Mal Brough has denied asking a former staffer to Peter Slipper to procure copies of the then-Speaker's diaries, despite having admitted the opposite on television.
The denial came as the special minister of state made a partial apology to parliament following Labor claims he misled the lower house in answering questions about his contact with the ex-staffer, James Ashby.
Can Turnbull afford to hang on to Mal Brough?Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has returned from the climate talks in Paris straight into the controversy surrounding federal minister Mal Brough. But can the PM afford to hang on to him? Catherine McGrath reports. Posted by SBS News on Tuesday, December 1, 2015
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The minister on Tuesday suggested in parliament the 60 Minutes program selectively edited a TV interview in September last year in which he admitted asking Mr Ashby to obtain copies of Mr Slipper's diary.
However, the Nine Network released the raw footage of the interview which shows journalist Liz Hayes verbally stumbling at the start, but still only asking one question.
"Um why then also did you um assist, seek well, did you ask James Ashby to procure um copies of Peter Slipper's diary for you?" Hayes asked.
Mr Brough replied: "Yes I did".
He then went on to justify why he had asked for the diaries, saying he believed Mr Slipper was defrauding the Commonwealth.
The minister told parliament on Wednesday in a brief statement that his recollection was the question had been put to him in a "somewhat disjointed manner".
"I answered the question without clarifying precisely what part of the question I was responding to," he said.
"I have taken the opportunity to review the tape and transcript, and apologise to the House if my statement yesterday unwittingly added to the confusion rather than clarifying the matter."
However, shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus pursued Mr Brough in question time: "Did you ask James Ashby to procure copies of Peter Slipper's diary for you?"
Mr Brough answered: "No."
Mr Turnbull told parliament the facts relating to the case had been well known for years.
"The evidence or the information about them have been in the public domain for some time," Mr Turnbull said.
"There have been no new developments, no changes or additions to that material."
Ms Hayes wrote on Twitter: "I don't think @MalBrough_MP had any doubt about the question I was asking. And I don't think his explanation/clarification fools anyone."
Mr Dreyfus twice unsuccessfully attempted to censure the prime minister for his "atrocious judgment" in appointing Mr Brough as a minister in September, and accused the minister of "slithering and sliding".
"He has shown himself to be someone that cannot even answer a straight question," Mr Dreyfus said of the minister.
Federal police have executed search warrants at Mr Brough's Queensland home as they investigate whether the minister asked Mr Ashby to procure Mr Slipper's diaries.
The criminal offence carries a two-year jail term.
The search warrant also mentions two other ministers, Wyatt Roy and Christopher Pyne.
Mr Ashby on Tuesday said Mr Roy had advised him to copy the office diary, as the former staffer sought to build a sexual harassment case against Mr Slipper which eventually failed.
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