Attorney-General George Brandis insists he did not mislead parliament about the timing of his personal involvement in the Bell Group litigation.
Last week, West Australian attorney-general Michael Mischin said he had spoken to Senator Brandis about the issue in early February 2016.
Senator Brandis previously claimed his first "personal involvement" in the matter was on March 3.
He stood by those statements at a Senate estimates hearing on Tuesday night, following a request by four senators for an explanation.
Senator Brandis said he had "no recollection" of the exchange with Mr Mischin.
"I do not say that it did not happen. I merely say that I do not recall it," he told the committee.
He confirmed he did have a phone conversation with Mr Mischin, at his request, to discuss the appointment of a judge to the Family Court of WA.
"It may be, though this is only conjecture on my part, that Mr Mischin said something to me about Bell at the end of that conversation."
He insisted his statements were entirely consistent with his WA counterpart.
Senator Brandis confirmed he was aware of the matter before March 3, and that his office was dealing with it.
But being simply aware of it does not constitute personal involvement.
Non-government senators have been seeking to clarify whether the attorney-general sought to favour the WA government over commonwealth taxpayers when it came to the liquidation of the failed Bell Group of companies operated by Alan Bond.
The WA government believed it had an agreement with Canberra, but was dudded when the Australian Taxation Office and the commonwealth successfully challenged WA laws relating to the Bell Group in the High Court.
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