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February 13, 2025
James Paterson says he wants the Home Affairs Department to be respected and listened to again across government, as well as making it a "happy place to work". The Victorian senator and spokesperson for Home Affairs believes the country's national security infrastructure is in need of repair, even as his Coalition colleagues escalate attacks on waste in the public service.
'I want them to be empowered' Coalition senator's pitch to rebuild Home Affairs and make it a happy place to work JAMES Paterson says his pitch to rebuild the Home Affairs Department can go hand in hand with making it "a happy place to work", even as his Coalition colleagues escalate attacks on waste in the public service.
The Victorian senator and spokesperson for Home Affairs believes the country's national security infrastructure is in need of repair.
The proposal goes against calls from former public servants to dismantle the agency once presided over by Mike Pezzullo, and by dealing with a niche Canberra issue, appears to be at odds with the Coalition's broader approach to the capital in the lead-up to a federal election.
But Senator Paterson wants to sell Machinery of Government changes to a national audience.
He has vowed to reverse the transfer of agencies, including the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation and Australian Federal Police, out of the Home Affairs portfolio.
"I know from talking to people in the public service and national security roles that it has caused total chaos behind the scenes in terms of ministerial responsibility, clear lines of accountability, agencies working together seamlessly across portfolios," he told The Canberra Times.
He pointed to the time taken to list terrorist organisations, with Machinery of Government changes requiring Home Affairs to collaborate with the Attorney-General's Department on the issue.
"This is a really simple counter-terrorism function of the Commonwealth that should be very straightforward to do, and under the previous government, it was but over the Machinery of Government changes made by the Prime Minister after the election, the time for ministerial consideration to list a terrorist organisation blew out massively."
The Coalition's mission to restore Home Affairs contradicts the advice of experts, including former Immigration deputy secretaries Abul Rizvi and Peter Hughes and former ASIO director-general Dennis Richardson.
"There are experts who think it's a good idea too, most notably Michael Pezzullo," Senator Paterson said.
"Who in recent weeks has said that he thinks part of the problem with the Prime Minister and the government's response to the anti-Semitic terror crisis is the dismantling of the Home Affairs portfolio."
Mr Pezzullo led the Home Affairs Department for nearly seven years, and was instrumental in its creation, before he was sacked for breaching his obligations as a public servant on at least 14 occasions.
The Public Service Commission launched an independent investigation into him after allegations that he had exchanged thousands of text messages with Liberal powerbroker Scott Briggs in an apparent attempt to wield political influence.
The Coalition has expressed outrage about the treatment of Mr Pezzullo, including a decision taken by the Order of Australia Council to strip him of his honour.
But Senator Paterson would not comment on whether a Coalition government, if elected, would seek to bring Mr Pezzullo back.
Consistently ranked by staff as the worst department to work for, Labor made cultural change at the agency a key priority for new leader Stephanie Foster.
There have been some early signs of improvement, with 60 per cent of staff at the agency saying they would recommend it as a good place to work in 2024, an increase of 3 percentage points from 2023.
But on other markers, results have worsened, with reports of bullying and harassment up by 2 percentage points to 14 per cent.
Senator Paterson called this evidence of a worsening culture under the Albanese government, though he stopped short of laying blame on Ms Foster.
"It's gone backwards even further on Labor's watch," he said. "The latest figures are really damning.
It remains the least popular department to work at, and morale has gone through the floor."
The Home Affairs spokesperson says he, too, wants the department to be "a happy place to work".
"I want to make the Home Affairs a department that is respected across government again and listened to across government," Senator Paterson said.
"I know one of the frustrations, particularly for people who work in the national security functions, is too often their advice over the last two and a half years has been ignored and not acted on.
"And in me, if I am the minister after the next election, they'll have a minister who will champion their advice and their influence in government and make sure that it is heard and that it's influential in policy making."
It is a tough sell, considering the Coalition has confirmed it will cut public service jobs in Canberra.
"What Peter Dutton has said is that front-line services will be protected," he said.
"Our priority is front-line services, and so that would include things like Border Force, for example, but also ASIO and AFP and other agencies like that in the portfolio.
"[Where] we've said we think the waste has occurred ... is in Canberra-based public servants who are not in front-line service delivery roles.
"But national security roles are going to be a very important part of a Dutton government if we're successful, and they'll be prioritised."
The opposition has also been critical of an 11.2 per cent pay rise for public servants over three years, which Home Affairs staff embraced in 2024.
Senator Paterson has also questioned new flexibility entitlements for public servants, with more than half of Home Affairs staff working from home or away from the office at least some of the time, according to the 2024 census.
