Stripping Mike Pezzullo of honour ‘out of order’, say recipients

Prominent Order of Australia holders have criticised the decision to strip Mike Pezzullo of his honour and are demanding more transparency about why the ­action was taken.

Former Home Affairs chief Mike Pezzullo. Picture: Martin Ollman

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Prominent Order of Australia holders have criticised the decision to strip Mike Pezzullo of his honour and are demanding more transparency about why the ­action was taken despite the ­former mandarin not being convicted, charged or accused of a criminal offence.

Former defence minister and Labor leader Kim Beazley, former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett, former deputy prime minister John Anderson and Indigenous affairs activist Warren Mundine have come out against the move from the Order of Australia Council to rescind the honour for the former head of the Home ­Affairs Department.

“It is disappointing,” said Mr Beazley, who Mr Pezzullo served as deputy chief of staff between 1997 and 2001.

Former Queensland premier Peter Beattie and leading lawyer Mike Leibler have called for transparency over the decision and clear guidelines over what would constitute a reason for stripping someone of the award.

The office of Governor-General Sam Mostyn last week made public a decision to terminate Mr Pezzullo’s Order of Australia ­appointment, based on the advice of the OAC.

The OAC is refusing to outline reasons for the termination, ­although it is likely to do with Mr Pezzullo’s sacking as Home ­Affairs secretary following the publication of inappropriately political text messages with Liberal powerbroker Scott Briggs.

Mr Mundine, a member of the Order of Australia Council between 2021 and 2023, said the treatment of Mr Pezzullo was “harsh” and out of line with the historical convention for stripping the honour, which is reserved for people convicted of a criminal offence. “The committee has shifted with the new appointments,” Mr Mundine said, arguing there was a left-wing bias among the council.

OAC chair Shelley Reys – a businesswoman and voice to parliament campaigner who has advocated for changing the date of Australia Day – was nominated by Anthony Albanese for the leading role of the organisation that appoints and terminates honours.

Other members of the council recommended by the Prime Minister in 2022 were union leader and nurse Annie Butler, former independent MP Cathy Mc­Gowan and academic Samina Yasmeen.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher is officially the government’s member on the council, although she is represented by Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister Patrick Gorman. There are also representatives nominated by state and territory governments, along with a representative from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. With government sources saying Mr Albanese disagrees with the decision to strip Mr ­Pezzullo of his honour, Mr Gorman said: “I cannot disclose the deliberations of the council but it goes without saying that as his ­assistant minister, I agree with the Prime Minister.”

Senator Gallagher said on the weekend she was made aware of the decision “just before” it was made public.

“I haven’t been given … any sort of briefing or explanation. I presume it is over the matters that have been ventilated in the media over his communications with known members of the Liberal Party,” she told Sky News.

Mr Anderson – deputy prime minister from 1999 to 2005 – said the decision to strip Mr Pezzullo’s honour was “entirely in inappropriate” and was a “marker of how small we are becoming as a people”. “His contribution so outweighs the fact he had some reservations about some people and their policy approaches,” Mr Anderson said.

Mr Kennett said Mr Pezzullo’s termination came after the Order of Australia for Daniel Andrews was “rushed through for political reasons”. “It is making the award political,” Mr Kennett said.

“Most senior public servants will take calls from both government and the opposition. They have downgraded the value of the award for all Australians.”

Two years ago, Mr Leibler was pushing for Dyson Heydon to have his Order of Australia revoked when the former High Court judge was found by an independent investigation to have sexually harassed court staff.

He was told by former OAC chair Shane Stone that terminating an Order of Australia required a legal “conviction, penalty or adverse finding”, with Mr Heydon handing back the honour rather than having it stripped.

Mr Leibler said the standards of the OAC had clearly changed, given the treatment of Mr Pez­zullo.

“Given there has been no finding of guilt by a court or administrative tribunal against Mike Pezzullo, it’s clear that the Order of Australia Council has changed its approach over the last couple of years,” he said.

“I believe the council should be transparent about this change and the circumstances in which it will move to strip a recipient of their award.”

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said the government “can’t wash their hands of this petty and vindictive decision”. “The Prime Minister might be privately telling people he doesn’t agree with the decision, but what did his own representative on the council do when they had the ­opportunity to have a say?” he said.

The leaking of text message between Mr Pezzullo and Mr Briggs last year prompted an investigation by the Australian Public Service Commission, which ultimately found he had breached the public service code of conduct on multiple occasions.