David Koch took aim at Scott Morrison.

In an interview with Treasurer Scott Morrison, Kochie pressed him several times on whether the Government, or specifically the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) would be investigating Nine if a “bribe” was paid.

Kochie’s theory was that ASIC should investigate Nine if their crew was released via a “bribe” given the television network is a publicly listed company.

“You are making a lot of assumptions, I am not going to do that this morning,” Morrison fired back. “I think what we are pleased about is Miss Faulkner (the children’s mother) is coming home as are other Australians coming home,” he said.

60 minutes crew together again. Tara Brown, Stephen Rice, Ben Williamson, Channel 9 Network Director of News and Current Affairs Darren Wick and David Ballment. Picture: Channel 9/InstagraSource:Instagram

Things got even more heated between Koch and Morrison as the breakfast host continued to press him on the issue.

“I am not going to respond to hypotheticals,” Morrison said.

“You are asking me to speculate on a set of facts that would have to be determined.

“I am not going to try this case on morning television,” he added.

Responded Koch: “I am not asking you to.”

To which Morrison replied: “I think you are.”

It’s no secret that Koch and the Sunrise team have taken particular interest in the messy case, given 60 Minutes appears on a rival network.

The general reaction to the interview on Twitter was that Koch may have enjoyed taking a shot at Nine, given his employment at Seven.

Other comments on Sunrise’s official Facebook page about Koch’s position on the case included:
• “Please don’t let kochie interview sensitive issues! All he seemed interested in was pinning it on channel 9!”

• “Kochie can’t believe you, what if it where your family. Shame on you! Plus what if it was channel 7 bet you wouldn’t bag them.”
• “Kochie you are an egotistical fool! Stop trying to smear Channel 9 & the 60 Mins crew, I’m sure Channel 7 would do the same if you or Sam landed yourselves in a Lebanese Prison”

• “Absolutely amateur interview by the Sunrise hosts this morning that only tried to keep pushing the point that Channel 9 paid for and botched the rescue effort.”
• “What a passive aggressive interview that blatantly tried to belittle channel 9. I don’t even like channel 9 but you just looked foolish. A mother had her children kidnapped, remember that?”
While some were critical of Koch’s agenda, it appears the public agrees with Seven’s argument that Nine had an obligation to help the two child abductors they employed from Child Abduction Recovery International agency, who still remain behind bars in Lebanon.

Members of Australian '60 Minutes' television crew greet Australian Sally Faulkner (C), the mother of the al-Amine children, and Australian reporter Tara Brown (2-L), after they left Baabda Prison for women.Source:AAP

In another Sunrise segment, the panel including Koch, Edwina Bartholomew, Derryn Hinch and Angela Cox criticised Nine for assisting Faulker and the 60 Minutes crew at the expense of the two abductors.

“Now the (crew are) released I think it is important we discuss the role of media, whether it was right for them to be there in the first place,” said Hinch. “If I was in that situation, I would hope that Channel Seven paid for me to get out.”

Added Cox: “I’ll tell you one truth, how come they’ve thrown the mercenaries under the bus? Smiling laughing, as you would, getting into the car, but the two employees are still locked up in jail?”

Tara Brown, left, and Australian mother Sally Faulkner, right, leave a women's prison in the Beirut southeastern suburb of Baabda.Source:Getty Images

Bartholomew echoed her sentiments: “Their employers should help them get out. I’m with Ange, if this happened to us at Seven, you would hope our employer would do whatever it could.”

Kochie had the final word on the subject, again reiterating the ethics of the release payment.

“It’s going to be interesting for the Channel Nine auditors when they sign off the accounts,” he said.

This morning, Nine chief executive Hugh Marks called a full review of the 60 Minutes case headed by former executive producer Gerald Stone, and said the network “shouldn’t have” become part of mother Sally Faulkner’s story.

In an email obtained by news.com.au, Mr Marks told his staff the investigation would be undertaken to “ascertain what went wrong and why our systems, designed to protect staff, failed to do so in this case”.

Mr Marks said the review would be tasked “with recommending the necessary actions to ensure that none of our colleagues are put in a similar position in the future”.

Media commentator Peter Ford described this case on Sunrise this morning as “a wake up call for everyone who works in media and current affairs.”