Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the chamber recently—I believe you were in the chair at the time—I made remarks about efforts by a whistleblower to make a protected disclosure about behaviour they witnessed and actions they're aware of at KPMG that did not evince the standards of professional and ethical behaviour we would expect from a trusted and reliable auditing and assurance provider.

I can report to the Senate that with my colleagues including Senator Scarr, the committee that I chair, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, on Thursday last week conducted a short hearing in which it received evidence relating to matters I raised here in the Senate on Tuesday. I note that the hearing was conducted in-camera but was preceded by a public statement to give authenticity to the evidence that we received.

The committee will use the powers it has available to it as part of its statutory oversight of the corporations law to inquire into these matters as it deems appropriate. The committee looks forward to corresponding with relevant parties and agencies and other as it considers its response to the information it has received.

The committee published a short statement after the hearing, and I'll reinforce one particular point which may be relevant. It reads:

The committee emphasises that witnesses are protected by parliamentary privilege, making it unlawful for anyone to threaten or disadvantage a witness on account of evidence given to a committee. Any such action taken against a witness may be treated by the Parliament as a contempt …

I encourage anyone who has information that may be relevant to the committee's work to make contact with our secretariat, and I caution anyone from KPMG against using their relationships, power or influence in any way to either seek out or disparage or injure in any way the whistleblower, should that person be known to them.