2025-08-07
Today the Government made public its decision to give PwC the green light to restart its bidding for federal contracts.
The Department of Finance’s review concluded that “it is appropriate for Australian Government entities to consider contracting with PwC Australia as they would any other supplier.”
PwC agreed not to bid for government work following two inquiries into the tax leaks scandal which has brought the entire consulting sector under a cloud. The Department of Finance extended the pause 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.
Lines attributable to Greens finance spokesperson Senator Barbara Pocock:
“This government has betrayed the Australian people who had very rightly held the expectation that the rogue consulting firm PwC would be held to account for colluding with foreign multinationals to defraud our tax system. Letting these people back into the fold of government contracting sends a message that you can rip off the system and face no real consequence under a Labor Government. This decision is gutless!
“PwC have proven themselves to be untrustworthy and have continuously refused to cooperate with government inquiries. They have given themselves a clean bill of health through an internal investigation and now want the people of Australia to forgive and forget when nothing has changed. In my view, that makes PwC no more trustworthy than when they sold us out to make a buck from the US tech giants.
“Very little has been done to put safeguards in place to ensure that the tax leak scandal does not happen again. This decision is exactly what PwC has been waiting for so they can return to business as usual with nothing being done to curtail the behaviour that has brought the entire consulting sector into disrepute.
“A mindblowing element of Finance’s report is the revelation that PwC Australia had three active contracts with Australian Government entities with an estimated value of $11.6 million as of June 2025. This includes a contract providing audit services to our national audit office. How is this justifiable?
“Furthermore, Finance’s review didn’t take into account PwC's refusal to provide multiple parliamentary inquiries with crucial documents, including the Linklaters report. I stand by my recommendations that PwC should not be permitted to contract for government work until it has provided the Linklaters report to the Senate, and until all ongoing investigations have concluded.
"The Government decision to let PwC back into the contracting fold is an insult to the Senators and MPs who worked on two parliamentary inquiries examining what went wrong at PwC. We made a raft of recommendations which have yet to be enacted, while the Government renews its contracting relationship with this disgraced entity. I am deeply disappointed in the Government for making this decision."