Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo honoured for public service

Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo has been appointed to the Order of Australia as part of the Queen's Birthday Honours for his distinguished public administration service in national security, border control and immigration.

Mr Pezzullo has been been at the peak of the public service for the past seven years, first as Australian Customs and Border Protection Service chief executive from 2013, and later as Home Affairs secretary.

Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo has been recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours. Credit: AAP

He was appointed an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia alongside Seven boss Kerry Stokes, former long-time Liberal politician Phillip Ruddock, former Labor minister Graham Richardson, former House of Representatives speaker Bronwyn Bishop, and former NSW premier Mike Baird.

Mr Pezzullo thanked his family and staff for the honour.

"I literally, and I know everyone says this, couldn't have done it without my family," he said. "And my staff. I don't mean just my most senior executives but everyone down to the graduates who joined us this year."

Mr Pezzullo has worked in politics and the public service for more than 30 years. His career started at the Department of Defence, which he joined as a graduate from the University of Sydney, before five years later joining the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Mr Pezzullo shifted to politics for much of the 1990s, working for both foreign minister Gareth Evans and opposition leader Kim Beazley before rejoining the Department of Defence in 2002.

He named working on the 2009 defence white paper, his leading role in the Abbott government's Operation Sovereign Borders, and being the inaugural Home Affairs secretary as career highlights.