Former home affairs boss Pezzullo issues warning on China, admits his mistakes cost him his job
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Australia's former home affairs boss Mike Pezzullo has admitted he "made mistakes" that led to his 2023 sacking, as he issued a warning about the warfare threats China poses in the Indo-Pacific. Mr Pezzullo was dismissed in 2023 after hundreds of text messages between him and Liberal Party powerbroker Scott Briggs emerged. The conversations revealed the extent of his attempts to influence government on policy and he was found to have breached the public service code of conduct at least 14 times. Mr Pezzullo broke his silence on his dismissal to 7.30 on Monday night. "I made mistakes, " he said. "I need to own those mistakes and I need to learn from them. "I certainly accept the finding that no matter how much rough and tumble there is in a place like Canberra, that the gaining of influence and the personal advantage to be gained by way of certain channels of communication, whether it's to the prime minister or anyone else, crosses a line in terms of conduct. "I accept that and I've paid a price." Before his dismissal Mr Pezzullo had amassed 30 years of service in Canberra, helping to build the Department of Home Affairs and Australia's Border Force. Under President Xi Jinping, China has become increasingly aggressive in the region and has frequently been involved in incidents in the South China Sea with the Philippines. Chinese President Xi Jinping has pressed for expansion of Chinese land under his rule.(Reuters: Florence Lo) Its rule over Hong Kong has restricted social freedoms and its military has frequently flown sorties over the Taiwan Strait as part of a bid to bring that island closer to Chinese control. Asked what war with China could look like, Mr Pezzullo tempered his response by saying that it was unlikely but the consequences could be dire. "I think the likelihood of this occurring is actually quite low [but] the consequences would be significant and indeed catastrophic," Mr Pezzullo told 7.30. "The likelihood of conflict in this decade has been about 10 per cent, which is meaningful enough to plan for and indeed to be concerned about." There have been many incidents between China's Coastguard and vessels from the Philippines in the South China Sea recently.(Reuters: Martin Petty) He said that should war with China occur, cyber and cognitive warfare would be the key concerns as he warned of a major malware threat being in place. "[With] cyber, critical infrastructure particularly would be vulnerable," Mr Pezzullo told 7.30. "You've had FBI Director Wray in recent times talking explicitly about the intelligence that he sees ... and the judgment he's come to that there is malware implanted on both US and allied networks, which is specifically designed to be activated in the lead up to or in the at the outset of a conflict. "Director Wray has talked about the low blows that would be visited on the population at large ... taking down hospitals, electricity grids, and the like." Asked if that could see undersea cables that deliver internet to Australia being cut, Mr Pezzullo said it could happen but that Australia had made strides in recent years to improve its position. Undersea cables could potentially be cut according to the former home affairs boss.(Prysmian Group) "That certainly would be one vulnerability," he said. "In that respect we've made significant progress over a couple of parliaments now in terms of shoring up critical infrastructure protection." He then warned China could use cognitive warfare, which involves using AI and disinformation to undermine a war effort, as it is part of Chinese doctrine before making one final warning of what may happen in a worse-case scenario featuring "kinetic" strikes. Kinetic strikes refer to using missiles or other military hardware to hit targets. "[There is] a very low probability of this occurring," he said. "At the moment, it's unlikely to occur but potentially [we] could be looking at kinetic strikes onto the Australian territory, particularly targeted at key facilities." Asked if Australia was particularly vulnerable in any conflict, Mr Pezzullo said strategic partnerships that have been made in recent years would hamper China. "What you're now seeing are very different strategic geometries emerge: The US, Japan and Australia; the US, Japan and the Philippines; Australia, the Philippines and the US. "That will complicate an adversary's calculations about whether in fact, it would suit them or indeed, benefit them to strike. "I think what we're seeing in the last couple of years has actually complicated the Chinese calculus rather than simplified it." Watch 7.30, Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on ABC iview and ABC TV Posted 22 Apr 202422 Apr 2024Mon 22 Apr 2024 at 10:13am, updated 23 Apr 202423 Apr 2024Tue 23 Apr 2024 at 12:18am'Catastrophic consequences' if conflict with China occurs