Greens Senator Barbara Pocock is concerned that the government may have already given a green light to PwC to restart it's bidding for federal consulting contracts following reports that Department of Finance has made the decision but refused to say what it is.
PwC was banned from bidding for government work following two inquiries into the tax leaks scandal which has brought the entire consulting sector under a cloud. Finance extended the ban on the Big 4 firm for two weeks from its original deadline on 1 July while it deliberated on whether to allow the disgraced firm to bid for new contracts.
As stated by Senator Barbara Pocock:
"For a Government that came to office in 2022 after campaigning on a platform of greater transparency, this move really takes the cake. They've made a decision, but they won't tell us what it is.
"This is gravely concerning and it worries me that they may have given a green light to a firm that has clearly betrayed the trust of the Australian people and remains unaccountable for actions that could have cost us millions in lost multinational tax revenue.
"This is the firm that is still under investigation by the Australian Federal Police over the tax leaks scandal. This is the firm that treats Australians and their government with such distain that that they refuse to handover documents or give any details about who was involved.
"PwC's strategy has long been to wait this crisis out and it looks like the moment they've been waiting for has come. This is not a hard decision to make and the fact that the Department of Finance has deferred the announcement is deeply worrying.
"This is an insult to the Senate and the Members of Parliament who worked on two federal inquiries that found PwC's behaviour utterly reprehensible.
"While investigations are continuing at the AFP, the Tax Practitioners Board and the NACC, it remains to be seen whether anyone inside PwC is liable to face criminal charges. This situation should result in a firm no from the Finance Department without any reservation. I call on the Finance Minister to come clean and make the decision public."
