The Victorian Greens have renewed their call on the Victorian Labor Government to freeze any future contracts with PwC, following the release of data by the Auditor-General on consultant spending.
VAGO released today reveals the Government has spent $671 million dollars on consultants over the past five years, including almost $80 million dollars on PwC.
Deputy Leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell, said fundamental conflicts of interest were hurting Victoria and profiting a wealthy few.
Last week during the budget estimates, Ms Sandell asked the Premier whether he would rule out any future contracts with PwC. He refused.
This comes after recent reports of appalling and dishonest behaviour by the consulting giant, as part of the federal tax scandal.
The Premier and Assistant Treasurer have both refused to pause future PwC contracts , raising serious concerns about the Government’s commitment to improving Victoria’s integrity standards.
Federal Government agencies and AustralianSuper recently announced they would pause or freeze contracts with PwC due to their behaviour, yet the Victorian Labor Government refuses to do the same.
A Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) costing obtained by the Greens found halving expenditure on private consultants would save the state $1.5 billion dollars over the next ten years.
As stated by Deputy Leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell MP:
“It is disturbing that the Victorian Labor Government is refusing to pause contracts with PwC.
“Given the recent tax leaks, Victorians should expect the Government to act, not just rely on assurances from PwC, who clearly can’t be trusted right now.
“This is a company that has been given huge amounts of Victorian taxpayer dollars to design projects like the Suburban Rail Loop – how can we be sure they aren’t passing on this information to benefit their other clients?
“There are fundamental conflicts of interest here but the Labor Government keeps burying their heads in the sand, and giving millions of taxpayer dollars to consultants to profit a wealthy few.”
