Departmental secretaries should be seen and not heard. That’s the view within some senior elements of the Morrison government after Home Affairs Secretary Michael Pezzullo’s extraordinary Anzac Day message to his department’s 15,000 staff warning that “war drums are beating” and Australia needs to prepare to send its “warriors” into battle.

Pezzullo’s words predictably sparked a tirade from Beijing, which branded him a troublemaker, but also made the front page of London’s The Times newspaper under the headline “‘Drums of war beating’ warns Australia as China tension grows”.