Former home affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo has been sacked after the Australian Public Service Commissioner found he breached the code of conduct.
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* Mr Pezzullo was referred to the APSC by Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil in September after leaked encrypted text messages revealed him using a political back channel to two former Liberal prime ministers
* The messages showed him suggesting who should be minister of his department, including recommending now Opposition Leader Peter Dutton the night before Mr Morrison took the PM role from Malcolm Turnbull in 2018
* Mr Pezzullo suggested former defence minister Christopher Pyne be sacked, labelled former defence minister Marise Payne "completely ineffectual" and "a problem", and said he "almost had a heart attack" when Julie Bishop was linked with a tilt at the prime ministership in 2018
* The messages were sent to Liberal powerbroker Scott Briggs
* Another batch of messages saw him suggest the former coalition government strengthen its ability to take legal action against stories obtained from whistleblowers
* The messages showed an apparent overstepping of the apolitical mark required from Australian public servants
* Mr Pezzullo was the first person appointed to head the newly-created home affairs department in 2017, and was behind the 'Operation Sovereign Borders' approach to asylum seekers
* He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (General Division) in the 2020 Queen's Birthday honours list.
Australian Associated Press
