Scott Morrison has said the sidelined education minister, Alan Tudge, is “technically” still a member of his cabinet, but is not receiving a ministerial salary.
After Labor insisted voters deserved to know whether Tudge would be a fully fledged minister if the Coalition won re-election, Morrison told ABC Radio the Victorian MP “stood aside for his own health and family reasons, and when he is ready to return to the cabinet then he will”.
The prime minister faced more questions about the unorthodox ministerial arrangements in a round of interviews on Monday after telling reporters on Sunday: “Alan Tudge is still in my cabinet.”
That seemed to clash with a statement on 4 March when Morrison said of Tudge: “Today he 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.”
Tudge stood aside from his ministerial position on 2 December, after claims from former staffer Rachelle Miller that he had been emotionally and, on one occasion, physically abusive to her while they were in a relationship in 2017. Tudge denies the allegations.
On 4 March the government released the report by the former bureaucrat Vivienne Thom, finding there was insufficient evidence Tudge had breached the ministerial standards.
At that point, Morrison said Tudge was “not seeking to return to the frontbench”. Tudge had left the door open to a post-election return to the role, saying he had “requested not to be returned to the frontbench before the election” given the impact of the allegations on him and his family.
But government officials confirmed earlier this month that Tudge remained education minister and was “on leave” despite the acting minister, Stuart Robert, performing the functions of the role.
In an interview with ABC News Breakfast on Monday, Morrison was asked to clear up the confusion about Tudge’s position. “He technically is a member of cabinet,” the prime minister replied.
Pressed on the meaning of “technically”, Morrison said: “It means that he still has his warrant as a minister from the governor general. And as a result, he’s formally still the education minister.”
The prime minister said the government “had an independent inquiry into the matters that I took very, very seriously”.
“I didn’t dismiss them. I didn’t say, ‘no, we don’t need to look at that’. We did [need to look at it] and we did and there was nothing found in that inquiry to prevent him from continuing to serve as a minister,” Morrison said.
“Alan has taken his own decision for family and health reasons to stand aside. He’s not being paid as a minister and I look forward to him returning because what he’s been doing in education has been very important.”
That included “ensuring that our kids are taught to love their country and to be proud of what Australia has achieved”, Morrison said.
Miller chose not to participate in the inquiry, arguing the government had ignored her concerns over its terms of reference. Miller was also relying on legal advice, amid talks with the commonwealth over a civil claim.
She previously told the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age she believed the investigation “smacks of a political fix”.
Morrison said on Monday he could not confirm media reports that the commonwealth was poised to reach a settlement for hundreds of thousands of dollars with Miller. A payout of more than $500,000 is being negotiated, news.com.au reported.
Morrison said he did not have “any visibility on those issues”.
“It’s a private matter involving a sensitive issue, I assume, between Ms Miller and the department of finance,” Morrison said.
“And no one can make any assumptions about any findings because there have been none that have been presented to me which suggests any impropriety on behalf of Mr Tudge. So that is merely speculation. And can’t be confirmed.”
On Monday the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, said Morrison’s remarks about Tudge were “astonishing”.
“We had a situation whereby he stood down but apparently he’s still got his job in the cabinet,” Albanese said. “I just find it remarkable, and that says it all about the chaos that is on the other side of politics.”
Labor’s education spokesperson, Tanya Plibersek, said on Sunday: “The fact Alan Tudge is still in cabinet right now shows that instead of punishing scandal, Scott Morrison rewards it.”
