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Here is another legacy from the Abbott, Turnbull, and Morrison Coalition governments. Pwc white collar crime perpetuated on Australia joins Robodebt, as one of the most serious betrayals in this nation’s history. Both share the gutting of the public service as a core reason for the way they eventuated. This was initiated by Tony Abbott as PM and increased the volume of outsourcing to consultancy firms in key areas. The individuals involved in these white collar crimes put their corporate affiliations above the national interest. Money was more important than service to their country. Greed and self-interest over doing the right thing.

Public Service Problems & Coalition Governments

There are clear lessons to be learned from this in terms of the calibre of people representing the Liberal and National parties in government in Australia. Individuals like Tony Abbott, Stuart Robert, Alan Tudge, and their ilk are not fit and proper people to govern Australia. Tudge and Robert have fled the ship in the wake of Robodebt before the findings can be handed down. Abbott was booted out by his electorate some time ago. Scott Morrison remains a stain on the memory via his multitude of ministries held in secret from the Australian people.

Allegations of sexual misconduct, rape, bullying, corruption, and misuse of power plagued the latter stages of this decade of Coalition federal government.

Pwc Thick As Thieves

The Australian public service is supposed to act without fear or favour. Under the Abbott/Morrison government key senior public servants were more concerned with keeping their high paid jobs and licking the arse of their ministers. Robodebt revealed illegal behaviour by senior public servants and their ministers in designing and operating a scheme based on unlawful and incorrect assumptions.

Greed and self-interest could be the motto of the Liberal/National Party Coalition. Governing for the wealthy and all those who aspire to be wealthy. Putting the concerns of your back pocket before any outlandish ideals like equality and a fair go for all. A sizeable number of Australians would and do vote for such a government. The Pwc tax partner Peter Collins broke the rules by disclosing confidential information to people he should not have. Pwc went on to use this information as a selling tool to attract more business from international corporate clients likely to be impacted by the tax changes being mooted by the Australian federal government.

“Collins had breached a series of confidentiality agreements made with federal Treasury and the Board of Taxation that gave him access to various consultative forums as a senior partner in the local branch of a global accounting firm. Information obtained during those processes was used to brief local and international tax partners or staff on what the government was doing in specific areas of taxation. It was publicly known that Collins had shared knowledge that he should not have shared, as was the fact that his former firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (now PwC), was given a disciplinary penalty that required it to tighten up training and procedures.”

(https://www.themandarin.com.au/219292-damning-emails-reveal-former-pwc-peter-collins-multiple-breaches/

The economic upshot of this may well be in the tens of billions of dollars, which has been lost to the national tax coffers by this unconscionable act. Accountants are all about money and like soldiers of yesteryear living and dying by the sword it is the amount of lost money at stake here that should define the seriousness of this crime. A custodial sentence of 10 or 20 years would be commensurate with the financial extent of the consequences of this white collar crime.

At the very least, Pwc should be blacklisted for the foreseeable future from receiving consultancy contracts. The federal government has paid out billions of dollars to this firm over the last few years in consultancy work fees.

Of course, many former public servants work for firms like Pwc, as the gutting of the public service by Abbott etc saw them jump ship. The interchange between politicians and public servants into these corporations and vice versa makes the state of this sector a mixed stew. Greed and self-interest, as mentioned before, rides high in the minds of these folk, where, perhaps, national pride once flew. The Albanese government could and should instigate a review of this sector and purge the poisonous and morally corrupt among their number. The lowering of standards under the previous Coalition government must be addressed and a new broom put through the ranks. It would be heartening to see more than a few senior public servants go to gaol for their part in the Robodebt scheme. Things won’t change if white collar crimes in Australia continue not to be criminally prosecuted. The Australian Federal Police are investigating Peter Collins. Currently he has only been banned from his professional role as tax agent for 2 years.

I can imagine the Pwc people at the heart of this laughing at the stupidity of Australians. What government contracts the very people who represent these corporations as their tax agents to devise ways in which to get them to pay more tax. Naïve? Corrupt? Or just stupid?

Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of Money Matters: Navigating Credit, Debt & Financial Freedom

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