How the furore over PwC’s tax leaks scandal has cost the major parties cash

PwC boss Kevin Burrowes, appearing before a parliamentary committee, cops a grilling over his firm’s behaviour.

Good retail politics, or a fundraising own goal? The outrage over PwC’s tax leaks scandal generated plenty of headlines for both major parties but their backroom operators might be ruing the point scoring as they tally up their respective election war chests.

Not that many people outside of the party backrooms will be crying, but those inside the tent might be another victim of the PwC scandal.

The Australian Electoral Commission’s annual release of political donation data suggests the major parties’ coffers have been left with a $700,000 black hole after the “big four” firms – PwC, KPMG, Deloitte and EY – dramatically pulled back their support last financial year.

They collectively donated almost $1m to both major parties in 2022-23 before revelations emerged that PwC used its position inside the tax office tent to enrich itself and its clients, at the (probable) expense of taxpayers.

However, after politicians turned the screws on the bastardry, most of the firms shied away from making political donations.

PwC coughed up $369,973 to the major political parties in 2022-23, but didn’t make any political donations in 2023-24 after banning them entirely. KPMG donated just $22,631, which was down 83 per cent on the previous year, while Deloitte donated $47,497 – down 73 per cent.

Only EY is an outlier, seemingly unaffected by the scandal. EY donated $180,172 in 2023-24, which was slightly down on the $227,853 it donated the previous year.

All up, donations to the major parties from the big four in 2023-24 were down more than 73 per cent, which was a bit of a blow to the coffers of the major parties.

Another oddity stands out among the financial services sector, after banking major ANZ pulled its donations to the major parties. The bank kicked in $90,000 to the major parties in 2022-23 but made only a single donation of $5500 this current disclosure round.

Curiously enough, that was to the Nationals, traditionally the party of bashing the banks.

The donation appears to have been made just a few months after the bank appeared at a hearing as part of Nationals Senator Matt Canavan’s inquiry into branch closures in regional Australia. Purely a coincidence, no doubt.

Of course, the AEC disclosures don’t tell the whole story; notoriously so.

Only direct donations are recorded under the giver’s name. Left off the disclosures are the names behind the millions of dollars raked in through business forums run by the major parties, which have annual membership rates of $30,000 to $120,000 and run dozens and dozens of breakfasts, lunches, dinners (and even the odd afternoon tea) to give access to ministers and their shadow counterparts for those able and prepared to pay.

Margin Call would be shocked if the big four (banks or accounting firms) weren’t booking in for the odd spot of lunch with a minister or three during the year, but you won’t know it from the AEC disclosure list.