Prime Minister Anthony Albanese鈥檚聽聽to keep controversial senior public servant Mike Pezzullo on as home affairs secretary doesn鈥檛 bode well for those hoping for progressive change.
Pezzullo was a key behind-the-scenes player in the Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison governments.
Abbott appointed Pezzullo as immigration secretary in October 2014, right before now opposition leader Peter Dutton took over the portfolio. Pezzullo then followed the minister to Home Affairs聽,聽under Turnbull. It was expected that he would join the Liberal MP when he moved to defence last year.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e signalled bad news by keeping Pezzullo on as the head of the Department of Home Affairs. He presided over a lot of cruel and vicious policies and actions,鈥 said聽People Just Like Us聽spokesperson Fabia Claridge.
The refugee rights advocate told聽聽that Pezzullo is close to Dutton and former PM Morrison, adding: 鈥淲e have to question why they have done this, and what is the scope for change in the future鈥.
Claridge said Pezzullo 鈥減resided over many dastardly actions with refugees and asylum seekers arriving in Australian waters seeking refuge鈥 in his role as immigration and home affairs secretary.
The Home Affairs portfolio covers immigration, border control and national security and also incorporated the federal police .
Dutton and Pezzullo significantly broadened the reach of intelligence and law enforcement during their little over three years together in charge of home affairs.
罢丑别听聽article that led the Australian Federal Police, under Pezzullo, to raid the home of then News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst in 2018, detailed leaked correspondence between the home affairs secretary and defence secretary Greg Moriarty discussing the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) spying on domestic targets.
The ASD is a foreign-focused spy agency and such agencies don鈥檛 play by the same rules as domestic ones. Therefore, the proposal being discussed was overreach.
However,聽since then, 聽have facilitated the change.
Over the three years that Dutton and Pezzullo held the reins of national security and surveillance laws, the pair legislated draconian powers to break through encrypted online messaging systems and聽聽to take over online accounts and electronic devices to alter and delete data.
Another reason why retaining Pezzullo in the powerful job is of concern is his suggestion that the nation may be 鈥渂racing again, yet again, for the curse of war鈥. His old boss, Dutton, had been saying聽this for some time, putting 聽on something of a war footing.
Pezzullo began his career in the public service when he joined Defence聽; he became deputy strategy secretary in 2006.
Pezzullo was asked to聽聽last year after he sent out聽鈥, in which he implied that the 鈥渄rums of war鈥 are beating 鈥 China 鈥 and that it was up to 鈥渇ree nations鈥 to continue to 鈥渞emain armed, strong and ready for war鈥 against 鈥渢yranny鈥檚 threat to freedom鈥.
The warning about a coming war in the Indo Pacific overlaps with the new PM鈥檚 rhetoric at the NATO summit in Spain in which he said that China and Russia had 鈥渘o limits鈥.
鈥淚 would like to see increased interoperability with the armed forces of those Asia Pacific nations,鈥 Albanese聽聽on June 27. 鈥淐hina is becoming increasingly aggressive and now they have that relationship with Russia.鈥
While these words from the new leader should signal alarm bells for Labor鈥檚 constituents, one can assume it warms the heart of the home affairs secretary.
[Paul Gregoire writes for the Sydney Criminal Lawyers, where this article was聽.]