Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has told the federal parliament that Education Minister Alan Tudge has refuted the abuse allegations made by his former media advisor Rachelle Miller, but has agreed to stand down from his ministerial position while an independent review process takes place.
In a statement on Thursday afternoon, Tudge said he would use the review process to provide evidence to refute Miller’s allegations.
“I completely and utterly reject Ms Miller’s accusations,” Tudge said, News Corp’s The Australian reported.
“Both of us have acknowledged publicly that we had a consensual affair in 2017. This is something that I regret deeply. We were both married at the time and it was wrong. It contributed to the end of my marriage that year.”
Speaking to the media at Parliament House earlier on Thursday, Miller alleged that she suffered emotional, and at one-time physical, abuse during an affair in 2017 that she described as consensual but “complicated.”
