Alan Tudge mistress Rachelle Miller accuses Morrison of supporting Katherine Deves for personal gain

A former Liberal staffer who received a $500,000 payout after having an affair with an MP has accused Scott Morrison of supporting Katherine Deves for political gain.

Rachelle Miller alleges she was repeatedly ‘silenced, ignored and denied’ during her 10-year tenure as a staffer in parliament.

Yet Ms Deves, a candidate for Warringah in Sydney’s north, has enjoyed ‘protection’ from the prime minister after old comments she made about transgender rights were dredged up last week.

Some of the comments included describing transgender children as ‘surgically mutilated and sterilised’ and surrogacy as ‘reproductive prostitution’.

She also described transgenderism as ‘a fetish for middle-aged white men because they’ve watched too much porn’.

A former Liberal staffer who received a $500,000 payout after having an affair with an MP has accused Scott Morrison of supporting Katherine Deves for political gain

The Prime Minister said Warringah candidate Katherine Deves (pictured with her family) would be a ‘great member of parliament’ and declared: ‘I’m not going to allow her to be silenced’

Ms Deves, a mother-of-three, has since received death threats and has stepped away from campaigning commitments to deal with the backlash. 

Ms Miller, the ex-mistress of Education Minister Alan Tudge, said Mr Morrison only ‘talks about his captain’s pick and her ”right to be heard”’ for personal gain.

‘She only has that protection to spew bigotry because the votes she attracts HE needs,’ she said.  

Her comments came just hours after Mr Morrison’s first official debate of his election campaign against Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese drew to a close.

Ms Miller went on to criticise the prime minister for selectively offering women a platform ‘to be heard’.

‘What about my right, a Liberal Party member & staffer for ten years, to be heard? All the silent women? We are furious,’ she said.

Candidate for Warringah Katherine Deves has divided the Liberal Party over her controversial comments

This is the tweet in which Ms Deves made her controversial comments about transgender teenagers. She shared a picture of a trans American teenager who had just had breasts removed and wrote: ‘This photo just hit my feed. It is beyond heartbreaking’

Ms Miller will reportedly receive a $500,000 payout from the Federal Government after claiming she was bullied. 

Mr Tudge was cleared of breaching any ministerial guidelines during his affair with former press secretary Ms Miller.

Ms Miller alleged he had been emotionally and, in one instance, physically abusive towards her during the pair’s consensual affair, which Mr Tudge emphatically denies.

Despite the investigation clearing Mr Tudge, the Morrison Government is finalising a financial settlement with Ms Miller, which includes a payout and reimbursement of legal costs.

‘I spoke out to use my experience as a staffer as an example of how toxic the world of politics had become. To shed light on the reality of a glamourised world of power and privilege. And yet somehow, along the way, my story has been silenced, ignored and denied,’ Ms Miller said. 

Ms Miller, the ex-mistress of Education Minister Alan Tudge, said Mr Morrison only ‘talks about his captain’s pick and her ”right to be heard”’ for personal gain

Ms Miller will reportedly receive a $500,000 payout from the Federal Government after claiming she was bullied

While Ms Deves has enjoyed the support of Mr Morrison and a handful of other Liberal moderates, she is still struggling with the widespread condemnation her comments have attracted.

Some moderate Liberal members have called for Ms Deves to be disendorsed after she apologised for calling transgender children ‘surgically mutilated and sterilised’ in tweets last year.

She also condemned surrogacy as a ‘human rights violation’ while blasting a gay politician following the birth of his twins.

‘Women’s bodies are not vehicles for a vanity project,’ she said. ‘It is egregious exploitation of women, both the woman from egg is ‘harvested’ and the pregnant woman who gives birth to the baby.’

But Mr Morrison stood by his candidate, saying: ‘I’m not going to allow her to be pushed aside as the pile on comes in to try and silence her.

Katherine Deves (pictured) is contesting the seat of Warringah held by independent Zali Steggall

‘I will stand up with her, my team is standing up with her, and we will make sure that she won’t be silenced.’

Ms Deves pulled the pin on a community Q&A on Tuesday night and has not been seen in the Northern Beaches campaigning, unlike her main opposition, Independent Zali Steggall.  

Warringah includes part of Sydney’s northern beaches and north shore. It was Tony Abbott’s seat but was taken by Ms Steggall at the 2019 election.

She is favourite to hold on to the seat.  

What are the comments Katherine Deves has made that have created so much division?

Ms Deves co-founded the group Save Women’s Sport which aims to stop transgender women competing alongside biological women.

Since her endorsement by Mr Morrison in the seat of Warringah, a series of tweets she made have been unearthed in which she repeatedly criticised transgender people and surrogates.

In those tweets she described transgender children as ‘surgically mutilated and sterilised’, and likened her stance on the issue as being akin to the French Resistance fighters who resisted German occupation during World War II. 

The tweets included statements like:

Ms Deves condemned surrogacy as a ‘human rights violation’ while blasting a gay politician following the birth of his twins.

Ms Deves, who is a candidate for the key seat of Warringah in the upcoming election, made the comment last year in repsonse to a picture of US politician Pete Buttigieg and his partner Chasten holding their newborns.

Buttigieg is the first openly gay Democratic presidential candidate in the US and is also the first openly gay person to be confirmed to a Cabinet post when he nominated to President Joe Biden’s cabinet as the secretary of transportation.

He shared a photo on September 5, 2021 celebrating the birth of his twin children Penelope Rose and Joseph August. 

Ms Deves responded to the post saying: ‘Surrogacy is human rights violation. Women’s bodies are not vehicles for a vanity project.’ 

Last December, she labelled the process as ‘reproductive prostitution’.

‘It is egregious exploitation of women, both the woman from egg is ‘harvested’ and the pregnant woman who gives birth to the baby,’ she wrote.

In the wake of  the controversy, Prime Minister Scott Morrison doubled down in support of his besieged captains pick.

‘She is standing up for women and girls and their access to fair sport in this country,’ Mr Morrison said.

‘I think she will make a great member of Parliament, she has learned in her advocacy in her private life there are better ways to do things to take things forward as a member of Parliament.

‘I believe that is how she will approach the task if she is elected as the member for Warringah, and I don’t think she should be silenced,’ he said.

Ms Deves revealed she has been bombarded with death threats by left-wing activists on social media.

High-profile Liberal moderates Trent Zimmerman and Matt Kean have publicly called on Mr Morrison to disendorse her over fears her views will haemorrhage support in inner-city seats.

‘I don’t think having candidates that want to spruik the politics of division is in the interests of the party or in the interests of those people,’ NSW Treasurer Mr Kean said.  

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