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After an extraordinary trove of text messages between Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo and Liberal Party powerbroker Scott Briggs were revealed by Nine Entertainment yesterday, Pezzullo has stood aside pending an investigation. But, as Michelle Grattan writes, the end will be predictable - Pezzullo cannot survive the revelations.
In the texts, Pezzullo blatantly lobbied for his department’s interests, criticising ministers and seeking to use his connection to Briggs to gain leverage with successive Liberal prime ministers. In today’s public service, Grattan says, Pezzullo is a one-off, from a time of the so-called bureaucratic mandarins who ran their departments with an iron fist. The mandarins were “players” and Pezzullo is a “player” too.
But it’s not as simple as him being party political. Rather, his interventions are more ideological - he is a “hawk’s hawk” on matters of national security who has served both Coalition and Labor governments.
More broadly, says former Australian Public Service Commissioner Andrew Podger, the Pezzullo story points to systemic problems in the bureaucracy. Given recent scandals such as Robodebt and sports rorts, Podger argues, much more needs to be done to “rebuild the trust between the public service and all sides of politics, the parliament and the Australian public”.
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Amanda Dunn
Politics + Society Editor
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Pezzullo is a one-off in the today’s public service. He can perhaps be best understood by referring back to the so-called bureaucratic “mandarins” of decades ago.
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Andrew Podger, Australian National University
More needs to be done, including in the legislation, if we are to rebuild the trust that is essential between the public service and all sides of politics, the parliament and the Australian public.
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John Hawkins, University of Canberra; Selwyn Cornish, Australian National University
The new paper says closer to 2.8 million Australians are in some way unemployed, equivalent to one-fifth of the current workforce. That’s much more than the official unemployment total of 539,700.
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Hunter Fujak, Deakin University
Pundits had suggested a strong World Cup performance was vital for the health of the game. The horror result in France will put even more pressure on the sport to reform to stay relevant.
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Andrea Carson, La Trobe University; Max Grömping, Griffith University; Rebecca Strating, La Trobe University; Simon Jackman, University of Sydney
Yes23 is blanketing the nation in hundreds of ads, while Fair Australia is sticking with a singular message and targeting specific states that will ensure a ‘no’ victory.
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Greig de Zubicaray, Queensland University of Technology
We’ve all forgotten the word we need mid-sentence, and know the feeling of it being just on the tip of our tongue. But when can this be more serious?
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Kay Critchell, Deakin University; Michael Traurig, Deakin University
Volunteers have been collecting and sorting washed-up rubbish on the beach for years. Thanks to their efforts, we have data on whether container deposit schemes help the issue.
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Erica Mealy, University of the Sunshine Coast
The draft bill has a number of issues, ranging from an insecure mechanism that leaves people’s data vulnerable to attacks, to a lack of mandatory disclosure of data breaches.
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Shea X. Fan, RMIT University; Fei Zhu, University of Nottingham; Margaret A. Shaffer, University of Oklahoma
COVID lockdowns and the rise of the gig economy have led to loneliness becoming an issue in the workplace.
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Naomi Zouwer, University of Canberra
Encourage your child to make their own paintbrushes or draw everyday objects in huge sizes. Or try a portrait without taking their marker off the page.
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Politics + Society
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Adrian Beaumont, The University of Melbourne
The prime minister’s approval ratings have turned around from the last Newspoll - but the “yes” campaign for the Voice referendum continues to struggle.
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Jeffrey McNeill, Massey University
Under the new Natural and Built Environments Act, it will take ten years to phase out the old Resource Management Act. Parties promising reform will likely end up presiding over the status quo.
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Health + Medicine
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Laura Downie, The University of Melbourne
They’re heavily promoted. Your optometrist may even prescribe them. But when we looked at the evidence, this is what we found.
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Environment + Energy
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Inga Smith, University of Otago; Andrew Pauling, University of Otago; Greg Leonard, University of Otago; Maren Elisabeth Richter, University of Otago; Max Thomas, University of Otago; Pat Langhorne, University of Otago; Wolfgang Rack, University of Canterbury
Antarctic sea ice is now nearly 9% below norma. But the dramatic decline is not universal around the continent, which makes it difficult to predict the overall impact of climate change.
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Arts + Culture
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Miles Pattenden, Australian Catholic University
The medieval is part of the mosaic of modern Australia. Our nation’s heritage on this island continent is full of it: in aesthetics, institutions, laws, languages, identities, moralities.
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Benjamin Isakhan, Deakin University; Ali Akbar, The University of Melbourne
In our new research we examined popular music videos which drew on historical myths and contemporary clergymen to mobilise Iraq’s Shia population to fight the Islamic State.
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Books + Ideas
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Chris Fleming, Western Sydney University
The ideas of Rousseau reflect many of our own deepest commitments and patterns of thought.
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Ian A Wright, Western Sydney University
A new book delves into the species that live in, on and near Melbourne’s Yarra: from the millions of humans who rely on it for water to creatures such as owls, wallabies and flying foxes.
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Business + Economy
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
In the white paper, prepared by Treasury, the government commits to full employment, which it defines as “everyone who wants a job being able to find one without searching for too long”
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