Palantir surveils everybody but its own misleading accounts

While Palantir is busy sticking its nose into everyone’s business, it doesn’t want us to mind its business because it can’t provide audited financial statements. Stephanie Tran reports.

Last week, data surveillance firm Palantir rolled out a security crackdown. $7.6 million contract According to the statement made by the Department of Defense’s Cyber ​​Warfare Division reporting According to Crikey, this was the largest contract ever awarded to the company by the Ministry.

The contract defined as “ICT System Platform” is a separate $7.1 million contract He was awarded the “Data Services” award by the department in 2024, which will last until December 2027.

Palantir has steadily expanded its reach within the Australian security apparatus. It has received contracts with the Australian Signals Directorate, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre.

In November 2025, the company received a high-level Australian government security assessment, stating that the classification “opens new opportunities to deliver our software to government and commercial organizations across the country, accelerating digital transformation and the adoption of artificial intelligence.”

“We kill enemies”: Spy firm Palantir receives Australia’s top security clearance

The contracts come at a time when Palantir’s global operations are under intense scrutiny. The company has faced constant criticism for its work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Israeli government.

One investigation with 404 Media He reported that Palantir has developed a tool that can create detailed dossiers on potential deportation targets, map their locations, and assign “confidence scores” to their possible locations.

Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories. in question There are “reasonable grounds” to believe that Palantir provided the IDF with technology that facilitated “real-time battlefield data integration for automated decision-making” during the genocide in Gaza.

Despite the controversy, Palantir’s business is booming. Palantir Technologies Inc. Reported fourth quarter of 2025 revenues It reached 1.407 billion US dollars, an increase of 70% annually.

not being able to settle down, looking small

Palantir Technologies Australia Pty Ltd does not submit audited financial statements to ASIC despite the requirements. Palantir Australia stated in its 2024 financial report: “The Company has no legal obligation to prepare its financial statements in accordance with Australian Accounting Standards.”

Under the Companies Act, small-owned companies controlled by foreign entities may be required to prepare and submit audited financial statements unless an exemption applies. Assistance is not available if the company is part of a “large group” in Australia.

ASIC Regulatory Guide 58 It states that this relief is not available if a foreign-controlled company is part of a group that meets certain size thresholds. The definition of “group” includes the entity in question and entities that control it or are controlled by the same foreign company in which those entities are incorporated or operate in Australia.

Palantir Technologies Inc., the $317 billion US-listed parent company, controls the Australian subsidiary and has received about $10 million in Australian government contracts (regardless of the contracts received by Palantir Australia). In light of this, Palantir Australia is apparently part of a “larger group” and

will be required to submit audited financial statements

In a statement MWMASIC said it “issued $2.2 million in breach notices for financial reporting failures in December” and that “targeting financial reporting abuses, including at foreign-controlled entities, is a 2026 ASIC enforcement priority”. The regulator added that it “will continue to monitor and take action against non-compliance with financial reporting obligations”.

Palantir has been contacted for comment.

Palantir in the Epstein files

Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel is mentioned extensively in the Epstein files, appearing 2,281 times. reporting with wired.

Also a leaked recording clarified That Jeffrey Epstein advised former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak to “look into” Palantir during a meeting in 2013.

Stephanie is a journalist with a background in both law and journalism. He worked at The Guardian and as a paralegal, where he assisted Crikey’s defense team in the high-profile libel case brought by Lachlan Murdoch. His reporting has been recognized nationally, earning him the 2021 Guardians of Democracy Award for Student Investigative Reporting and a nomination for the 2021 Walkley Student Journalist of the Year Award.