‘Two masters’: PwC CEO’s $1.2m secret

PwC Australia boss Kevin Burrowes hid from a parliamentary probe and his own ethics chief that he was “serving two masters” by receiving an additional $1.2 million from the consultancy giant’s international parent, a bipartisan committee looking into the PwC tax scandal has heard.

The explosive charge came from Corporations and Financial Services Committee chair Senator Deborah O’Neill, who called it a “profound conflict of interest” and lambasted Mr Burrowes for “misleading” her by not disclosing the secondary salary at a previous hearing.

Asked if he could see how the failure to disclose the salary looked dodgy, Mr Burrowes said he believed questions levelled at him previously were focused on his role as CEO of PwC Australia.

“I’m happy to discuss that other role,” he said.

“I actually don’t believe it is a conflict, and I’m happy to discuss that in detail.”

The Senator shot back saying Peter-John Collins, the ex-PwC partner at the centre of the tax scandal, “didn’t believe it was a conflict to take information from the government” and share it with the firm’s corporation clients.

“I’m starting to be very concerned that there are a number of people floating around in this PwC ecosystem, who are not … considering there are conflicts of interest when to any other independent observer, your decision to accept payment from two masters is replect with conflict of interest.”

“So we are perceiving this extremely differently, Mr Burrowes, and I can’t understand why you don’t see that as a conflict.”

The parliamentary committee is probing the roles of current and former PwC Australia CEOs in leaking government tax plans.

The scandal was disclosed in 2022 when Peter-John Collins, a key architect of legislation targeting tax-dodging multinationals, had his tax licence suspended for integrity breaches.

Further probes revealed the firm used Mr Collins’ insider knowledge to lure in corporate clients, advising them on taxation in Australia.

Former PwC Australia bosses Luke Sayers and Tom Seymour will also front the hearing on Friday afternoon.

More to come