Greens slam ‘pathetic’ government response to PwC scandal

In the wake of the PwC tax leaks scandal, Greens senator Barbara Pocock has called for “systemic changes” to the structure, governance and regulations in the consulting industry, including an independent regulator for the consulting profession.

“Parliamentarians and Australians alike were horrified when they found out PwC partner Peter Collins and his colleagues shared secret government information with clients on how to avoid tax laws they helped design,” said Pocock.

“PwC made millions off this betrayal – working hard in a systematic attempt to rob the public of tax revenue. Up to 30 people inside this big consulting firm were privy to the confidential information from Treasury and not one of them raised their voice about the wrongdoing.

“Yet Labor and the Libs have teamed up to let this behaviour slide.”

The Greens called out Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones, who claimed that the government has not forgotten about the PwC tax leaks scandal. Pocock pointed out that it had been two years since the Australian Federal Police launched an investigation into the affair.

Pocock called the recommendations agreed upon in the Senate inquiry report “pathetic”, saying the mandates of reviews, guidelines and better training were straight out of the “we don’t want anything to change” playbook.

Following the PwC tax leaks scandal, the consulting firm saw sharp revenue losses and decreased demand from government clients.

To rehabilitate their image, PwC released transparency reports to “confront deeply troubling past failings”, and highlighted actions they have taken to crack down on serious misconduct within the firm.

However, the Greens argued that the government had failed to impose meaningful consequences on the consulting firm.

“The era of self-regulation must end,” the Greens said in a press statement.

They called for stronger regulation in the consulting industry, to lower the partnership cap on consulting firms, and extend corporate reporting requirements to them.

Furthermore, they said audit services and consulting services should be structurally separated in order to reduce conflicts of interest.

They also called for the establishment of an independent regulator for the consulting profession, with powers of enforcement.

“PwC has not paid a price for their behaviour, they are yet to come clean about all those involved in the attempt to defraud Australia, and they are still intentionally withholding important evidence,” Pocock said.

“The Australian Greens want systemic changes to the structure, governance, and regulation of the consulting industry.”