Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
The PWC tax leak scandal is Australia has raised questions here about whether the public sector is too reliant on external consultants.PWC globally has been rocked by revelations that a senior Australian tax partner, contracted to advise the government on tax reform, shared privileged information with other partners and staff at the firm to target potential new clients seeking to dodge potential tax changes. Three partners and the Chief Executive have now left the "Big Four" accounting firm. Public Service Commission data here shows the public service organisations spent $1.2 billion on contractors and consultants for the 2021/22 year - 32% more than the previous year. Dr Andrew Cardow is a senior lecturer at Massey University, specialising in public management history, he's also the Director of the MBS programme. He believes private sector consultants are being used as de facto public servants, and this has the danger of weakening the state and the potential for unintended consequences. Kathyrn also speaks with Geoffrey Watson, Senior Counsel and director at the Australian Centre for Public Integrity.
