Alan Tudge’s ex-lover Rachelle Miller to secure over $500,000 for affair with Liberal minister

Liberal frontbencher Alan Tudge’s ex-lover is set to secure a taxpayer-funded payout of more than $500,000 for her treatment as a political staffer.

Liberal frontbencher Alan Tudge’s ex-lover Rachelle Miller is set to secure a taxpayer-funded payout of more than $500,000 in compensation for her treatment as a political staffer.

News.com.au can reveal that government sources have confirmed they will also pay Ms Miller’s legal fees on top of this amount, which is also expected to run into six figures.

When the government’s own legal fees and the cost of the Thom inquiry are included, the entire “affair” could end up costing taxpayers close to a million dollars.

The stunning cost of the Education Minister’s sexual entanglement with his press secretary is set to provide a fresh headache for Prime Minister Scott Morrison on the campaign trail today.

Alan Tudge with Rachelle Miller. Picture: ABC/Four Corners

The revelations of the secret compensation payout follows negotiations between Ms Miller’s lawyers and the Department of Finance. Ms Miller accused him of bullying her during the affair, claims Mr Tudge rejected and were not upheld by an investigation commissioned by the Prime Minister which Ms Miller declined to participate in on legal advice.

Despite confirming he was “intimate” with Ms Miller, including spending time with her naked in bed, Mr Tudge has insisted, like Bill Clinton, that he ‘never had sex with her.’

“We never had sex,’’ he said. “After each occasion that we were intimate, I assumed it was the last time.”

“I have referred to these interactions in my public statements as an ‘affair’ because I wanted to take responsibility for my actions and not split hairs as to what did or did not occur.

“What I did was morally wrong given we were both married at the time. I have never shied away from this.

“However, I did not consider this to be a “relationship” in the usual sense of the word.”

The Prime Minister confirmed in March that Mr Tudge was not found to be in breach of any rules. However, he is yet to explain why that also involves Ms Miller securing a payout of over half a million dollars.

“Dr Thom found that ‘the evidence considered in this Inquiry does not provide a basis for a finding that Mr Tudge’s conduct breached the Ministerial Standards’,” Mr Morrison said last month.

“Today (Mr Tudge) has informed me that in the interests of his family and his own wellbeing and in order to focus on his re-election as the Member for Aston he is not seeking to return to the frontbench, and I support his decision.”

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Picture: AFP

However on Sunday, he revealed Mr Tudge was “still in my cabinet” despite the Victorian MP remaining on gardening leave. His work as Education Minister is being done by Liberal frontbencher Stuart Robert but he remains, on paper, the Education Minister.

Asked if Mr Tudge would be returned to Cabinet if he wins the election, Mr Morrison said he had never left.

“Alan Tudge is still in my Cabinet,’’ he said.

The Prime Minister’s office insists Mr Tudge is not being paid as a minister while he stands aside from the ministry, at his own request.

Earlier this year, an inquiry commissioned by the Prime Minister that Ms Miller declined to participate in on legal advice found that Mr Tudge had not breached the ministerial standards because the sexual relationship with his staffer pre-dated the so-called ‘bonk ban’ introduced by Malcolm Turnbull.

Ms Miller does not appear to be bound to a confidentiality clause under the deed of the agreement because she took to Twitter last night to slam the Prime Minister after he revealed Mr Tudge was still a cabinet minister.

“I am just disgusted. I am disgusted with my own party,’’ she said.

“The disrespect they have shown to me, one of their own, after 10 years of service as a Lib staffer. This is not the Liberal Party I joined.”

Ms Miller noted that in December, the Prime Minister insisted that Alan Tudge had “stood aside from the Ministry”.

In March, the Prime Minister revealed that Mr Tudge had voluntarily decided to extend his leave from the frontbench “to focus on his re-election. He is not seeking to return to the frontbench.”

“Alan Tudge is still in my Cabinet?,’’ Ms Miller tweeted.

“Scott Morrison, which is true? Only thing we can believe is you are a liar.”

The Prime Minister previously commissioned an investigation by Vivienne Thom into complaints Ms Miller was also bullied by her former boss.

However, Ms Miller did not participate in the investigation on legal advice, as talks with the Commonwealth over her civil claim continued.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the prime minister’s promise of his frontbench return was “extraordinary”.

“It just shows the chaos that is there. Even when people step aside, they’ve still got the job,” Mr Albanese said after Mr Morrison confirmed Mr Tudge was still in his cabinet.

“The education minister who stood aside apparently is still in the cabinet as the education minister, so I’m not quite sure what’s going on there.”

Originally published as Alan Tudge’s ex-lover Rachelle Miller to secure over $500,000 for affair with Liberal minister