Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced Professor Glyn Davis will be appointed as the new secretary of the Prime Minister's department, following the ousting of former head Phil Gaetjens.
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The newly-elected Prime Minister confirmed the respected, long-serving bureaucrat would take up the central agency's mantle from June 6 for a five-year appointment in a Monday statement.
Mr Albanese said the new secretary would bring a "deep understanding of public policy" and "positive change" to the role.
Professor Davis has previously served as director-general of the Queensland Department of Premier and Cabinet between 1998 and 2002 along with vice-chancellor roles at Griffith University and the University of Melbourne.
He also served on a panel for a landmark review into the public service, led by David Thodey.
The review, publicly released in December 2019, offered 40 recommendations to reform the public service's aging approach.
The former Morrison government welcomed the review at the time but knocked back many of its key recommendations, including a push to remove the staffing level cap, to make pay scales and conditions more consistent and a move away from labour hire reliance.
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Mr Albanese also thanked Phil Gaetjens for his service to the Australian public as secretary, which he held from August 2019 to polling day.
Mr Gaetjens, a former chief of staff to Scott Morrison, was heavily criticised by Labor while it was in opposition, with Mr Albanese refusing to promise his position was safe prior to being elected.
The Labor leader condemned the former secretary's slow investigation into when staff within Mr Morrison's office first found out about the Brittany Higgins allegations - a report yet to be publicly released.
"How can it take so long?" Mr Albanese told The Canberra Times in August last year.
"The Australian Federal Police have conducted their inquiries into the allegation of a sexual assault.
"And [they] have laid charges on that basis and they were quicker than the Prime Minister asking his office what they knew.
"That's the inquiry that should have taken hours, not months. And I think that puts the head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet in a very difficult position."
Former independent senator Rex Patrick pushed Mr Gaetjens' sacking on a number of occasions, calling him a "cover-up expert" and a Mr Morrison "henchman".
The South Australian senator was jostling with the Prime Minister's department over denied freedom of information requests regarding agenda details and meeting minutes of national cabinet.
Sarah Basford Canales
I'm a federal politics and public sector reporter with an interest in national security, integrity and regulation. Contact me with general tips and thoughts at sarah.basfordcanales@canberratimes.com.au or confidential tips to sbasfordcanales@protonmail.com.
I'm a federal politics and public sector reporter with an interest in national security, integrity and regulation. Contact me with general tips and thoughts at sarah.basfordcanales@canberratimes.com.au or confidential tips to sbasfordcanales@protonmail.com.
Hannah Neale
Hannah is a reporter with The Canberra Times. She is currently covering ACT courts. Hannah started as a journalist with The Southern Highland News and The Goulburn Post before moving to the ACT.
Hannah is a reporter with The Canberra Times. She is currently covering ACT courts. Hannah started as a journalist with The Southern Highland News and The Goulburn Post before moving to the ACT.
