Scott Morrison's pick for the public service's top role could have been drinking wine with diplomats in Paris, or looking for a new job entirely, if it weren't for two turns of fortune.
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Phil Gaetjens, who will succeed Martin Parkinson as head of the Prime Minister's Department in September, was facing a possible exit from the bureaucracy ahead of the Coalition's surprise re-election in May.
The former chief of staff to Mr Morrison became a target for Labor, which appeared it wanted to replace him as Treasury secretary after it argued his appointment to the job had politicised the department.
Before then, his bags were packed to become Australia's next ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in France when he was called up to head Treasury following predecessor John Fraser's resignation.
His latest elevation to become the most senior federal public servant is another turnaround in his career.
An experienced state and federal public servant, as well as a former staffer to Mr Morrison and Peter Costello, Mr Gaetjens combines political savvy with experience in bureaucracies.
At NSW Treasury he was secretary between 2011 and 2015 under the Coalition governments of Barry O'Farrell and Mike Baird, when he helped deliver state budgets.
He also worked on one budget in South Australia and many with Mr Costello before he joined Mr Morrison's office.
Both Mr Costello and Mr Morrison have said Mr Gaetjens is ready to offer critical advice.
Mr Costello has also previously lauded his former staffer's work ethic and expertise in micro-economic reform. Mr Gaetjens is credited as a key architect of the Howard government's GST.
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Despite his public service experience, Labor in the last parliament flagged it didn't have confidence in Mr Gaetjens as head of Treasury and criticised his department, arguing it played a role in undermining the Opposition's tax policies. Conservatives in reply have said that Mr Gaetjens' time as a Liberal staffer was irrelevant and referred to his economic policy and technical skills.
Labor's new public service spokeswoman Katy Gallagher was more restrained in speaking about the new secretary of the Prime Minister's Department on Thursday, saying the Opposition would give him the benefit of the doubt.
Mr Morrison noted Mr Gaetjens had previously worked for the Coalition politically, but said it was not uncommon, also mentioning his public service experience.