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Crikey

Business

Anton Nilsson

Crikey and The Mandarin’s ‘revolving door’ list: how power bleeds between politics and the big four

EY KPMG Crikey (Organization) Mandarin PwC Deloitte Labor

The PwC tax leak scandal has renewed focus on the close links between politicians, public servants and consultancy firms. Sometimes that relationship takes the form of a “revolving door” when former consultants are hired as public servants or elected to political office — or when former politicians and bureaucrats are hired by the major consultancy firms.

The think tank Centre for Public Integrity has recently warned this practice raises concerns of conflicts of interests. Other experts have said the revolving door can blur lines between the public and private sectors. Over the past decade, the annual value of government contracts awarded to the big four firms — KPMG, PwC, EY and Deloitte – has increased from $282 million to $1.4 billion.

On the other hand, there is no evidence that the type of behaviour suspected at PwC represents a widespread failure to manage conflicts of interest. There is no suggestion the people mentioned in this article have been accused of wrongdoing.

Given the work associated with consultancies like the big four — which includes auditing, tax services and organisational management — often requires similar skills to those of public servants and politicians, the occasional career overlap is perhaps not surprising. However, the profit incentives that drive private consultancies are not always compatible with the obligations of government officials and MPs to act in the public interest.

Crikey and The Mandarin have begun listing politicians and senior public servants who have made the switch from public employment to working for consultancies. Since we published the initial version of the list, readers have submitted more names to be included. The new names have been added below and marked with an asterisk.

For simplicity’s sake we’ve chosen to focus on the big four firms only. Had we expanded the criteria, politicians like Alan Tudge, who worked for the Boston Consulting Group, and Clare O’Neil, Greg Hunt and Angus Taylor — all of whom worked for McKinsey & Company — would have earned a spot.

Politicians who became consultants

Jamie Briggs, former Liberal minister, joined PwC in 2017;
Noah Carroll, former Labor national secretary, joined KPMG in 2019;
Craig Emerson, former Labor minister, joined KPMG in 2016;
Christopher Pyne, former Liberal minister, joined EY in 2019;
Sam Rae, former state secretary of the Victorian Labor Party, joined PwC in 2019, and was elected to federal Parliament as the MP for Hawke in 2022;
Natasha Stott Despoja, former Australian Democrats senator, had joined Deloitte as of 2022.

Consultants who became politicians

Andrew Bragg, Liberal senator, worked for EY in 2008;
Matt Canavan, Nationals senator, worked for KPMG 2008-09;
Claire Chandler, Liberal senator, worked for Deloitte 2014-16;
Steven Ciobo, Liberal MP, worked for PwC 1998-00;
Vincent Connelly, Liberal MP, worked for Deloitte 2008-09;
*James Griffin, former Liberal NSW environment minister, worked for KPMG 2014-17;
Lucy Guchuhi, former Family First, independent, and Liberal senator, worked for EY 1987-91;
Catherine King, Labor’s infrastructure minister, worked for KPMG 1999-01;
Helen Kroger, former Liberal senator, worked for KPMG 1985-87;
*Scott Morrison, former Liberal prime minister, worked for KPMG before joining Tourism Australia in 2004;
Kevin Rudd, former Labor prime minister, worked for KPMG 1996-98;
Michael Sukkar, Liberal MP, worked for PwC 2005-06;
Matt Kean, former NSW treasurer, worked for PwC 2010-11.

Consultants who became senior public servants

Blair Comley, incoming secretary at the federal Department of Health and Aged Care (starts role on July 17 2023), works for EY, and has previously been a secretary at the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet;
Michael De’Ath, director-general of the Queensland Department of Education since 2021, worked for KPMG;
Teresa Dyson, acting chair of the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation since 2023, worked for Deloitte;
Rosheen Garnon, chair of the Tax Practitioners Board since 2020, worked for KPMG;
Jeremy Hirschhorn, second commissioner for client engagement at the ATO since 2015, worked for KPMG;
Cindy Hook, chief executive for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Organising Committee since 2023, worked for Deloitte;
*Natalie James, Department of Employment and Workplace Relations secretary, worked for Deloitte;
Terence Jeyaretnam, Auditing and Assurance Standards Board member since 2023, works for EY;
*Chris Jordan, commissioner of taxation, worked for KPMG;
Mike Kaiser, director-general at the Queensland Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning, worked for KPMG;
Adrian King, Australian Accounting Standards Board member since 2022, works for KPMG;
Alison Kitchen, Respect@Work council member since 2022, works for KPMG;
Alana Matheson, commissioner at the Fair Work Commission since 2021, worked for KPMG;
Andrew Metcalfe, federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry secretary since 2020, worked for EY;
Chi Mun Woo, Auditing and Assurance Standards Board member, works for Deloitte;
Mathew Nelson, Australian Accounting Standards Board member, works for EY;
Andrew Parker, NSW senior trade and investment commissioner, worked for PwC;
*Fran Thorn, Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission chair, worked for Deloitte;
Tim Thomas, Centre for Australia-India Relations chief executive, worked for KPMG.