Scott Morrison says he’ll investigate whether Alan Tudge reported property transfer

Scott Morrison says he’ll investigate whether beleaguered MP Alan Tudge updated his office on the transfer of a $1 million property.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has agreed to investigate whether or not Liberal frontbencher Alan Tudge forgot to update him on the transfer of a $1 million Melbourne property as required within 28 days by the ministerial code of conduct.

News.com.au revealed on Friday the Education Minister failed to update Parliament’s register of interests for six months – in a clear breach of requirements to update the register within a month.

The breach occurred when he transferred ownership of a Melbourne home to his wife after the breakdown of his marriage following his extra-marital affair with a Liberal staffer Rachelle Miller.

However, the Morrison Government has declined to confirm or deny for 48 hours whether Mr Tudge also failed to update his office as required by the ministerial code of conduct.

Asked on Sunday Mr Tudge had failed to not only update Parliament’s register of interests but also his own office as required by the ministerial code, the Prime Minister said he would check.

“I would have to come back to you and check on the timings of that. I don’t have that information in front of me and everybody’s record should be up to date and whether or not they shouldn’t be,’’ Mr Morrison said.

Asked how long ministers have to update his office, the Prime Minister declined to stipulate the time frame.

“I look forward to getting further updates on that today,’’ he said.

The ministerial code of conduct, that was written and updated by the Prime Minister, clearly states that any significant change of circumstances must be updated within 28 days.

Alan Tudge. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“All parliamentarians are required to disclose private interests to the parliament,’’ the code states.

“Given the additional powers of Ministers and Assistant Ministers, I expect them to provide me with additional information about their private interests to ensure there are no conflicts with their roles as ministers.

In the section marked under the headline “integrity” section 2.2 outlines the time frame.

“Ministers must declare and register their personal interests, including but not limited to pecuniary interests, as required by the Parliament from time to time,’’ it states.

“Ministers must also comply with any additional requirements for declarations of interests to the Prime Minister as may be determined by the Prime Minister, and notify the Prime Minister of any significant change in their private interests within 28 days of its occurrence.

“Failure to declare or register a relevant and substantive personal interest as required by the Parliament constitutes a breach of these standards.”

Education Minister Alan Tudge has admitted he forgot to disclose to parliament that he had transferred ownership of a $1 million Melbourne property to his former wife for six months, in a clear breach of disclosure guidelines.

The missing in action Minister – who stepped down from the frontbench last year in the wake of an ongoing scandal over an extramarital relationship with former Liberal staffer Rachelle Miller – confirmed the error on Friday following an investigation by news.com.au.

The Prime Minister announced last year that Mr Tudge was not returning to the frontbench of his own volition.

He then revealed he had only stood aside as a minister – and was not getting paid as a minister – but had not resigned formally.

Alan Tudge’s marriage broke down after affair with staffer Rachelle Miller. Picture: ABC/Four Corners

“Well, he stood aside. He decided to stand aside for his own personal reasons. And should he be in a position to be able to step up again, then I would welcome him back,’’ Mr Morrison said.

News.com.au’s investigation into Mr Tudge’s real estate holdings has revealed the cabinet minister transferred the previously jointly owned investment property in Vermont, Victoria to his wife in July, 2018.

However, Mr Tudge failed to update the parliamentary register of interests to parliament until nearly six months later in January, 2019.

Mr Tudge has conceded that with hindsight, the update could have been clearer and been made earlier.

“Due to an administrative oversight, in 2018 there was a delay in updating Mr Tudge’s register of interest to reflect the sale of his home and removal of his interest in an investment property,’’ a campaign spokesman said.

“Mr Tudge acknowledges that this update could have been made in a clearer and more timely way.

“Mr Tudge has always worked to ensure that any interest that he has acquired has been declared appropriately.”

Mr Tudge is also silently enrolled for privacy reasons, which means his home address cannot be verified.

It has also emerged that Mr Tudge is no longer living in his electorate of Aston but in the neighbouring Liberal-held electorate of Deakin, the domain of his friend the Housing Minister Michael Sukkar.

“Mr Tudge lives in an area which was part of Aston until a redistribution put the suburb into Deakin. Under the electoral rules, he is still enrolled to vote in Aston. He keeps his physical address off public records due to threats to himself and his children.”

Section 99(4)(b) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 provides that a member of the House of Representatives is entitled to be enrolled to vote in the Division the member represents instead of the division in which the member lives.

Mr Tudge is enrolled in Aston in accordance with this provision.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has also been asked again to outline his personal views on surrogacy after Liberal candidate Katherine Deves described surrogacy as a human rights violation.

Mr Morrison said the comments were “insensitive” and he supported the status quo of the existing surrogacy laws in Australia.

Originally published as Scott Morrison says he’ll investigate whether Alan Tudge reported property transfer