Greens Senator calls for Sayers Group ban despite resignation over nude picture scandal

Senator Barbara Pocock says Luke Sayers’ consulting firm should still be banned from government work after the departure of the high-profile executive in the wake of a nude picture scandal.

Luke Sayers, chairman of Sayers Group, in his offices in Melbourne. Picture: Arsineh Houspian

Former PwC boss Luke Sayers’ consulting firm Sayers Group should still be banned from new government contracts, Greens Senator Barbara Pocock says, as the embattled consulting firm mulls a name change after the departure of the high-profile executive in the wake of a nude picture scandal.

Ms Pocock said Mr Sayers’ attempt to short-circuit the media storm surrounding the Carlton president and consulting sector boss was not enough to deal with concerns about his conduct and that of his firm and did not satisfy calls for accountability.

Her remarks come amid continued anger over the misuse of confidential government tax briefings by members of PwC’s tax team during Mr Sayers’ tenure as chief executive at PwC, which he ran from 2012 to 2020.

As revealed by the Tax Practitioners Board, PwC’s former head of international tax, Peter Collins, shared confidential tax plans with others in the firm in a bid to front-run new laws and grow the firm’s business links with American tech companies.

Mr Sayers has denied all knowledge of this, telling parliament he does not share the recollections of others who have told Senate committees they sought to raise the issue with Mr Sayers and other senior leaders at PwC.

The Australian Federal Police are currently investigating the PwC leaks, which the firm insists were limited to former partners.

Senator Pocock said Mr Sayers’ move to step aside from his executive chair role at consulting firm Sayers Group, which he co-founded in 2021, was not enough to satisfy his critics.

“While a range of investigations are still under way in relation to the tax leaks scandal in PwC, it is not in my view appropriate for Mr Sayers’ consultancy firm, or of course PwC itself, to be eligible for state, federal and territory government contracts,” she said.

Senator Barbara Pocock. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman

“Any consulting firm led by Luke Sayers should be excluded from government contracting for at least five years and until all of the investigations into the PwC matter have been concluded and acted upon.”

Partners and staff at Sayers Group were told on Wednesday that Mr Sayers would be stepping aside from his role after weeks of public scrutiny, after an image of a penis was posted on Mr Sayers’ X (formerly Twitter) account on January 8.

The image, which tagged a female executive at health insurer Bupa, remained online for almost 14 minutes before Mr Sayers told followers his X had been “hacked” and urged them to “ignore all posts”.

Bupa is a major sponsor of the Carlton Football club, which Mr Sayers was also president of before resigning on Wednesday.

After almost two weeks in the headlines, investigators from the AFL’s powerful integrity commission cleared Mr Sayers over the incident, in a lengthy statement, finding his X account had been “compromised” and noting the image had been the work of “a person not being Mr Sayers”.

Luke Sayers. Picture: Angelica Snowden

The AFL did not identify who sent the photo or say whether the photo was of Mr Sayers.

Despite this Mr Sayers revealed he would step aside from the running of Carlton as well as surrendering control of Sayers Group to a council of eight senior partners, including its chief executive Sammy Kumar.

In an email to its 16 partners and 50 staff, Mr Kumar said the Sayers Group would be run by a “well-established group of leaders from across the business”.

Mr Kumar told staff that Mr Sayers “will be taking an extended break from his other roles, including as chairman of Sayers Group”, with speculation mounting members of the eponymous firm are already considering a name change.

Sayers Group was built around Mr Sayers’ brand within the Melbourne business community, with the PwC veteran first attempting to brand a wealth business before moving into a larger consulting operation.

Senior partners at Sayers Group have also moved to engage external consultants to advise the firm on its communication strategy in the wake of the scandal surrounding Mr Sayers and the lewd picture.

Mr Sayers owns around 25 per cent of Sayers Group alongside his wife Cate Sayers. Other investors include trucking magnate Lindsay Fox, tech investor Andrew Bassat, Jayco founder Gerry Ryan, and HelloWorld CEO Andrew Burnes.

Many of the firm’s backers are also clients.

Business and government deals have helped Sayers Group grow since its launch, It has offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.

Senator Pocock said she still held concerns about Sayers Group’s eligibility for government contracts, given the links to the PwC tax scandal.

“It’s been reported that more than a dozen former PwC partners moved across to Sayers Group after Mr Sayers left PwC,” she said.

“Given that there has never been a comprehensive account of who did what at PwC in relation to the tax leaks scandal, we can’t be confident that no one at Sayers Group was involved.”

Originally published as Greens Senator calls for Sayers Group ban despite resignation over nude picture scandal