Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says ‘rarely’ has business dealings with former PwC boss Luke Sayers

Dan Andrews says former PwC Australia chief and Carlton president Luke Sayers is a friend but that he “rarely” has professional dealings with him amid ongoing fallout from a tax scandal.

Daniel Andrews has downplayed his professional relationship with former PwC Australia boss and Carlton president Luke Sayers but noted they are friends.

The Victorian Premier was quizzed about his dealings with Mr Sayers on Tuesday after questions were raised about what Mr Sayers knew about the PwC tax scandal.

It follows revelations the Australian Taxation Office had repeatedly met with Mr Sayers to raise its concerns about the conduct of the consultancy firm’s tax division.

Mr Sayers has previously denied any knowledge that his former company was being investigated over the scandal in which senior PwC staff leaked confidential Australian government briefings about new multinational tax avoidance laws to overseas corporate giants so they could dodge the measures.

Carlton president Luke Sayers is under pressure amid the PwC tax scandal. Picture: Michael Klein

Mr Andrews on Tuesday said he viewed Mr Sayers as a friend but he “rarely” had business dealings with him.

“I would say he is a friend, yes... but that doesn’t cut across any of the professional dealings I have with him,” Mr Andrews said.

“I very rarely deal with him on professional terms.”

Mr Andrews said he did not believe his friendship with Mr Sayers, who became PwC chief in 2012, posed any sort of problem.

“I have many different friends and I am always conscious of my obligations in my public role, always,” he said.

Asked if he was disappointed about the revelations, Mr Andrews said: “It’s not a matter of being disappointed (with Mr Sayers) or otherwise.”

“I’m sure he’s got a rather different version of events — that would be the nature of humanity in many ways,” he said.

Daniel Andrews says Victoria has not suspended PwC from government work. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

The federal and NSW governments have both suspended PwC from obtaining new business.

Victoria has not and on Tuesday Mr Andrews said he had received no advice to do so.

“We have a code of conduct,” he said.

“We expect that anybody who provides services to the Victorian government, professional services or any services, do so to the highest standards.

“If they don’t then they run the risk of falling out of that, not being compliant with that code of conduct and then not being eligible to bid.

“I’ve got no advice to change our arrangements at this point.”

Mr Sayers is a key power player in Victoria, having established friendships with both Mr Andrews and former treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

After leaving PwC, Mr Sayers set up his own consulting firm, Sayers Group, which is backed by local rich-lister Lindsay Fox.

Mr Sayers carried out key early consultation work on the Andrews government’s massive Suburban Rail Loop project.

On Monday, Labor senator Deborah O’Neill, through Senate estimates, produced documents which she said showed PwC had been aware of the misconduct for years.

“The ATO contacted Luke Sayers, who has since denied his knowledge of or involvement in the scandal, in his capacity as CEO in 2019,” she said on Monday.

“It is now clear that he was intimately involved in the management of this issue, and his denial of involvement is an obvious misrepresentation of fact.”