Australian federal government confirms more than A$650m of contracts with embattled KPMG
ABC reported that it had examined Treasury data and found the federal government held more than A$650m of active contracts with the embattled KPMG. The firm has been in the news in recent months due to a Sydney accounting ethics inquiry and alleged breaches of consulting standards. The government said current contracts would be reviewed.
An ABC analysis of the Treasury procurement database showed KPMG had signed 78 new contracts between February and May, taking the total to A$657.4m. The three largest are an Australian Taxation Office IT modernisation worth A$197m, a Department of Defence internal-audit systems contract of A$118m and a Department of Health quality-reporting contract of A$74m. ABC quoted Senate Standing Committee on Procurement member Barbara Pocock as saying "all the contracts should be reassessed".
ABC said KPMG Australia chair Andrew Yates issued a statement that "the firm is committed to all the audits and ethics standards". The Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) is still running an internal-audit inquiry. Finance Minister Katy Gallagher announced "current contracts will be reviewed within their contractual provisions".
KPMG Australia's annual global turnover is around A$3.2bn and federal contracts make up 20 per cent of the firm's Australian revenue. The debate joins a wider Big Four review that already covers the PwC tax-advisory scandal, Deloitte's defence audit contract and EY's economic advisory disputes. Not investment advice.
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