Still No Consequences For PwC Tax Scandal

Assistant Treasurer, Stephen Jones has claimed that the government has not forgotten the PwC tax leaks scandal even though it's been two years since the Australian Federal Police launched an investigation into the affair. Greens Senator, Barbara Pocock, who instigated a Senate inquiry into the matter claims that the Government is dragging its feet when it comes to meaningful change to prevent this from happening again.

As stated by Senator Barbara Pocock:

"Calls by the outgoing Assistant Treasurer, Stephen Jones, for PwC to 'face the full force of the law' over the tax leaks scandal only serve to demonstrate how badly the government has been dragging its heels on this matter.

"The Federal Police have been investigating this for the past two years without a result. I personally referred the matter to the National Anti-Corruption Commission on day 1 of its operation and we've heard nothing in regard to their investigation.

"My question for the Australian parliament is when will we see consequences for PwC over their atrocious behaviour?

"Jones also took a swipe at unnamed government agencies who he claims tried to block critical information about the scandal from being made public.

"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.

"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 recommendations they agreed on in the Senate inquiry report are pathetic. Reviews, guidelines, and better training are straight out of the 'we don't want anything to change' playbook.

"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.

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

"We are calling on the Government to:

1 lower the partnership cap on consulting firms and extend corporate reporting requirements to them

2 structurally separate the provision of audit services from consulting services to reduce conflicts of interest

3 and create an independent regulator for the consulting profession with powers of enforcement. The era of self-regulation must end.

"Labor's weak response to this inquiry leaves the Big Four consulting firms intact and unpunished. Why? Outrage is not enough, we need action."