinson, her producer Angus Llewellyn, Brittany Higgins and her partner, David Sharaz.
In the contentious recording, Wilkinson was heard struggling with the pronunciation of Senator Price’s name, saying the Liberal party had 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.”
David Sharaz retorted, “She clearly got in. Clearly it was a safe seat.” Angus Llewellyn, Network Ten producer, went on to mock the Liberal preselection process, stating: “See, we know brown people.”
In response, Senator Price called for an apology, deeming it the “right thing to do.” She labelled the comments as disparaging and racist, and expressed her lack of surprise at such behaviour from individuals she described as belonging to the ‘woke class’ and Channel 10 in particular.
Beverley McGarvey, Paramount Executive Vice President of Australia New Zealand, also personally reached out to the LNP Senator to apologise on behalf of the network. Media reports suggest that McGarvey acknowledged that the conversation concerning race did not align with the values the network purported to uphold and that such an incident should not have occurred.
Subsequently, a network spokesperson issued a statement asserting that the five-hour private conversation had been disclosed by an anonymous source, and the information presented to the public was not in context. Moreover, no comments were sought before publication.
According to the statement,
“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 network spokesperson went on to express regret over any distress caused by the unauthorised publication of these private conversations, which should have remained confidential following the conclusion of the criminal proceedings.
Lisa Wilkinson remains on contract with Network 10 despite not having appeared on screen in 2023.
SOURCES: The Guardian and Sky News Australia
