Barbara Pocock (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The PwC tax scandal is just one example of the unethical behaviour our inquiry into the integrity of consultants is uncovering. Every day brave whistleblowers contact me with stories of conflict of interest, unethical conduct and problematic internal culture rife in the big firms. There are so many examples.

Last week it was revealed that PwC was contracted by the federal government to review the prices of medical implants. This is despite PwC previously advising multinational companies supplying Australia's $12 billion medical device market on how to set those prices. Private Healthcare Australia chief executive Rachel David accused PwC of advising private companies on transfer pricing for medical implants that inflate the cost of these devices and minimise tax. This is a threefold conflict of interest, one that increases PwC's profits every step of the way, from advising private companies on setting prices to advising the government on how it prices the same things and to helping these multinational companies to minimise the tax they pay in this country. We are being taken for mugs, and it has to stop.

This is far from a one-off example. This is the business model of those who aggressively seek to profit and lack any shred of integrity. So many Australian taxpayers share my outrage. My office is inundated day after day with people calling for urgent reform to the regulation of the big four and to restore a robust public sector. We cannot rely on empty assurances from firms like PwC that they are managing conflicts of interest. We need to hold these entities to account through urgent structural reform. This is why today I've given notice that I will be pushing to have PwC as a partnership deregistered as a tax agent for two years. PwC's tax business has Australians wanting real change, and we must see it. (Time expired)