PwC obfuscating on tax leaks, says Labor’s Deborah O’Neill

PwC interim chief Kristin Stubbins is under fire from the halls of parliament for not revealing the more than 50 people implicated.

Labor senator Deborah O’Neill has questioned why PwC’s interim chief executive, Kristin Stubbins, has failed to reveal the redacted names of the more than 50 partners and staff implicated in its use of confidential government information to help companies avoid tax.

“Will the women heading the PwC leadership team confirm they were never recipients of the Collins-Seymour scheme emails?,” Senator O'Neill said, referring to the tax scheme led by now-deregistered former PwC partner Peter Collins.

The global tax scandal could put hundreds of millions of dollars in government consultancy work at risk in Australia. Chief executive Tom Seymour has already stood aside.

Senator O'Neill was a key figure in uncovering the extent of PwC’s behaviour, which was first bought to light by the Tax Practitioners Board.

Senator Deborah O'Neill has launched a stinging attack on PwC. Picture: Martin Ollman

On Friday the Senator gave PwC 48-hours to reveal the redacted names.

“That information has not been forthcoming … the obfuscation at PwC continues,” Senator O'Neill said.

“Naming the names of the 50-plus staff and partners in the 144 pages of emails is the only way PwC can start to redeem its name and reassure the Australian people that it is turning a leaf on the past – committing to a new era of truth telling – rather than continuing in corporate damage control.”

The accounting firm will be in centre spotlight at the Senate estimates hearings on Thursday, when Greens senator Barbara Pocock is expected to ask further questions.

In the meantime, the federal government quietly updated its rules about suppliers on Friday.

The Department of Finance has released a procurement policy note which includes a new “notification of significant event” clause that looks to be squarely focused at PwC.

The new note states that when considering suppliers, officials need to consider “unethical behaviour and/or deficiencies in performance under prior contracts (including failure of the tenderer to abide by substantive requirements such as confidentiality provisions.)”

Greens Senator Barbara Pocock is primed to ask more questions. Picture: Martin Ollman

The PwC tax scandal has revealed that the accounting and consultancy firm was garnering fees from the government to advise it on developing international tax-avoidance laws and then using that very same confidential information to help global clients avoid tax.

In the past two years, PwC has won contracts worth $573m from the federal government. It also works extensively with state governments.

Some politicians now believe PwC should be banned from pitching for any government contracts.

Amid the scandal, PwC global general counsel Diana Weiss has flow into Australia. Speculation is mounting about the extent of damage this scandal could have on offshore partners as the partly redacted email addresses clearly show domains from the US, UK, Ireland and Asia Pacific.

It’s expected that if PwC has to reveal the redacted names, it will lead to job losses across the globe for current and former PwC employees and partners.

Tom Seymour has resigned as the chief of PwC in Australia. Picture: Gary Ramage

Former PwC chief executive Luke Sayers, who was running the Australian operation at the time of the tax leaks but left several years ago, is also facing questions about his corporate future.

Mr Sayers is president of Carlton Football Club and there has been loud grumblings from some financial backers about his appropriateness to continue as president.

Last week Carlton chief executive Brian Cook told The Australian that there was “no discussion” as to whether or not he should remain.

As for which customers PwC focused on in the its tax-avoidance scandal, the Australian Financial Review has reported that Apple, Google and Microsoft are among firms it approached – at a minimum.

It is clear from the partly redacted emails that companies with a strong Silicon Valley presence were targeted. There were multiple references to “the Bay” – being San Francisco Bay area – about 64km from Silicon Valley, and also multiple references to “the Valley”.