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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It was curious, then, that he devoted part of the speech to a self-introduction of sorts. He raised his 44 years working in state and federal public services, and ministers' offices, saying he had driven reforms over the years promoting frank advice to governments.
It was also fitting that Mr Gaetjens aired some of his CV, despite his time in the top job. After more than two years, despite everything said about him by both Labor and Coalition politicians, Mr Gaetjens seems a little-known (rather than misunderstood) quantity inside and outside the public service.
His career before leading the Prime Minister's Department hasn't been prominent, compared to some of his predecessors.
The quietly spoken, low-key bureaucrat admits to having more of a practical bent - none of which equips him much for the kind of semi-fame enjoyed by past senior bureaucrats.
Not that Mr Gaetjens lacks profile. He has just attracted publicity of the kind most public servants studiously avoid. In the last two weeks, he's been tangled in a public stoush with Independent senator Rex Patrick after the crossbencher accused PM&C FOI officials of being politicised.
Senator Patrick directed his attack squarely at Mr Gaetjens, too, saying in Parliament he was ready to bury Coalition government secrets for Scott Morrison and was happy to act as the Prime Minister's "henchman".
The South Australian senator has, under parliamentary immunity, decided to call out what he describes as politicisation and incompetence in the department's FOI decisions, after PM&C officials blocked access to national cabinet documents.
They refused to release the documents after finding they were exempt under cabinet secrecy rules.
It followed an Administrative Appeals Tribunal decision from Justice Richard White in August that the national cabinet was not a subcommittee of the federal cabinet. In their decisions, PM&C officials Angie McKenzie and Hugh Cameron found the national cabinet was a committee of the federal cabinet for the purposes of the freedom-of-information laws.
By contrast, Senator Patrick points out, the Home Affairs Department recently agreed to release in full Emergency Management Australia's 2021-22 High Risk Weather Season briefing notes for the national cabinet.
"Home Affairs' response to my FOI request is consistent with the ruling of Justice White that national cabinet is not a committee of the federal cabinet. It makes a mockery of PM&C's position, where it disgracefully thought it appropriate that their officials know the law better than a judge," Senator Patrick says.
"Australians have an expectation for honest, transparent and accountable government. Sadly, Australians feel the opposite is the case."
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Asked about those comments, PM&C on Wednesday said it respected the AAT's decision and provided the relevant documents to Senator Patrick, but that the tribunal was a merits review body and did not make binding decisions in the same way as a court.
"It remains the government's view that national cabinet was established as a committee of cabinet and its documents and deliberations should remain confidential," a department spokesperson said.
Mr Gaetjens has let much previous commentary about him pass without responding. When it came to Senator Patrick's criticisms of two departmental FOI officials, however, he hit back.
Mr Gaetjens co-wrote, with public service commissioner Peter Woolcott, a letter of complaint to Senate president Slade Brockman. Then, he used an annual end-of-year address to call out "personal attacks" on public servants and deny claims of politicisation.
It's rare for senior bureaucrats to get involved in public fights with politicians, let alone risk escalating them through the usually uncontroversial, apolitical confines of public service speeches.
Mr Gaetjens might claim that such extraordinary measures are justified by Senator Patrick's decision to name and shame FOI officials.
The PM&C secretary says such comments are intended to undermine faith in the bureaucracy, but Senator Patrick's criticisms have resonated for a reason. The public service's slow and obstructive FOI channels do nothing to foster confidence in its impartiality.
Mr Gaetjens is the high-profile, but relatively unknown, head of the bureaucracy. It is no surprise he is being called to account for his department's refusal to release important documents.
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