PwC to ban political donations over tax leaks scandal
PwC Australia will cease most of its political donations as part of a plan to rehabilitate its public image amid the ongoing tax leaks scandal, depriving the major political parties of contributions worth an average of more than $200,000 a year.
PwC has become the first big four consulting firm to ban political donations. Ryan Stuart
PwC is the largest donor of the big four firms, and the move puts pressure on its rivals, Deloitte, EY and KPMG, to follow suit. If the three other firms also banned donations, an average of $230,000 would also be stripped from major parties’ coffers.
The decision by PwC to stop making political donations will help improve the firm’s image and should be emulated by its rivals, said Anthony Whealy, chairman of The Centre for Public Integrity (CPI) and a former NSW Supreme Court judge.
“It’s a welcome step in the rehabilitation of PwC and I would hope it is emulated by the other big three. Simply because our present federal donation system is an anathema to integrity, transparency and accountability,” Mr Whealy said.
He said the Commonwealth public service spent too much on consultants – the Commonwealth entered into contracts worth $1.4 billion in 2021-22, according to the centre – and should “only use external consultants where it’s absolutely essential”.
Greens senator Barbara Pocock also welcomed PwC’s move and called on “the other big four consulting firms to follow suit”. The big four firms do not donate to the Greens.
”Labor should have acted on this as soon as the PwC scandal broke, but they sat on their hands and now it is the business community who see the ethical problem and have done the right thing,” Senator Pocock said in a statement.
Karen Evans-Cullen is becoming PwC
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