{"id":180278,"date":"2023-09-26T02:11:26","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T02:11:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotworldreport.com\/?p=180278"},"modified":"2023-09-26T02:11:26","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T02:11:26","slug":"honoured-to-serve-home-affairs-chiefs-years-long-push-to-become-public-service-head-revealed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotworldreport.com\/world-news\/honoured-to-serve-home-affairs-chiefs-years-long-push-to-become-public-service-head-revealed\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Honoured to serve\u2019: Home Affairs chief\u2019s years-long push to become public service head revealed"},"content":{"rendered":"

By <\/span>Michael Bachelard<\/span> and Nick McKenzie<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Former Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary Martin Parkinson was one of the targets of Michael Pezzullo\u2019s disparaging text messagses.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Illustration: Matthew Absalom-Wong<\/cite><\/p>\n

Save articles for later<\/h3>\n

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The powerful secretary of the Home Affairs department, Michael Pezzullo, pushed his own ambition to become the country\u2019s most senior bureaucrat by conducting a years-long campaign to denigrate and undermine two of Australia\u2019s most senior public servants.<\/p>\n

In dozens of scathing WhatsApp messages to Liberal Party operative Scott Briggs \u2013 who had a direct line to former prime ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison \u2013 Pezzullo accused the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and its head, Martin Parkinson, of being \u201cwoefully imprecise\u201d, \u201cbefuddled\u201d, lacking \u201cvitality\u201d and \u201cmissing in action\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have had to bite my tongue with respect to PM&C [Prime Minister and Cabinet] ineptitude and incompetence. No project management skills or capability,\u201d Pezzullo said in 2017. \u201cParkinson isn\u2019t up to it,\u201d he wrote in 2018.<\/p>\n

Pezzullo also took aim at the Attorney-General\u2019s Department and its respected secretary, Chris Moraitis, saying in 2019 the government needed to \u201cchange out the leadership\u201d. Pezzullo suggested another man \u2013 whom he described as a friend \u2013 as \u201cthe best fit\u201d for the job.<\/p>\n

The government stood Pezzullo aside from his job on Monday after the revelations in The Age<\/em>, the Herald<\/em> and 60 Minutes<\/em> that the Home Affairs secretary had sought, through a Liberal Party intermediary, to interfere in party political activities and shape the government. The Australian Public Service Commission will investigate his conduct. He will retain his $900,000-plus salary while the probe takes place.<\/p>\n

Throughout the conversations on encrypted messaging applications WhatsApp and Signal revealed by The Age<\/em>, The<\/em> Sydney Morning<\/em> Herald<\/em> and 60 Minutes<\/em>, Pezzullo painted himself as a man of action who had helped the Coalition government stop the boats. He regularly exhorted Briggs \u2013 a lobbyist and former deputy state director of the NSW Liberal Party \u2013 to pass on his feelings, concerns and perspectives to the prime minister of the day.<\/p>\n

The Age<\/em>, the Herald<\/em> and 60 Minutes<\/em> are not suggesting any of the exchanges are corrupt or illegal, only that they were inappropriate for a senior public servant.<\/p>\n

Earlier his year, Parkinson delivered a major report for the Albanese government on how broken Australia\u2019s migration regime had become. The Department of Home Affairs, which until Monday Pezzullo ran under Labor minister Clare O\u2019Neil, is now responsible for responding to Parkinson\u2019s conclusions. Moraitis also still occupies a senior public service role, as head of Australia\u2019s war crimes investigative agency, the Office of the Special Investigator.<\/p>\n

Parkinson and Moraitis both declined to comment on Pezzullo\u2019s behaviour.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Martin Parkinson was the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary until mid-2019.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Alex Ellinghausen<\/cite><\/p>\n

Former attorney general George Brandis, one of the targets of Pezzullo\u2019s criticism, told The Age<\/em>, the Herald<\/em> and 60 Minutes<\/em> it was \u201cbreathtaking that at a time when the government is trying to run a war against terrorism, one of the most senior public servants in the country is running his own war\u201d against other departmental secretaries.<\/p>\n

\u2018Thin capacity\u2019 <\/b><\/h3>\n

The messages began as Pezzullo was pushing in mid-2017 for the Turnbull government to create the mega-department of Home Affairs. However, he believed the Attorney-General\u2019s Department under minister George Brandis and secretary Chris Moraitis was trying to block the idea, because under the proposed changes, the Attorney General\u2019s Department would lose ASIO, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and the anti-money-laundering agency Austrac to the new portfolio.<\/p>\n

Another key problem, as Pezzullo saw it, was the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet under Parkinson.<\/p>\n

\u201cCritical point of failure is PM&C thin capacity. Not a criticism \u2013 just a fact. We dwarf them in terms of firepower and scale,\u201d he told Briggs in July 2017. \u201cThey need to tool up ASAP. By early next week this will [be] rolling so strongly that the naysaying commentators will be chewing dust.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t think that they are being malicious \u2013 just inept and George [Brandis] is lawyering them into a state of befuddlement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pezzullo assessed in another message that there was a \u201cone in four\u201d possibility of Labor opposing the creation of Home Affairs, but a briefing to Labor in August that year by the prime minister\u2019s department was \u201cwoefully imprecise and underdone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spoken to the PM [Malcolm Turnbull] and passed it on,\u201d Briggs replied. \u201cWe have a war council on this on Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pezzullo described his campaign for Home Affairs as a \u201ccharm offensive,\u201d telling Briggs, \u201cI can do charm and collegiality!\u201d He then messaged: \u201cPerhaps give me Defence and HA [Home Affairs] at the same time (wink emoji).\u201d<\/p>\n

While seemingly a joke, Pezzullo\u2019s ambition to be Department of Defence secretary was well known in Canberra. In November 2017, as Home Affairs was coming closer to reality, Pezzullo amped up his critique of the man leading the most senior public service department.<\/p>\n

\u201cHead down and powering on,\u201d Pezzullo wrote to Briggs. \u201cI have had to bite my tongue with respect to PM&C ineptitude and incompetence. No project management skills or capability. But going to war with Martin [Parkinson] would not benefit anyone and would just create grief for the PM,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

In December 2017, Pezzullo got his wish: Home Affairs was announced, with Dutton as minister and Pezzullo as its powerful secretary.<\/p>\n

He celebrated. Home Affairs \u201cwill be the enforcer of the bureaucracy\u201d, he told Briggs, attaching a policeman emoji.<\/p>\n

Public service chiefs \u2018not up to it\u2019<\/b><\/h3>\n

Amid the unpredictable politics of the Morrison-Dutton-Turnbull leadership spill of August 2018, messages reveal Pezzullo jockeying for his own advantage with Briggs, who was close to two of the candidates. In a series of late-night messages, Pezzullo suggested if Dutton, his minister, became prime minister, he might be elevated as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have calculated the scenario in my own mind,\u201d he wrote in an 11.33pm message to Briggs. \u201cIn which case I might well be in PM&C which I would reluctantly have to accept.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne is always honoured to serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then he offered some political advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be crucially important that the appointment NOT be seen as a new PM putting together his senior team for winning next election. Secretary [of] PM&C must NEVER be seen in that light, for sake of our democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Morrison ultimately won the multi-part leadership spill, Pezzullo immediately began undermining Parkinson to the new prime minister\u2019s friend and confidant.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to work on re-tooling the bureaucracy quickly. Significant portions of it would have no idea whatsoever how the PM works. That include [sic] most of PM&C, unfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pezzullo, who had worked with Morrison on Operation Sovereign Borders, the military-led border security operation, said he had been \u201ccoaching and guiding\u201d Parkinson in what to expect from the new prime minister: \u201cI have told Parkinson to prepare for OSB [Operation Sovereign Borders] times 100!!!\u201d<\/p>\n

Again, early on the Sunday morning after Morrison defeated Bill Shorten in the May 2019 election, Pezzullo was pushing himself forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cA great win,\u201d Briggs wrote. Pezzullo replied, \u201cRegardless of politics, I agree\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bubble issue but he [Morrison] has to reshape the public service. Not just personalities but structures as well. Fewer, bigger Departments. Serious scaling up and adoption of technology. The current public service leadership is not up to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Chris Moraitis, former Attorney-General\u2019s Department secretary was the subject of Michael Pezzullo\u2019s disparaging text messages.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Alex Ellinghausen<\/cite><\/p>\n

Pezzullo went on: \u201cWe have to take this once in a generation opportunity \u2026 And sorry to say \u2013 Parkinson isn\u2019t up to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Briggs wrote that Morrison agreed.<\/p>\n

Pezzullo responded immediately: \u201cIf that is where he is at … if he gets stuck regarding the PM&C job and he wants a driver in there, I would do it for him. It\u2019s not a job that I\u2019ve ever been interested in but if he needs a finisher in there I would of course answer the call.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Out to lunch\u2019<\/b><\/h3>\n

In late July 2019, Morrison did remove Parkinson, saying in a press conference \u201cwe agreed it was time for some new leadership there\u201d. Morrison also announced a plan to reform the public service to make it more accountable.<\/p>\n

However, Pezzullo did not get the top job. That went instead to Morrison\u2019s former staffer, Phil Gaetjens. <\/p>\n

The other departmental secretary that the Home Affairs boss took aim at was Moraitis \u2013 a respected public servant who was the head of the Attorney- General\u2019s Department between 2014 and 2021, and now heads the Office of the Special Investigator into war crimes in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n

His attack intensified in 2018 when controversy erupted over the department\u2019s drafting of a new bill criminalising the handling of secret information. Under the proposed law, journalists could face jail for receiving leaked documents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe espionage and treason Bill is poorly drafted and the Government should cut its losses,\u201d Pezzullo insisted to Briggs. \u201cDon\u2019t trust anything served up by AGD – i [sic] don\u2019t!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust between you and I and NOT for discussion with the PM or others, when this was being developed I reminded and warned Moraitis about the grief encountered by [then Prime Minister Paul] Keating in 1995 when he tried to do similar,\u201d Pezzullo wrote.<\/p>\n

Criminalising journalists was fine, he said, but \u201cStumbling into it via espionage and treason legislation is incompetence of the highest order.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone needs to hang for that \u2026 It is simply unacceptable. If my Department had messed up that badly, the entire Canberra establishment would have piled in on me, and in any event honour would have dictated that I offer my resignation to the Prime Minister.\u201d<\/p>\n

The following year he said the Attorney-General\u2019s Department was \u201cout to lunch\u201d and would not be fixed \u201cuntil you change out the leadership\u201d.<\/p>\n

He pushed the credentials of the then head of Finance, David Fredericks, saying he was \u201csharp and a fixer\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a friend by way of disclosure\u201d.<\/p>\n

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Most Viewed in National<\/h2>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Michael Bachelard and Nick McKenzie Former Department of Premier and Cabinet secretary Martin Parkinson was one of the targets of Michael Pezzullo\u2019s disparaging text messagses.Credit: Illustration: Matthew Absalom-Wong Save […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180277,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Honoured to serve\u2019: Home Affairs chief\u2019s years-long push to become public service head revealed - Hot World Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hotworldreport.com\/world-news\/honoured-to-serve-home-affairs-chiefs-years-long-push-to-become-public-service-head-revealed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Honoured to serve\u2019: Home Affairs chief\u2019s years-long push to become public service head revealed - 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