Federal election: Alan Tudge tracked down on hustings
Alan Tudge has broken his silence amid mounting pressure to front up amid claims he went missing in action.
Federal Election
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Alan Tudge has broken his silence amid mounting pressure for the cabinet backbencher to front up amid claims he has gone “missing in action”.
In his first interview since steeping aside as Education Minister, Mr Tudge said he was “ready” to step back to the frontbench should the Coalition win the election.
“The Prime Minister has made it clear that should we be re-elected, and I’m in a position to step back up, then I’ll do so,” Mr Tudge told Sky News.
Mr Tudge stood aside from his role as education minister in December after claims he had been emotionally and on one occasion physically abusive to former staffer Rachelle Miller while they were in a relationship.
Mr Tudge has denied the allegations.
But with less than two weeks to go until polling day, Mr Tudge has not addressed the media nor has he announced any policy.
Instead, the minister has chosen to step back and campaign in his electorate of Aston in Melbourne’s east.
But on Tuesday, Sky News tracked down the embattled former minister at a pre-poll location.
Asked about the Department of Finance’s six figure financial settlement to Ms Miller, despite the investigation clearing him of breaching any ministerial guidelines, Mr Tudge said he was “unaware” of the details.
“I’m not aware of any of those things. I’ve no information,” he said.
“I haven’t been called as a witness. I haven’t been asked to provide evidence and as the prime minister said, if it involved me, he would have been made aware and he hasn’t been made aware.”
He also denied reports he asked Ms Miller to keep quiet for a formal security review.
“Well, I didn’t do that. I just asked her to tell the truth,” Mr Tudge responded.
Just last week the Prime Minister Scott Morrison paved the way for Mr Tudge to return to the frontbench after the election on May 21.
“If he’s available to come back into the ministry, he will,” he said.
“He decided to stand aside for his own personal reasons and should he be in a position to be able to step up again, I would welcome him back.”
But he repeatedly refused to answer questions about why he wouldn’t appear aside his minister on the hustings.
Asked on Tuesday if he was deliberately keeping a low profile, Mr Tudge said he’d simply been “busy” in his own electorate.
“You can see from my social media, and I stood down from being Education Minister some months ago now for family, for health reasons, and to concentrate on my electorate and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing,” Mr Tudge said.
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