![\"Australia](\"https:\/\/c.ndtvimg.com\/2023-11\/fkj22u6g_michael-pezzullo-_625x300_27_November_23.jpeg\"\/ "\\"Australia")
<\/div>\nAllegations against Michael Pezzullo included failing to act apolitically.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Sydney: <\/b><\/p>\n
Australia’s government on Monday fired a powerful civil servant known as a hardliner on immigration following an investigation into WhatsApp messages he reportedly sent to sway senior politicians.<\/p>\n
Michael Pezzullo was sacked as head of the Department of Home Affairs after a two-month independent probe found he had breached the public service’s code of conduct at least 14 times.<\/p>\n
Allegations against Pezzullo included failing to act apolitically, using his power to benefit himself and engaging in “gossip and disrespectful critique” of ministers and colleagues, the public service commission said.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed Pezzullo’s appointment had been “terminated” following the inquiry, launched in September after media reports exposed his alleged communications.<\/p>\n
Pezzullo came unstuck in September when The Age and 60 Minutes published hundreds of encrypted WhatsApp messages he had allegedly sent to influence previous conservative governments.<\/p>\n
In one of the WhatsApp messages to a Liberal Party power broker, he reportedly called for a “right winger” to be installed as his minister responsible for immigration, adding: “People smugglers will be watching.”<\/p>\n
“There will be no tears for Michael Pezzullo,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for Australia’s Refugee Action Coalition.<\/p>\n
Pezzullo had been kept in place by successive Australian governments as a “departmental attack dog” for their harsh immigration policies, Rintoul said in a written statement sent to AFP.<\/p>\n
Rintoul said he doubted the civil servant’s removal would end the centre-left Labor government’s strict anti-immigration stance, which has included sending asylum seekers to the Pacific island of Nauru.<\/p>\n
The government rushed through a law this month empowering it to impose home curfews and ankle bracelets on scores of migrants with criminal convictions, after a High Court ruling forced their release from detention.<\/p>\n
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n