Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo was stood down in September.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Pezzullo was one of the most powerful departmental secretaries in Canberra and served successive Labor and Coalition governments in senior roles for decades,including as former Labor leader Kim Beazley’s deputy chief of staff and as deputy secretary in the Defence Department during the Howard years.
He became secretary of the Immigration Department during the Abbott government and in December 2017,boss of the super-sized Department of Home Affairs where he reported to Peter Dutton.
Pezzullo will not receive a payout from his more than $900,000 a year job,afterthe Remuneration Tribunal changed the financial payout rules last Friday.
The Briggs report will not be made public because personal information obtained during an investigation of potential breaches of code of conduct is restricted under the Public Service Act.
In a statement released on Monday morning,Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the governor-general had terminated Pezzullo’s appointment based on the recommendation of the secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,Glyn Davis,and the Australian Public Service Commissioner Gordon de Brouwer.
“Mr Pezzullo fully co-operated with the inquiry. I thank Ms Briggs[former commissioner Lynelle] for conducting the inquiry,” the prime minister’s statement said.