Australia's military chiefs have been looking to the skies after a series of balloons, said to be spy-like in nature, were blown out of it overseas.
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Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Robert Chipman admitted in estimates he was aware of the much-publicised Pentagon report, released in 2021, which found there to be insufficient data around a number of unidentified aerial phenomena cases.
A US Defense taskforce has since been established to look into the nature and origin of those incidents but Air Marshal Chipman admitted Australian authorities hadn't received any briefings yet.
On the "spy" balloons, however, there's been at least one briefing and further information has been sought, he said.
But just don't say anything about funny-looking green things, as Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson quickly learned.
Nothing, we repeat absolutely nothing, about this report screams extraterrestrial, Air Marshal Chipman insisted, despite no one suggesting there was.
"I'm also aware that the report noted that there are unidentified aerial phenomena, but also noted that they're not extraterrestrial," he said.
"There's no evidence of them being extraterrestrial. They just noted the fact that they need to continue to look at the safety and security implications of unidentified objects that are in their sovereign airspace."
Methinks the Air Marshal doth protest too much.
It isn't the first time the issue has regaled senators and witnesses.
Last November, the Greens senator raised a similar set of questions with Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong giggling at the thought of a "UFO question".
It follows the release of a series of freedom of information requests into what Defence is doing following the Pentagon's report.
Sadly, "UFO dude" - as Defence officials internally called one of the eager Fox Mulders out there - did not get any worthwhile answer.
The truth may well be out there but Defence can't, and won't, deal with it.
Wong reminds us who's boss
And while we're on Penny Wong, the long-serving estimates veteran dished up some hot tips to public servants appearing this week.
The foreign minister, who spent her time in opposition grilling officials with a precision like no other, took issue with a line of questioning from Liberal Nationals senator Susan McDonald on Monday.
Senator McDonald probed Prime Minister and Cabinet deputy secretary James Chisholm over advice given to the government on the safeguard mechanism, asking whether the department accepted this mechanism would drive energy prices up for consumers.
Senator Wong hit back, asking whether the Coalition supported net zero by 2050, then advised Mr Chisholm: "She tried to verbal you before, so maybe you should push back on that."
Even at the witness table, Senator Wong is still running the show.
Pezzullo - a bastion of 'leftist ideology'?
With estimates done and dusted for another few months, we have time to reflect on the fortnight's most outrageous moments.
And we can't go past a few eyebrow-raising minutes between Liberal senator Alex Antic and Home Affairs Department secretary Mike Pezzullo last Monday afternoon.
The controversial senator asked the security tzar whether it was "comedy" or "parody" that his department considered climate change and global warming among its national security risks.
But perhaps Senator Antic's most curious charge at Pezzullo was whether his department - long-known for its job in "stop the boats" and other roles typically not associated with progressive movements - had been captured by "leftist ideology".
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The long-serving (and surviving) secretary did all he could in the moment - stared incredulously for a few seconds, checked it wasn't a joke, and then proceeded to answer dutifully as many top bureaucrats would.
Still, it was a good reminder of the sort of atmosphere many public servants might recall.
There was once a time when climate change wasn't so openly discussed and embraced as one of our generation's greatest challenges.
Hopefully, that time remains in the past despite Senator Antic's best efforts.
Greens senator not loving it
Valentine's Day was predictably co-opted by politicians and government agencies jostling for the cringiest social media posts last week.
Government Services Minister Bill Shorten was in it to win it, unleashing a number of posts spruiking the myGov app.
"Roses are red, myGov is blue, our myGov app is easy to use," he tweeted.
Greens senator David Shoebridge was not impressed, firing back: "Cutesy memes about myGov are out of touch with what a source of trauma the website/app are for people - how a message can mean you can't make rent or buy food."
The Australian Electoral Commission also couldn't help itself.
"You're my first preference," a Tweet from the agency declared, urging Australians to enrol to vote.
Let's be thankful it's just one day of the year.
DIY public holidays
It is up to agency bosses to decide whether staff can opt to work on Australia Day, Queen's Birthday and ANZAC Day public holidays, the Australian Public Service Commissioner Peter Woolcott says.
"We have not collected data in relation to what others have done, we've left that very much to agency heads to do themselves," Mr Woolcott told an estimates hearing.
The Morrison government last year introduced new rules requiring public servants not to work on the three public holidays.
This change was then reversed by the Albanese government in a move Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce said will allow public servants to "boycott" ANZAC Day.
"Will the Prime Minister overturn his government's recent decision which now allows public servants to boycott the Anzac Day public holiday and [be] substituted for another day of leave out of protest?" Mr Joyce asked in Question Time on Wednesday.
Flexibility had been in place for almost nine years under the Coalition before last year's change, Employment Minister Tony Burke responded.
We don't expect this culture war will go away anytime soon.
Over to you
- Are your bosses telling you to head back to the office again?
- Is climate change still taboo in your workplace?
- ps@canberratimes.com.au