Alan Tudge accuser Rachelle Miller’s love texts revealed

Rachelle Miller, the ex-staffer who accused Alan Tudge of emotional and physical abuse, repeatedly texted him to rekindle their ­relationship and turned up at his unit begging to be let in for years after their ­liaison ended.

Alan Tudge at the 2017 Mid-Winter Ball with then Liberal staffer Rachelle Miller. Picture: ABC/Four Corners

Rachelle Miller, the ex-political staffer who accused Alan Tudge of emotional and physical abuse, repeatedly texted her former boss seeking to rekindle their ­relationship and turned up late at night at his apartment begging to be let in for years after their ­liaison ended.

The Weekend Australian has witnessed copies of multiple submissions and source documents that recount a starkly different version of events of the liaison that unfolded when Ms Miller worked for Mr Tudge. Those who knew about the affair told an inquiry that the former media adviser, in her 40s, – was ­“obsessed” with Mr Tudge.

Texts and emails provided to the inquiry into the former education minister’s behaviour – sent in the four years after their liaison ended in October 2017 – indicate Ms Miller believed it was consensual, “broke no rules’’ and that she wanted him back.

Scott Morrison tasked former inspector-general of intelligence and security Vivienne Thom to investigate Ms Miller’s allegations and stood Mr Tudge down from the frontbench until the inquiry was concluded.

While the report found Mr Tudge had not breached ministerial standards, he chose not to return to the frontbench “in the interests of his family and his own wellbeing’’.

In one message Ms Miller apologises to Mr Tudge for the things she has said about him: “I have not been nice, and I am sad and hurt.’’ She also expresses her love for him.

The inquiry was told that a month after Mr Tudge stopped replying to Ms Miller’s messages, she appeared on a November 2020 Four Corners episode. A few days later, Ms Miller made further allegations that she was bullied by Mr Tudge and in the office of her subsequent boss, senator Michaelia Cash.

In December 2021, more than four years after their liaison ended, Ms Miller made more ­explosive accusations that Mr Tudge, then minister for human services, had been physically and emotionally abusive towards her, and had bullied and harassed her while she was his media adviser.

The Weekend Australia has learned that the Thom inquiry was provided with detailed evidence to refute all of Ms Miller’s allegations, including hundreds of text messages, emails and other written communications from Ms Miller to Mr Tudge. Ms Miller’s most explosive allegation alluded to the possibility of a non-consensual sexual encounter during a work trip with Mr Tudge to Kalgoorlie in October 2017.

Ms Miller told a December 2 press conference at Parliament House: “I don’t remember how we ended up in his room. I don’t ­remember leaving the bar. I don’t remember if we had sex. I didn’t know if we used protection. I still don’t. I was too afraid to ask him if he remembered.”

However, The Weekend Australian understands from material submitted to the Thom inquiry that while they were sexually intimate on four occasions they never had sexual intercourse.

The inquiry was provided with an email from Ms Miller to Mr Tudge, dated January 30, 2020, in which the former media adviser expressed her frustration that they did not have sexual intercourse.

Later in the same email, Ms Miller asked Mr Tudge to rekindle their relationship.

“I was with you because I liked you,” Ms Miller wrote in the email.

“Why won’t you see me? ­Because you are afraid you will once again grab me and take me to your bedroom?

“Maybe that is what we need to do, Alan, it was enjoyable. And where does this lead us?

“To a relationship between two people who obviously care about one another that may, or may not, work out.

“Why is this such an awful thing between two people who are separated from their spouses, live in different states and no longer working together?”

Mr Tudge is understood to have told Ms Thom that Ms ­Miller continued to pursue him, sexually, after the night in Kalgoorlie, and after their liaison ended, often ringing his apartment doorbell late at night, begging to be allowed in.

The Weekend Australian has been told that a former staffer in Mr Tudge’s office told the Thom inquiry that Ms Miller was ­“obsessed” with Mr Tudge.

In a message to Mr Tudge on March 12, 2020, seen by The Weekend Australian, Ms Miller made it clear that their liaison was consensual: “Why should it matter to a potential employer who I had a personal relationship with? We broke no rules, it was consensual, we were never together at work or during work hours.”

On March 13, 2020, Ms Miller texted Mr Tudge: “I apologise for the things I’ve said to you. I have not been nice, and I am sad and hurt. I want to believe you don’t deserve me. But you know that I love you.”

On March 25, 2020, Ms Miller wrote: “Know you don’t feel the same, and so I have said awful things because I was hurt … After that last night together, it shattered me. I simply miss you.”

Ms Miller did not raise any allegations of emotional or physical abuse in her six-page complaint about bullying to the Department of Finance in November 2019.

In that complaint, Ms Miller stated: “This friendship led to a personal intimate relationship which was consensual. I want to make it clear I make no allegations of sexual harassment or unwanted attention from Alan.”

Rachelle Miller during her Four Corners appearance in 2020. Picture: Supplied

A six-month investigation into Ms Miller’s bullying allegations against Mr Tudge and Senator Cash by law firm Sparke Helmore for the Department of Finance found no evidence to support the allegations.

Ms Miller chose not to co-operate with that investigation or with the Thom inquiry.

The Weekend Australian ­understands that five of Mr Tudge’s staffers also told the Thom inquiry that they saw no evidence of any ­bullying, harassment or intimidation.

The Thom inquiry obtained texts in which Ms Miller expressed her delight working with Mr Tudge. In January 2020 she told Mr Tudge that she “really enjoyed the job”.

On March 12, Ms Miller told Mr Tudge that “I miss my old job” and on March 24, 2020, Ms Miller wrote to Mr Tudge: “I wish I could help you, I feel bored and useless.”

The Weekend Australian ­understands that Mr Tudge told the Thom inquiry that he ­answered Ms Miller’s texts politely, expressing concern for her welfare, but when the deluge of messages affected his emotional state, he ended all communication with her in October 2020.

Mr Tudge is understood to have told the Thom inquiry that seven days after the November 2020 Four Corners program aired, Ms Miller texted him 13 times and tried calling him.

“She texted me, called me and sent photos to me more than 23 times in the last weeks of 2020 … This continued into 2021. She was even texting me before her most recent statement of 2 December 2021,” the inquiry was told.

The Weekend Australian has confirmed Mr Tudge told the Thom inquiry that given the ­evidence he provided to the former inspector-general of intelligence and security: “The allegations in her 2 Dec 2021 statement are completely inconsistent with these repeated communications which were made by her with the benefit of hindsight, more than two years after ceasing work in my office.”