Source : the age
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says former Home Affairs Department secretary Mike Pezzullo, who was sensationally sacked from the public service in 2023 for misconduct and later stripped of his Order of Australia honour, “should have a role to play in the future of this country” if the Coalition wins the election.
Asked in an exclusive interview with this masthead whether he would restore Pezzullo to a senior position in government, Dutton replied: “I would say that he brings great intellect and experience to the table, and he knows the public service … I think we’re 10 steps ahead in terms of who’s appointed to public service, we have to win the election first, but I think Mike Pezzullo should have a role to play in the future of this country, and he’s contributing significantly to the defence debate at the moment.”
Former Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo said he would gladly return to the public service. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Pezzullo told this masthead: “I would be prepared to again serve my country if I was asked to do so by the government of the day. I strongly believe in apolitical public service and, accordingly, would again be willing to serve either side of politics.”
No formal offer has yet been made by Dutton to Pezzullo, but senior Coalition sources said the party was considering what kind of role the former Home Affairs boss could hold.
Options include a leadership role at one of the nation’s intelligence agencies such as ASIO or the Office of National Intelligence. An alternative would be advising Dutton in a specialist role reporting directly to the prime minister on national security issues. The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet also includes a deputy secretary position which has responsibility for national security.
Pezzullo, a national security hawk and appointee of the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments, was one of the most powerful public servants in Canberra until he was sacked by Labor when a trove of confidential WhatsApp messages he’d been exchanging with then-Liberal Party powerbroker Scott Briggs was leaked to this masthead in September 2023.
The messages revealed Pezzullo intriguing with Briggs to promote the careers of conservative politicians and others he considered allies, while undermining those – usually moderates – he considered inimical to his policy positions and his growing power.
After the leaking of the secret WhatsApp messages, Labor referred him to the Australian Public Service Commission, which found he had breached the public service code of conduct on at least 14 occasions.
The breaches included using his “duty, power, status or authority” to gain advantage for himself; engaging in “gossip and disrespectful critique of ministers and public servants”; failing to act “apolitically”; and failing to maintain the confidentiality of “sensitive government information”.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the sacking of Pezzullo in November 2023. A subsequent change in regulations overseen by the remuneration tribunal meant he lost termination payment rights as well. The Order of Australia honour, an AO, was stripped from him just under a year later.
Pezzullo and Dutton were a tight-knit team for six years, first in the immigration portfolio, where they were departmental head and minister respectively between 2014 and 2017, and then in the super-sized home affairs portfolio between 2017 until Dutton moved to defence in 2021.
Pezzullo often came into sharp conflict with departments like the Attorney-General’s Department, under its then minister, George Brandis, and was scathing about then-defence minister Marise Payne in his WhatsApp messages, describing her as “completely ineffectual”.
In August 2018, Pezzullo lobbied Briggs to help ensure Dutton would be returned to the home affairs portfolio. (Dutton had briefly gone to the backbench after launching a challenge against Malcolm Turnbull which instead elevated Scott Morrison).
Since his sacking, Pezzullo has re-emerged as a national security commentator with a growing media profile. He told ABC TV’s 7.30 in April 2024 that he’d made mistakes and “crossed a line” but that he didn’t think his conduct warranted dismissal, and instead could have been dealt with by way of reprimand.
In his campaign interview with this masthead, Dutton again slammed Albanese for flagging a willingness to sign Australia up for a Ukraine peacekeeping mission.
“We should be doing everything we can to provide protections and to arm the Ukrainian forces, but I think it’s a catastrophic error that the prime minister’s made in wanting effectively to lead the charge with Australian troops on the border of a country that has nuclear weapons and a lunatic in charge,” he said.
“I’m sure after the election, if they’re re elected, there will be a retreat from that position, because it’s not sustainable.”
Pezzullo is known to agree that any meaningful contribution by Australia to peacekeeping in Ukraine would mean a diversion of defence resources at a time of regional instability closer to home.
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.
