Greens welcome action to regulate Big 4 consultants but will it be enough?
Greens welcome action to regulate Big 4 consultants but will it be enough? | Australian Greens Skip to main content Search Get Involved Join Donate Our plan Tax the 1% Tackle the cost of living Healthcare for all Fix the housing crisis Strong climate action Policy principles & aims Our team Federal MPs State/territory MPs Officeholders Media releases Take action Volunteer Donate Issues & campaigns Events Greens Shop Leave a bequest Our movement About the Greens Become a member Jobs Green Magazine All news Get Involved Join Donate Search Our plan Toggle Tax the 1% Tackle the cost of living Healthcare for all Fix the housing crisis Strong climate action Policy principles & aims Our team Toggle Federal MPs State/territory MPs Officeholders Media releases Take action Toggle Volunteer Donate Issues & campaigns Events Greens Shop Leave a bequest Our movement Toggle About the Greens Become a member Jobs Green Magazine All news Greens welcome action to regulate Big 4 consultants but will it be enough? 2025-07-03 Treasury must consider all the recommendations of two recent parliamentary inquiries before it takes action to regulate the Big 4 consulting firms according to Greens Finance and Public Service spokesperson Barbara Pocock.
The two inquiries made 52 recommendations between them which were agreed by Labor, the Liberals and the Greens giving the government a green light for root and branch reform across the accounting and consulting sector. Lines attributable to Senator Barbara Pocock: “The question this government has to answer is ‘Can the Big 4 be trusted to govern themselves?’ and let me tell you, after sitting on two parliamentary inquiries brought on by massive governance and ethical failures at PwC, the answer is emphatically no.
“We’ve yet to see the detail of Treasury’s proposals but we have put a raft of recommendations on the table aimed at regulating the big accounting and consulting firms. These firms look and act like multinational corporations but they hide behind unaccountable partnership structures avoiding the scrutiny of our corporate watchdog. “One key recommendation I made urged the government to reduce the cap on partner numbers from 1000 down to 100 partners.
This number recognises the workable size of a genuine partnership and would force firms with more than 100 partners to incorporate under ASIC. It was also recommended that corporate reporting requirements be extended to cover partnerships as well as corporations. “For those not paying attention, we have an audit crisis in this country with up to 60% of audits reviewed by ASIC in 2022, called into question.
Deloitte and KPMG suffered a drastic decline in audit quality that year with the regulator calling for concerted action from both firms to lift their game. “This is a sector that is not performing well and our business community is not being well served by the current regulatory regime. I look forward to seeing the detail of Treasury’s proposals and I urge the government to consider all the recommendations of both recent parliamentary inquiries into this sector.” Facebook for the Australian Greens YouTube for the Australian Greens X for the Australian Greens Instagram for the Australian Greens Bluesky for the Australian Greens Privacy Members website Your safety Contact us Our plan Tax the 1% Tackle the cost of living Healthcare for all Fix the housing crisis Strong climate action In your language 2025 policy platform Policy principles & aims Our team Federal MPs State/territory MPs Officeholders Federal portfolios Federal media releases Take action Volunteer Donate Issues & campaigns Upcoming events Greens Shop Leave a bequest Green Magazine All news Our movement About the Greens Become a member Jobs Members website State/territory parties Contact us The Greens acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture.
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