Analysis

Phil Gaetjens' stoush with Senator Rex Patrick is extraordinary, but politicisation claims have resonated for a reason

Doug Dingwall
Updated December 10 2021 - 10:32am, first published 5:30am
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Phil Gaetjens makes his end-of-year address to the public service on Wednesday. Picture: Keegan Carroll
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Phil Gaetjens makes his end-of-year address to the public service on Wednesday. Picture: Keegan Carroll

Phil Gaetjens should be no stranger to bureaucrats by now. His end-of-year address to the public service on Wednesday was his third as secretary of the Prime Minister's Department, having finished a second full year in the federal bureaucracy's most senior and arguably high-profile job.

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Doug Dingwall

Doug Dingwall

Parliamentary bureau chief

Doug Dingwall is The Canberra Times' parliamentary bureau chief. He writes about government and federal politics, and has an interest in integrity, industrial relations and foreign affairs. Previously he worked at The Examiner in Launceston, where he won a Tasmanian Human Rights Award for his reporting. Contact him on doug.dingwall@canberratimes.com.au

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