Home Affairs Secretary Michael Pezzullo steps aside after bombshell texts, with Anthony Albanese confirming investigation

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed Home Affairs Secretary Michael Pezzullo has been stood aside following bombshell reports about his text messages to a Liberal powerbroker.

A joint investigation by 60 Minutes, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald revealed Mr Pezzullo allegedly operated outside the acceptable boundaries for public servants, exploiting a relationship with Liberal powerbroker Scott Briggs to exert influence at the highest levels of government for half a decade.

Following the revelations, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil released a statement on Monday confirming she had referred Mr Pezzullo to the Australian Public Service Commissioner on Sunday night.

While there is no suggestion any of the exchanges was corrupt or illegal, senior public servants are held to standards of neutrality and the revelations appeared to make Mr Pezzullo’s position in Home Affairs untenable.

At a press conference on Monday, Mr Albanese confirmed the public servant had agreed to step aside while the APS Commissioner carried out an investigation following a conversation with Ms O’Neil on Monday.

“Minister O’Neil has spoken with Michael Pezzullo, the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, this morning and has asked that he stand aside whilst this investigation takes place,” he said.

“He has agreed to stand aside, that action is appropriate.”

The Prime Minister added the government would look to “expedite” the process, but indicated it would not comment further on “specifics” until the findings were handed down.

That included on the origin of the messages, which were largely sent through encrypted services WhatsApp and Signal, with the outlets who obtained the correspondence claiming they came from “a third party who obtained lawful access to them.”

However, Mr Albanese did reveal that the independent investigation would be headed up by veteran former public servant Lynelle Briggs – no relation to Mr Briggs – who led the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

“Lynelle Briggs is someone who is a very experienced public servant, it is appropriate that Lynelle Briggs look at this and will look at it in an independent way,” he said.

“I think this requires a full and proper disclosure, that needs to be done in an expeditious way and I’m sure it will be.”

Mr Pezzullo sent hundreds of messages to Mr Briggs attacking perceived enemies – including Julie Bishop, Marise Payne and George Brandis – and seeking to promote allies, such as former prime ministers Scott Morrison and Tony Abbott.

He claimed to have almost “had a heart attack” at the prospect of Ms Bishop becoming Liberal leader, also mocking her for doing a fashion shoot with TV personality Kerri-Anne Kennerley, while he labelled former defence and foreign affairs minister Marise Payne “completely ineffectual.”

Meanwhile, he sought to encourage Mr Briggs to have a “right winger” installed as the Minister for Home Affairs after the 2018 Liberal leadership contest and pushed for Mr Morrison and Peter Dutton to “unite” after the spill, as well as floating the reintroduction of Mr Abbott to Cabinet.

Mr Pezzullo is yet to publicly comment on the allegations.