This story contains allegations of sexual assault and may be distressing to some readers.
Last week, a political brawl erupted over who knew what about Brittany Higgins' allegations, and it shows no signs of abating anytime soon.
It stems from leaked material thought to have been collected during the aborted criminal trial of Bruce Lehrmann, an ex-colleague of former Liberal staffer Ms Higgins who she alleges raped her at Parliament House in 2019 in the office of then-defence minister Linda Reynolds.
Mr Lehrmann, who is currently , has always maintained his innocence and strongly denies Ms Higgins' allegation. His criminal trial was aborted due to , and the prosecution ultimately decided .
Here's what you need to know.
Why has a political brawl erupted?
The Opposition alleges Finance Minister Katy Gallagher potentially misled parliament with a remark she made at a Senate estimates hearing on 4 June 2021, when she rebuffed claims she was tipped off about Ms Higgins' allegation before it was made public in media reports.
During a fiery exchange between Senator Reynolds and Senators Gallagher and Penny Wong, then in opposition, Ms Reynolds claimed a Labor senator had told her "two weeks before about what you were intending to do with the story in my office".
Senator Wong replied she had "no knowledge", while Senator Gallagher said: "No one had any knowledge. How dare you. It's all about protecting yourself".
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has rejected the suggestion she misled the parliament over her knowledge of Brittany Higgins' allegation. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
But last week, The Australian published leaked text messages in which Ms Higgins' partner, David Sharaz, reportedly told her on 11 February 2021: "Katy Gallagher messaged me. She's angry and wants to help. She's got the context. Says they knew something was wrong because they fired Bruce and not you. They avoided a scandal."
The message was allegedly sent four days before Ms Higgins in an interview with journalist on The Project in which she did not name Mr Lehrmann.
What have the Opposition and Labor MPs said?
On Tuesday, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton told a Coalition party room meeting it was an "open and shut case" the now-minister had misled the Senate.
"It is increasingly clear that a group of Labor operatives conspired to maximise an allegation, it was absolutely brazen," Mr Dutton said.
Senator Gallagher denies she misled parliament.
On Saturday, she told reporters it was "never true" that she had known about Ms Higgins' allegation for weeks and that Labor had "made a decision to weaponise it", as asserted by Minister Reynolds.
Ms Gallagher admitted she was aware of some allegations in the days leading up to Ms Higgins making them public and that Mr Sharaz had provided her with information, but added she "did nothing with that information".
Senator Wong has also faced questions. When asked on Saturday if Ms Higgins or Mr Sharaz had approached her, she said: "I did not know the full details of the allegations before the story became public."
And Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek's name was dropped in a leaked audio recorded at a meeting between Wilkinson and Ms Higgins, along with Mr Sharaz and Wilkinson's producer.
In it, Mr Sharaz reportedly asked if Wilkinson knew any "friendly MPs" who could ask questions during Question Time. One of those the journalist named was Ms Plibersek.
Ms Plibersek, who on Tuesday said she had "in every instance ... behaved ethically and completely properly", told the Seven Network's Sunrise program last week that she had not been approached by Wilkinson or her producer to raise Ms Higgins' allegations in Question Time.
She told the morning show she had reached out to check on Ms Higgins and did not recall whether Ms Higgins had asked her to raise the issue during Question Time.
"Nobody tells me what to ask in question time," Ms Plibersek told Sunrise.
"I reached out to check on her. She did not reach out to me."
Senator Linda Reynolds has threatened Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek with a defamation action. Source: AAP / MICK TSIKAS
"As far as I'm concerned, all legal options are on the table," Ms Plibersek said.
Senator Reynolds told the Australian Associated Press that her lawyers had issued a defamation concerns notice to Ms Plibersek over the interview.
"Her comments conveyed the defamatory imputations that I acted to conceal or hide the commission of a criminal offence and also that I acted inappropriately during the investigation of the Brittany Higgins' allegations," Senator Reynolds said.
Who has leaked the material?
It is unknown at this stage, but the issue is being looked into.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus told the House of Representatives on Tuesday the apparent unauthorised leak of court material provided under subpoena was deeply concerning, and an Australian Federal Police (AFP) investigation was underway.
Labor minister Jenny McAllister declined to comment on the AFP investigation but was also concerned about the politicisation of the matter.
"I have to say that I am a little disappointed in the tone and the approach that's been adopted in recent days by some commentators," Senator McAllister told ABC Radio on Wednesday.
Mr Dutton said he supported the investigation by the AFP into the leaking of Ms Higgins' private messages to the media.
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