It’s out with the old and in with the new in the Defence Minister’s office, with departmental bureaucrats ousted from positions held under predecessor Linda Reynolds.

Peter Dutton has surrounded himself with a core team of ‘loyal’ ministerial staff, brought over from his Home Affairs portfolio, allowing only a few defence personnel in the office.

“They are first class operators, and I’m very lucky to have them; I think our country, frankly, is lucky to have them.”

Keeping his team tight also ensures he won’t act on ‘skewed’ advice from the department, Mr Dutton said.

“I want to make sure that we’re looking at it objectively, in particular around some of the projects where there is a lot of money involved.

“Decisions have been made in some cases I don’t think that should’ve been made, or the contracting is inadequate.

“Taxpayers’ money is at risk.”

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