By coincidence, the furore around the consultancy firm PwC is raging just as the National Anti-Corruption Commission is gearing up for its start of business on July 1.
Regardless of whether the government refers the matter, a decision on whether to look at PwC's behaviour will be totally up to the NACC, which is headed by Paul Brereton . It's an independent body and can undertake inquiries on its own initiative.
While what happened is simple, the questions arising from this egregious breach of confidentiality and ethics – which Treasury has referred to the Australian Federal Police – are less so. In her open "mea culpa" letter this week, Kristin Stubbins, the acting chief executive of PwC Australia, listed three ways the company had "failed". PwC had breached confidentiality, had poor governance, and had a culture at the time of "aggressive marketing" in its tax business that allowed inappropriate behaviour.
PwC is like a giant octopus reaching into officialdom. As canvassed in the Senate hearings this week, it is an external auditor for the Treasury, and it also undertakes work for the Reserve Bank. It deals with a large slice of defence procurement. Even so, the recourse to outside expertise can't be avoided entirely. Some issues require tapping into non-government specialists. So stronger belts and braces will still be needed.
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