With the revelations that large consultancy firm, PwC, had misused government information for commercial gain, The Echo asked local federal MP, Justine Elliot, whether she supports a ‘royal commission into the consulting industry and to formally ban firms that breach legal and ethical standards?’
According to www.theguardian.com, a former KPMG partner is asking for just that.
Misuse of government information
Another large consultancy, Deloitte, has also admitted misuse of government information.
Mrs Elliot told The Echo ‘The Albanese government is horrified about the PwC revelations. Treasury has referred the matter to the AFP and it is currently under investigation.’
As way of background, she says ‘The Department of Finance has already taken a number of actions under the Commonwealth Procurement Framework to strengthen our systems following the disclosure of the PwC emails’
‘Secretaries have been reminded that ethical behaviour must be taken into account as part of the value for money assessments which underpin decisions under the procurement framework.
‘PwC has been directed to stand down employees who were involved in, or had knowledge of, the tax matters from government contracts, until the Switkowski investigation is completed, and the department is satisfied that the direction can be lifted.
New clauses
‘New clauses will be included into the standard government procurement contracts to further strengthen the ability of the government to cancel these contracts in response to such behaviour in the future.’
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
