An Italian nanny was released from detention after Peter Dutton's chief of staff asked the most senior border official what could be done to help "the boss's mate", according to an incendiary new account of the au pair affair.

Key points: Roman Quaedvlieg was Customs boss at the time Peter Dutton intervened in an Italian au pair's visa situation

Roman Quaedvlieg was Customs boss at the time Peter Dutton intervened in an Italian au pair's visa situation Mr Quaedvlieg says Mr Dutton's chief of staff phoned him about "the boss's mate" having a problem with their prospective au pair's visa

Mr Quaedvlieg says Mr Dutton's chief of staff phoned him about "the boss's mate" having a problem with their prospective au pair's visa The claim the staffer called on behalf of the Minister is at odds with Mr Dutton's denial of any personal association with the case

Roman Quaedvlieg, the man Mr Dutton hand-picked as the first Australian Border Force (ABF) commissioner, has divulged new details of the lengths to which the Minister's office went in securing the release of the Italian national in 2015.

But the au pair incident has descended into a complicated clash between the two men, with each insisting they are telling the truth.

Mr Quaedvlieg, who was ousted from the Border Force job in March, has lodged a submission to a Senate inquiry into Mr Dutton's use of ministerial power to grant visas to two European au pairs.

But Mr Dutton insists it is a fabrication and said Mr Quaedvlieg should be offered any support to address what he described as his personal or mental health issues.

He said Mr Quaedvlieg was bitter about the loss of his job but "the fabrication of evidence to a Senate committee takes his behaviour to a disturbing level".

Mr Dutton highlighted Mr Quaedvlieg is under investigation by the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity, which has "resulted in his termination as the Australian Border Force Commissioner for misconduct".

Mr Quaedvlieg responded to that accusation by completely rejecting the assertion he has fabricated evidence.

"I stand very firmly by the description of the events as I have recollected and outlined in my submission," he said.

Roman Quaedvlieg was the chief executive of Customs and Border Protection at the time. ( AAP: Mick Tsikas )

Mr Quaedvlieg's submission to the inquiry recalls a phone call he received from Mr Dutton's chief of staff, Craig Maclachlan, in June 2015.

"He [Mr Maclachlan] told me that the Minister's friend, whom he referred to as 'the boss's mate in Brisbane', had encountered a problem with his prospective au pair who had been detained at Brisbane Airport by immigration officials due to an anomaly with her visa," Mr Quaedvlieg wrote in his submission.

The Minister's office was in the early stages of preparing for what would soon become a visa intervention for Italian woman Michela Marchisio on behalf of Queensland police officer Russell Keag and his wife, Nicole.

Mr Keag was a former colleague of Mr Dutton's when the Minister was himself working for the Queensland Police Service, although Mr Dutton insists he has not spoken to Mr Keag for around "two decades".

But in a statement, Mr Dutton said the phone call Mr Quaedvlieg described was impossible because Mr Maclachlan did not join his staff until October 2015.

"Equally it is impossible for Mr Maclachlan to have had any knowledge of the matter at that time because he was not even employed by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.

Moreover, I did not instruct any member of my staff to call Mr Quaedvlieg in relation to this matter. Nor did any member of my staff speak to Mr Quaedvlieg about it."

Mr Quaedvlieg's subsequent statement said he would attempt to correlate the date of the case but also hinted it could be another case which occurred at a later date and "which may not yet be in the public domain".

"I urge Dutton to desist from personal attacks and casting aspersions over my actions, motivation, reputation and mental health," Mr Quaedvlieg said.

"I anticipated he may have reacted in this manner."

The ABC understands Michela Marchisio was planning to work for Russell and Nicole Keag (pictured). ( Supplied: Facebook )

In his submission to the Senate committee, Mr Quaedvlieg said he "did not ask Maclachlan for details of the Minister's friend" and "immediately commissioned inquiries" through the formal command structure.

"The reason for her detention as it was advised to me was that operational officers at the airport had found evidence in her possession on her arrival which clearly indicated to them that she was intending to work for reward in breach of her visa entitlements," he wrote in his submission.

He contacted Mr Maclachlan and gave him details of the case, informing him that Ms Marchisio would be kept in detention until her deportation, "which would occur as soon as possible".

"Maclachlan then asked me: 'What needs to be done to fix this? Can the boss overturn it?'," Mr Quaedvlieg wrote.

He told Mr Dutton's chief of staff the Minister could request an intervention through immigration department staff based in Mr Dutton's office.

Border Force officials detained Michela Marchisio because they believed she planned to work as a babysitter, in breach of her tourist visa. ( Supplied: Facebook )

Submission raises questions about Dutton's account

Mr Quaedvlieg's submission as a private citizen, and the claim that Mr Maclachlan had called on behalf of the Minister, implies a challenge to Mr Dutton's strenuous denial of any personal association or communication with Mr Keag on this case.

It also raises questions over why the incoming Border Force commissioner needed to be contacted at all by the Minister's office when Home Affairs officials have stated publicly that matters concerning the use of ministerial intervention powers are handled by the department's specialist Ministerial Intervention Section.

Mr Dutton said in his statement there had been a "spurious and baseless campaign" against him in relation to his ministerial intervention power.

He said it was an issue for the Senate whether Mr Quaedvlieg had breached any rules by providing false evidence to a Senate committee.

"These and the other false and preposterous claims have been a complete violation of the privacy of the individuals involved," Mr Dutton's media release said.

Mr Dutton has repeatedly stated that in exercising his powers of ministerial intervention he has always considered "cases on their merits" and that "there is an administrative process to be followed and it has been followed in every instance".

The Minister has publicly suggested that former Border Force officers are the source of leaks against him on visa intervention cases.

"There's a disaffected former senior Australian Border Force official who leaks this information out," Mr Dutton has told Sydney radio 2GB.

"Good luck to him, if that's what he wants to do he is obviously very close to the Labor Party."

Mr Quaedvlieg concluded his submission: "I have no doubt that while some will applaud my decision to clarify the public record [while] others will take a dimmer view, and I therefore submit this correspondence to you under the auspice of parliamentary privilege bestowed upon the committee's conduct and inquiries."

Committee chairwoman Labor senator Louise Pratt said Mr Quaedvlieg's submission appeared to contradict the Minister's version of events.

"At face value, that makes it clear that when the Minister says that he was asked by the department to take action, that in fact the onus was the other way around," Senator Pratt said.

"That this is very much the case of ministerial intervention taking place upon the request of someone outside who has sought to influence him directly."

The Keag family has not commented on any aspect of the au pair case.

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