Senior public servants receive Qantas Chairman's Lounge membership, NACC to move offices, the search for an Agriculture secretary

Yes, while you're tapping away at that travel request (which will probably be knocked back anyway, let's face it) your agency head could be sweeping into one of the Qantas Chairman's Lounge's discreetly located entrances.

Chairman's Lounge membership is by invitation only, and is even better than the airline's Platinum One membership, apparently.

Six lounges located at Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra allow the elite to relax away from the hustle and bustle of the common people.

(Shockingly, Qantas has not extended invitations to your Public Eye authors. But sources who have glimpsed behind the curtain say it's actually not that good, anyway.)

The airline seems to have picked up a habit of schmoozing senior public servants, with invites to the exclusive lounge materialising for those who climb high enough up the ranks.

The bosses of the 14 departments, plus The Australian Taxation Office and Services Australia, all hold the exclusive membership, Public Eye can reveal.

We didn't hear back about the membership of Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Jan Adams or Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Glyn Davis.

Many of them received the golden ticket while working in previous roles. APS Commissioner Gordon de Bouwer is a long-standing member, for example.

Defence secretary Greg Moriarty was gifted membership before reaching the top job. The department actually copped a lashing from then-senator Rex Patrick in 2018 when it couldn't provide details of how many officials had the prestigious membership.

Home Affairs boss Mike Pezzullo has held membership since 1993, when he was a staffer for then-Labor senator Gareth Evans.

Finance secretary Jenny Wilkinson received partner membership in 2008 through her husband, ABS boss David Gruen, but has had prime membership since she became a secretary in 2022. Department of Veterans' Affairs' secretary Alison Frame also got membership upon becoming secretary.

Health boss Blair Comley, a former EY partner, had his pass reinstated upon become the secretary. (Who says the public sector can't compete with the big four on perks?)

In a somewhat embarrassing oversight, someone at Qantas seems to have forgotten to send the invite out to Attorney-General's Department secretary Katherine Jones until August 2022. Her department's gift registry declares she accepted membership at that time, but she commenced the role a year prior.

Also embarrassing: calling it a "chairman's" lounge in 2023 (you'd think we'd have moved on to something a little less patriarchal).

Interestingly, agencies aren't actually required to report the memberships on their gifts and benefits registers (though some still do) because they are priceless. The registers, published quarterly, require disclosure of any gifts accepted by officials over the value of $100.

It is understood Home Affairs will start publishing memberships in its next quarterly update.

Public Eye approached Qantas for comment on whether it had a policy of extending invites to senior officials, but it does not comment on matters relating to the Chairman's Lounge.

Staff at the National Anti Corruption Commission will move into a flash new office at 5 Constitution Avenue, in Canberra's city, in December.

The commission's 10-year lease of the office space has cost a cool $23 million ($23,212,395, to be exact).

The 12-storey building formerly known as Customs House is undergoing renovations at the moment.

It's part of a complex which was recently refreshed in a $90 million redevelopment. ACT government staff tenant the two other buildings, Allara House and Nara Centre.

While most federal government agencies issue their commentary through faceless spokespeople, Services Australia has Hank Jongen.

Mr Jongen became a prominent face for the agency during the robodebt years. It is not unusual to spot him on Sunrise of a morning, or read his comments in The Canberra Times.

(Such is his versatility, his Facebook cover photo even features one image of him standing in a grassy field, and another of him strolling an urban street sporting a leather jacket. He can do both!)

His title as "general manager" has also prompted questions in the past, given he acts as an agency spokesperson. (He is listed as a spokesperson on the website).

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Answers to a question on notice from budget estimates give some more insight into the life of Mr Jongen. Between July 2022 and March 2023 he made 185 media statements and appearances on behalf of the agency.

He doesn't just respond to any old inquiry, though.

"Each media enquiry is assessed individually to determine which responses are attributable to Mr Jongen," the response from Government Services Minister Bill Shorten stated.

"Considerations include Mr Jongen's areas of expertise and availability to speak on the topic."

Public Eye has noticed Mr Jongen has been active on the hot topics of enterprise bargaining, and industrial action within Services Australia, being undertaken by Community and Public Sector Union members.

It's been almost three weeks since Andrew Metcalfe finished up as secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, and more than two months since he first announced his retirement.

Despite the decent lead-up, a replacement has yet to be announced for Mr Metcalfe - who led three departments since starting in the federal public service in 1980.

Former DAFF deputy secretary Cindy Briscoe is currently serving as acting secretary.

But we at Public Eye wanted to know who will be permanently filling the top spot.

The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet confirmed expressions of interest for the role were recently sought through national advertisement "as part of a merit-based selection process to consider a diverse range of candidates".

Candidates will be recommended to the Prime Minister, who in turn will recommend someone for the Governor-General to appoint to the position (so a simple process, from the sounds of it).

But PM&C played coy when asked when we should hear any news, saying "an appointment will be announced in due course".