Mates doing deals with mates is baked into our political system | The Canberra Times

Labor under Albanese has vowed to reduce the use of external consultants and restore the intellectual weight of departments and institutions. A corruption scandal involving PWC helped them achieve this goal; PWC advised on safeguards against transnational tax evasion and, before it was implemented, used its insider knowledge to approach transnational companies with advice on how to avoid the new system. It cost PWC. He was removed from government contracts for a surprisingly short period of time on the advice of the Exchequer. The consultants were dismissed. There appears to be a slim chance that the AFP will prosecute some of the worst criminals, but the AFP appears to be standing behind the delivery of nuclear submarines and the completion of Afghanistan war crimes investigations as its priorities. Although similar types of abuses abroad have resulted in fines of more than $1.5 billion for partnerships, no action has been taken for civil penalties. The Exchequer thinks its old friends have suffered enough already and that a combination of slapping the knuckles and an hour of ethics training once a month will prevent any repeat. Emboldened, PWC still refuses to hand over some documents indicating its guilt (even to the AFP).