Alan Tudge reported property transfer to Scott Morrison

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

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

However, the Morrison Government has refused to confirm or deny for 48 hours Mr Tudge also failed to update his office as required by the Ministerial Code of Conduct.

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

“I would love 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 should be, “Mr Morrison said.

Asked how long ministers have updated 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, which was written and updated by the Prime Minister, clearly states that any significant change of circumstances must be updated within 28 days.

“All parliamentarians are required to disclose private interests to the Parliament,” the code states.

“Given the Ministers and Assistant Ministers of the Additional Powers, I expect them to provide 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 interest in the Prime Minister as may be determined by the Prime Minister, and no significant change of the Prime Minister within 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 admitted he had forgotten to disclose that he had transferred ownership of a $ 1 million Melbourne property to his ex-wife for six months, in a clear breach of the guidelines.

The missing in action minister – who stepped down from the frontbench last year over an ongoing scandal over an extramarital affair 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 just been left aside as a minister – and was not getting paid as a minister – but had not resigned formally.

“Well, he’s staying aside. He decided to stand aside for his own personal reasons. And he should 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 has transferred a 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 made earlier.

“Due to an administrative oversight, in 2018 there was a delay in updating Mr Tudge’s register of interest to 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 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 neighboring Liberal-held electorate of Deakin, his domain of Housing Minister Michael Sukkar.

“Mr Tudge lives in an area that was part of Aston until a redistribution put into the suburb. Under the electoral rules, he is still enrolled to vote in Aston. He keeps his physical address off public records causing 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 in a vote in the division of the division in which the member resides.

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

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has also been asked 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 that he supported the status quo of existing surrogacy laws in Australia.