Barbara Pocock (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Finance, and it's about the ongoing PwC scandal. A secret legal agreement has allowed PwC International to take control of PwC Australia following the tax leaks scandal. We've learned that, for nine months now, five faceless global figures have exercised sweeping powers over the Australian firm that we were not even aware of. PwC International is hiding critical information from the parliament about who did what in the PwC scandal, making a mockery of our Senate committees and escaping real accountability. We must bring these shadowy partnerships to account and hold PwC accountable for its actions. What steps will your government take to address this appalling and disrespectful treatment of the parliament and the Australian people?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Pocock for the question and for the work that she has been doing along with Senator O'Neill and Senator Colbeck in this space. I think initially I would say to you that the government is very interested in the work that the Senate committees are doing and is looking forward to your report and any recommendations that you have. I would say that there are, as the Senate is aware, powers within the committees to seek information, and of course I'd leave it to the committee to look at whether there is any further work that they can do there.

In relation to what the government is doing, we have been doing quite a lot of work to strengthen some of our arrangements around engagement of consulting firms. We've talked about this at estimates. I think we have learnt a lot, through the PwC issue that's being examined by various Senate committees, of further work that we need to do. I would say that some of the origins of the investigations are related to a breach of a confidentiality arrangement, not a breach of procurement processes, but what it has done is lead us to look at what further work we can do to strengthen integrity within our procurement processes around the use of consultants and contractors. We've been doing that through our strategic commissioning framework and through our efforts to reduce the reliance on consultants and contractors. Some of the further arrangements that we're looking at are in relation, I think, to some of the issues that have arisen out of confidentiality and out of conflict-of-interest arrangements that may exist that we are doing further work on. We are very much looking forward to the report and to the recommendations that are going to come forward from your various inquiries.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Pocock, a first supplementary?

Barbara Pocock (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

PwC International is defying requests to cooperate with Senate inquiries. They refuse to hand over the Linklaters report, which names international partners involved in the tax leak scandal and explores what they got up to. It's time to up the ante, Minister. It's time to use a bigger stick. Will your government ban PwC from all commercial interactions and work with others to ban them from all levels of Australian government?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think the answer to that is that we're not looking at that. We're not looking at banning them. PwC is an individual company or contractor. We are interested, in a general sense, in looking at how we can enhance the integrity of the engagement the Commonwealth has with suppliers, and we are developing a Commonwealth supply code of conduct. That will outline the behavioural standards that are expected from suppliers during procurement processes and while under contract. This is something that we're looking at prospectively. Some of the work that was done around the original PwC and Tax Practitioners Board issue, and the advice taken through that, was not about being able to end any contract with PwC. That wasn't available to the Commonwealth.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Pocock, a second supplementary?

Barbara Pocock (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Partnership structures used by the big four hide all manner of sins. They have up to 1,000 partners and are subject to very little regulatory oversight. The opaque big partnership model has failed us. Do you commit to replacing it with a more regulated corporate structure?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Pocock for her supplementary question. This is one of the areas where I'm aware that committee inquiries are looking closely at structures, and it is one where we will await your work. We have done some thinking around it. We will certainly look for your committee's recommendations. There are a number of committee inquiries underway. We would look at any recommendations made and then provide a response.