The sacking of Mike Pezzullo has the Home Affairs boss leaving knowing 'where the

The sacking of Mike Pezzullo has the Home Affairs boss leaving knowing 'where the bodies are buried'

Mike Pezzullo got his first frontline taste of politics as an adviser to Labor's foreign minister Gareth Evans in the early 1990s.

On Monday, the party which once hired him demonstrated how suddenly fortunes can change in Canberra, dispensing "the Pez" via a brief statement issued by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

"Earlier today the Governor-General in Council terminated the appointment of Michael Pezzullo as Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs," Albanese revealed in a move widely anticipated for weeks.

This action was based on a recommendation to me by the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Australian Public Service Commissioner, following an independent inquiry".

That inquiry, led by Lynette Briggs, made numerous findings against the man who until recently was arguably Canberra's most powerful, divisive, and yet indestructible bureaucrat.

In September, the government asked Pezzullo to stand aside as secretary, launching an investigation into a series of text messages he had exchanged with Liberal Party powerbroker Scott Briggs, which were leaked to the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Among 14 apparent breaches of the public service code of conduct; was using his "duty, status or authority to seek to gain a benefit or advantage for himself" and failing to "act apolitically in his employment".

Over the past decade, the former acting Defence secretary had demonstrated an unflinching resolve to build up the mega Department of Home Affairs, whose first minister was Peter Dutton, the now Opposition Leader.

Mr Pezzullo had also helped craft the Australian Border Force, which would become a highly visible arm of the Coalition government's push to deter unauthorised arrivals.

When elected last year, Albanese's government resisted internal calls to sack Pezzullo, who earned more than $930,000 a year, but his department's wide-ranging portfolio of responsibilities was scaled back — with the Australian Federal Police returning to the Attorney-General's Department.

Since September, the department has been led by experienced public servant Stephanie Foster, but it continues to grapple with numerous headaches on several fronts, not least the High Court's recent decision to end indefinite detention for asylum seekers. The court's reasons for its ruling, which will shape future legislation, will be released on Tuesday.

Other crises, such as evidence of widespread rorting of Australia's visa system by migration agents and human trafficking operations led by organised crime figures, emerged earlier during Pezzullo's tenure, which began in 2017.

Critics of Pezzullo have also pointed to his department's mishandling of multi-million-dollar immigration detention contracts, and his now infamous "drums of war" warning to staff back in 2021.

Prior to the creation of Home Affairs, Pezzullo had also been drawn into the 2015 botched "Operation Fortitude" visa crackdown in Melbourne, where critics accused police and immigration officials of relying on racial profiling.

In a message to staff on Monday morning, the current Acting Home Affairs boss confirmed to her colleagues that "Minister [Clare] O'Neil has asked me to continue to act as Secretary until a permanent appointment is found".

Foster, who helpfully included a link to the findings against Pezzullo in her all-staff email, is considered the frontrunner to take over the powerful but troubled organisation.

Before terminating Pezzullo less than a year before his term was due to expire, Labor also quietly changed regulations that would have granted the powerful bureaucrat a more generous severance payout.

The party also decided to announce his sacking via a media statement, issued 30 minutes after Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil held a press conference in Canberra, during which no indications on Pezzullo's future were made.

Mike Pezzullo has for weeks maintained a disciplined silence, and his next moves are not clear, but those close to the former secretary say he maintains he's done nothing to warrant his immediate dismissal.

For the hardheads inside Labor, Pezzullo's presence had often been seen as an uncomfortable necessity; a force of nature who could help keep doubts about the party's handling of national security off the front pages of newspapers.

Now those same Labor figures wait nervously to see whether he unleashes against his former political masters.

They appreciate all too well – the Canberra veteran "knows where all the bodies are buried".