This Month
From Seek to Wesfarmers, major audits up for grabs as firms circle
Some of the market’s most lucrative and long-held contracts are being fought over as professional services rivals try to nab millions of dollars in new work.
KPMG CEO activates his sleeper agents
Andrew Yates’ audit division is on a hot streak. Former KPMG operatives keep showing up at the board table.
Bunnings boss wants new laws to allow facial recognition in stores
The hardware chain is no longer using facial recognition in its stores, but its managing director says the technology is essential to protect his staff.
KPMG feels the burn of $200m in public service consulting cuts
The firm once counted $500 million in revenues from government agencies. While it and its peers have fallen out of favour, one rival has doubled its business.
Why Gen Z is ‘unbossing’ and what CEOs can do about it
Gen Z employees are 1.7 times more likely than older generations to avoid leadership roles, not out of lack of interest but to protect their mental health, research shows.
KPMG, EY frontrunners to snatch coveted Macquarie audit role from PwC
Working on the investment and banking giant’s books is one of the most complex jobs for an accounting firm, but one that promises a significant windfall.
In busy season, EY prioritises golf putting and celebrity heads
The big four firm is trying to improve morale in the most infantilising way possible.
Treasury prepares to crack down on audit firms, with or without ASIC
Officials are considering handing the corporate regulator the power to punish major accounting and consulting firms for the first time, among other options.
June
Consulting downturn bites as big four partner exits speed up
Australian partner numbers across Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC are down 500, to almost 2900 partners, since the 2023 peak.
The new EY partner who’s not afraid to make a ‘captain’s call’
The new partner handles service delivery issues, connects her clients to global EY services and makes the “captain’s call” on what is pitched to clients.
The three phone calls Gee made after becoming a new Deloitte partner
Gayathiri Balachandra is one of only 35 new partners at Deloitte Australia, an intake that is the smallest at the firm in more than a decade.
May
Can MinRes’ cleanskin chairman tame the Chris Ellison show?
Malcolm Bundey will have one of the biggest governance mop-up jobs in years, with the heavily indebted miner facing investigation by the corporate regulator.
Armaguard, banks pick Deloitte to create utility pricing for cash
The biggest users of cash want contracts with the Lindsay Fox company to be regulated like other essential services such as water and energy.
New MinRes chairman shows delulu is infectious
Mal Bundey was the highly anticipated choice after an “extensive international search”.
MinRes’ new chair to pocket $8.34m if he turns miner around
Mineral Resources board has lured Malcolm Bundey, a packaging sector veteran, to become its chair with a bumper package of share options.
Trump may be rare good news for the big four consulting firms
Uncertainty stemming from the US president’s unpredictable administration is pushing clients to re-engage with firms for advice on operations and strategy.
‘I just can’t vote for Dutton’: How Peter Dutton lost heartland seats
Labor went into the federal election with just five of the 30 seats in Queensland with little genuine hopes of gains. But Anthony Albanese has reclaimed prized inner-Brisbane electorates and the Coalition’s heartland outer suburbs.
Nazi gold, organised crime: New pope faces unholy financial crisis
The late pontiff sought to battle corruption, but his successor faces a steep challenge in balancing the books.
April
Inflation steady; $100b fund’s Trump plan; Ex-model running for One Nation
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.
Meet the ex-Deloitte consultant who has driven 85,000km to win a seat
Tom Venning has a strong chance to be the new MP for a sprawling SA seat after exiting the corporate world with a hope to bring a back-to-basics economic approach.