PM refuses to say whether he or Christopher Pyne had ‘general’ knowledge of sexual harassment claim against Peter Slipper

Tony Abbott has refused to say whether he or his education minister had any “general” knowledge of James Ashby’s sexual harassment claim against the former Speaker Peter Slipper before it was lodged, but insisted that “squalid, sordid, miserable period in our national life … is now all in the past”.

In an interview on Sunday, Ashby claimed Christopher Pyne had promised him he would receive a lawyer and a job in either state or federal politics after Ashby, who was Slipper’s media adviser, sought advice about his situation.

In a statement after Ashby’s interview with Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes, Pyne said: “I had no specific knowledge of the allegations made by Mr Ashby and the first I knew that he was suing Mr Slipper was when I read it in the newspapers.”

After the case became public in 2012, Abbott also said he had had no “specific” knowledge of it.

Asked on Monday whether he or Pyne had had any general knowledge of Ashby’s intentions, the prime minister said: “Well, I certainly stand by everything that I’ve said about this and I am confident that Christopher will stand by everything that he’s said about this business.”

Sexually explicit emails revealed in the course of Ashby’s legal action forced Slipper to resign as Speaker, a position he had controversially taken up after defecting from the Coalition in a move that bolstered Labor’s precarious position in the hung parliament and angered his former colleagues. They also revealed Ashby had discussed his intentions with the LNP candidate for Slipper’s seat, Mal Brough.

“That was a particularly squalid, sordid, miserable period in our national life when you saw a decent and honourable Speaker forced to resign by a desperate PM, replaced with a less worthy person just so that she could shore up her numbers in the parliament. It was a squalid, sordid period and I think the Australian public, particularly those who might have watched that program last night, would be pleased that it’s now all in the past,” Abbott said.

“What fundamentally emerged from the program last night is that Mr Ashby did what he did because he thought it was the right thing to do. He believed that he had been treated in a way which was not only completely improper, completely and utterly improper and wrong and despicable, but he believed that he’d been treated in ways that were contrary to law.

“And, look, I watched the program last night, I saw what I took to be a decent man who had been put into an impossible position and I had a lot of sympathy for him. But the point that I make is that all of this has been before the courts and it all relates to a period in our national life which was … sordid, which was squalid and which is over.”

The shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said it was now “clear that Liberal MPs knew a lot more about Mr Ashby than they’ve admitted to – they’ve never been forthcoming”.

“I think Mr Abbott needs to come clean about his own involvement about what he knew and in particular Christopher Pyne has serious questions to answer,” Dreyfus said.

“It’s clear though that Mr Ashby did not act alone. He didn’t dream up all of this. And it’s clear that there’s been involvement of Liberal MPs. Exactly what that involvement was, when they got involved, what they said, we still don’t know.

“I think it’s always worth pursuing this kind of grubby conduct by members of the federal parliament. It’s worth pursuing because we need to know just what they did. It’s an extraordinary event that occurred here, this attack on the Speaker of the House of Representatives and it’s clear that a number of Liberal MPs were involved – in particular Mal Brough, Christopher Pyne, Wyatt Roy and Tony Abbott, to some extent,” Dreyfus said.

In the interview, Ashby said he had discussed the issue with Pyne, after sharing his concerns about the Speaker’s alleged behaviour with another Coalition MP, Wyatt Roy.

“I sat down at his desk and I said to him [Pyne]: ‘Wyatt’s discussed my situation with you.’ He didn’t really acknowledge the question. He sort of just allowed me to continue talking. And I said to him, ‘I just need to know that my job is safe and that a lawyer will be provided.’ And he said they would. He did say to me, though, that I may never want to come back to Canberra, that I may choose to take up a job within state politics instead,” Ashby alleged.

“I think what he was trying to do is pre-warn me that things are gonna get hot. And I remember the conversation didn’t last too long at all. We literally got up from his table, he walked me towards the door, he said to me, ‘You’re a braver man than I am,’ as we exited and said, ‘If you discuss or tell anyone we’ve had this discussion, I’ll be forced to come out publicly and call you a pathological liar.’”

Ashby said the meeting had strengthened his resolve to make his legal claim against the Speaker.

“Yeah, sure. It gave me a lot more confidence knowing that the complaint I was about to make wasn’t going to be held against me, because I hadn’t done anything wrong,” he said.

Ashby said he had gone to see Pyne under the guise of picking up a bottle of wine, in order to double-check Roy’s claim that he had been discussing Ashby’s situation with the then shadow minister.

After Ashby lodged his legal claim and allegations were raised that he had met Pyne, the then shadow minister issued a statement saying: “In the course of my work ... I have had cause to meet Mr James Ashby three times – twice in the Speaker’s office and once when he came to my office to collect wine being given to a former Coalition staffer as a farewell gift.

“On no occasion did he raise the matters canvassed in the federal court action that have subsequently come to light with me. I have had no telephone contact with Mr Ashby at any time. Attempts by the Labor party to suggest a political conspiracy are fanciful.”

In the interview, Ashby insisted that he had discussed the matter with Pyne, and that the assurances about legal help and a job had been made, but he said by the time he lodged his claim, it had been “made very clear to me there would be no jobs, no lawyer, no preferential treatment … it was made very clear to me there was no offer”.

In June, Ashby dropped his legal case against the former Speaker, two years after he first alleged Slipper had sexually harassed him.

The case was first thrown out of court as a “scandalous” abuse of process. Justice Rares found Brough – who at the time was the LNP’s candidate for Slipper’s Queensland seat of Fisher after Slipper’s sensational defection from the party to become Speaker in Julia Gillard’s hung parliament – had acted ‘’in combination’’ with Ashby and a second Slipper staffer ‘’to cause Mr Slipper as much political and public damage as they could inflict upon him’’ in a bid to advance Brough’s political interests and those of the LNP.

After initially denying it, Brough admitted he had met Ashby at least three times in March and April 2012, shortly before Ashby lodged his sexual harassment claim, and had urged him to go to the police and get legal advice regarding his allegations.

Brough said it ‘’would have been a poor reflection on my values as a human being’’ if he had not talked to Ashby about his sexual harassment claim or helped him get legal advice.

In February an appeal found that the case should be heard, and at that time Ashby said he would pursue his claim because of the ‘’offence, humiliation, distress, anxiety and stress … and dislocation to life’’ due to the alleged ‘’unwelcome sexual advances, unwelcome sexual comments and unwelcome suggestions of a sexual nature’’ that he had suffered.

Then in June, shortly before the case was to be heard, Ashby said that “after deep reﬂection and consultation” he had decided not to proceed with the case after all, in part because of the government’s decision to pay Slipper’s legal fees and in part because of concern for Slipper’s health.

At that time, Slipper said in a statement that “the allegations brought by Mr Ashby have caused enormous personal stress which has required ongoing psychiatric and psychological treatment and many weeks of inpatient hospital care”. He added: “My mental illness is both ongoing and debilitating.

“The impact of these allegations on me personally and everyone close to me is both immeasurable and irreparable. That the allegations have been withdrawn is vindication for myself, my wife and my family.”