Australia's Tax Practitioner's Board (TPB) has banned a former PwC boss over their links to the consultancy firm's tax leaks scandal, according to media reports.
In August, the Government made public its decision to give PwC the green light to restart its bidding for federal contracts, following two inquiries into the tax leaks scandal which brought the entire consulting sector under a cloud.
The Australian Greens welcome the TPB's decision but say banning one bad apple won't fix PwC's culture. The Greens are urging Labor to support the Greens' bill to ban dodgy contractors like PwC from accessing the public purse.
As stated by Greens spokesperson for finance Senator Barbara Pocock:
"This is yet another example of a senior leader not taking responsibility. The problem with PwC is that it's not just one bad apple, it's an organisational culture, a successive group of leaders, who have all contributed to this problem and they must all be held to account.
"Until now, we've only had assurances from PwC, after they conducted their own internal review. Having an organisational culture speaking for itself, absolving itself - where is the transparency in that? Where is the accountability?
"The Greens welcome the TPB's decision but removing one bad apple doesn't change the organisational culture that enabled the tax scandal. The organisational culture remains, the lack of integrity remains - which is why we urgently need greater transparency and stronger procurement protections from corrupt contractors.
"The Australian Greens introduced a bill last week that would allow the Commonwealth to debar dodgy contractors, like PwC, from entering into government contracts and it would deter unethical conduct.
"The PwC tax scandal was one of the most shocking breaches of public trust in recent memory. The firm is currently under investigation by the AFP, the Tax Practitioners Board and has been referred to the NACC. They have proven themselves to be untrustworthy, conducting their own internal investigations and continuously refusing to cooperate with government inquiries.
"PwC were never fully banned from getting government work.They still had contracts with government agencies worth at least $11 million throughout the 'mutual agreement' period, which lasted just 16 months. This has exposed Australia's lack of a government-wide exclusion framework as a huge issue.
"When the Government let PwC back into the fold, it betrayed the Australian people who rightly held the expectation that PwC would be held to account for colluding with foreign multinationals to defraud our tax system. This decision was gutless and it has undermined public confidence in government procurement."
