Lisa Wilkinson has apologised to Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price over an audio clip that emerged during the week of her seemingly joking about the pronunciation of the senator’s name.

“The conversation was private and not intended to appear as it has out of context and in the public arena,” Ms Wilkinson said in a statement published by several media outlets.

“I sincerely apologise to Senator Price for any offence I may have caused.”

The audio was recorded at a meeting between Ms Wilkinson and Brittany Higgins, along with her partner David Sharaz and a producer, Angus Llewellyn, the Guardian reported.

Ms Wilkinson said the Coalition had “preselected over 20 new and wonderfully diverse and strong female candidates like, and what’s her name, Nam … Nampinjumba? … She’s an Indigenous woman.”

Ms Higgins would later appear in an interview with Ms Wilkinson on The Project in which she claimed to have been raped at Parliament House, where she worked for then defence minister Linda Reynolds as a staffer.

Ms Wilkinson said in her statement the real nature of their conversation was about the need for real, genuine change regarding the role of women in the Liberal Party.