How four companies infiltrated governments and took home $10 billion | 7.30 

Brendan should be given a job high in the public service, maybe in the auditor general's department. The world needs more like him.

I think we should not ignore the possibility that our national security has been compromised.

The rich, corporations and billionaires are completely out of control in Australia while everyone else is going down the gurgler.

Once upon a time we had a National Audit Office. Once again cuts and privatisation has bitten us in the arse.

About time these corporations were held to account. Thankyou to all those whistle blowers and members of parliament for standing up for the truth.

Thank you ABC for this report

11:08 It's like the government is using 'consultants' to cover their embarrassment of guilt of their underlying incompetence. Let's get refunds from those projects please.

Consulting companies have become termites of the modern economy.

Therefore, these four companies have treated the government exactly the same way that the government has treated Australians.

The ministers involved approving these contracts need to be trialed in court. It won’t stop until tough laws are implemented.

KPMG has 663 partners in Australia. That is just Australia. If KPMG is found guilty od some crime does it mean all of the partners are liable and punishable? treated as an organized crime?

And one of these accounting behemoths advised the Commonwealth how to design, implement and enforce schemes like “robo-debt.’ Our democratic system of government is under threat when commercial for-profit firms essentially run national public policy and treasury in their own interest.

Amazing that people blame the companys for doing business and not the various government departments for been so lazy and unaccountable.

That guy is a man of high integrity. Amazing.

The big 4 employees studying for the Chartered accounting program have been caught cheating, yet they get away with sweep that under the radar. If the graduate accountants ethics starts out below acceptable - prior to becoming a chartered accountant - why would you expect any of the big 4 employees or partners to act ethically?

All of the big four firms are notorious for having been dodgy for many years!

Congratulations to Brendan and these Whistleblowers and Journalists. You have COURAGE ABOVE AND BEYOND. I hope you are all able to have health and support around you.

Government needs to get rid of the contractors and put people back in civil service. These companies are like buzzards circleing over government waiting for the opportunity to take easy money. Hope the companies concerned pay a high price for their infringements.😠

Protect whistleblowers at all cost. We move forward as a nation and improve when we have people like him. Beyond courageous! Australia has been sold and shredded not only by a nation 12 hours away but corporations and backstabbers.

12:01 this is a very good point about consulting firms being a shield for bureaucrat's decisions. Private company CEOs do this too to deflect blame. All I have to say is, grow a spine and take responsibility for your decisions.

To all those who stood up for the ordinary working class citizens, thank you .. we need more genuine people in power

It took a Labour government to expose big business ...... the LNP would not do it.

There's no conflict of interest when they all have the same interests .... ? The road to sorrow & regret is paved with ignorance , lies , greed & good intentions ....

So these four firms have been treating the government in the exact same manner that the government has been treating Australians...

It's not only Australia, it's the same here in Ireland . Our Minister for Transport and leader of The Green Party , Eamon Ryan recently declared in response to a parliamentary question on transport, that, "our research suggests that free public transport would cause an increased level of unnecessary trips". At the time he wouldn't reveal the source of the "research" . It was later revealed to be the good people at EY . We are essentially run by unelected corporations, while our governments are merely middlemen doing their bidding while doing all they can to placate us .

Thanks for your efforts Brendan Lyon you're a genuine hero for reporting on the corruption of big businesses and government, you are the true Australian of the year.

As the old adage goes....."Don't steal!.....The Government HATES competition".

This makes me absolutely livid.

Liquidate the company's (or their Australian operations if they are an overseas firm) , jail the people responsible, seize the money, pay any share holders and put the rest of the money towards fixing the economy, so lower income, working households wont find themselves on the streets.

And they say why Australians standard of living has gone down the drain. Tax revenues are being squandered by the government & corporations like these, instead of fixing & improving the standard of living of each and everyone.

Thank you for these people who are doing the right thing for this country. Unfortunately this government got no real cojones to do something about it. You will see who. And here I have the tax office giving me a letter to remind me to do the right thing with my tax return, are they for real. Thank you ABC.

Lock them up for stealing from the public purse. Next, build back the public service by employing people who have the skills to consult and audit in a way that is consistent with the interests of Australians. The problem is that the two major parties are complicit in this fraudulent behaviour. Only the Greens will keep them honest.

Having worked with all four, the quality of work they provide is substandard and so many workarounds required. But why would they care when they know the government would fork out for whatever rubbish they offered.

All government contracts and tenders should be audited on a consistent basis by a taskforce set up by the government consisting of long term government employees with no prior conflict of interests. For all the money, $10 billion spent on consultants, the government could have employeed highly skilled, dedicated, loyal long term employees who could work independently without any conflict of interests from external influences. Cut all budgets for consultants and put that into training government employees with the assistance of universities and public funded sectors.

If they are such a rort then why does the Government keep awarding them contracts? Who is really to blame here?

Why can we comment about this situation but not about the crisis in the building industry that 4 Corners did a video about on this channel?! It’s disgusting the ABC is stifling opinions on some of their content but allowing it on ‘certain’ videos 😢

One could easily swap the word government for many Australian companies that similarly value consultants over their own people's experience and importantly IP

These incompetent public servant is dumb enough to handover free money to consultants, why is it the big four's fault?

Really don't think politicians have much credibility either.

Part of the problem is that we have a national watchdog that is acting as though it is old and frail. This watchdog has been hammered on 4 corners in the last day or so, only pursuing 1 in 5 matters of insolvency. First question: are the enforcement agencies being given enough resources to be able to 1) watch what is going on; and 2) be able to prosecute without fear or favour when required? Another thing that needs to be brought into the open is the conflicting legislation that often prevents prosecution going forward. If a payment is made - cents in the dollar, that often gets directors of businesses that are in administration off the hook for prosecutions. All that does is encourage them to go again, and do it on a larger scale. It also needs to be said that, from what has been reported, is that the big 4 are sitting on government working committees to be able to draft legislation. The same enterprises, that have advised the government, then go the their business clients and advise them of how to get around the new laws. That is clearly a conflict of interest! The Commonwealth, State and Territory Public Services are being run down and are losing high quality staff due to the fact that consultants are being hired to do reports, which should be done in house in the respective public service agency. This is costing us, the taxpayers, more money, and driving up our tax that we need to pay! There is also the problem of monies that are being funnelled off shore when the monies should be paid to within Australia. A minor example: when buying prepaid phone credits, no G.S.T. was paid on this transaction. Why is this so? The transaction takes place at retail level, wholly within Australia, so why is there no G.S.T. on this sale? The legislation needs to be made simple, and inescapable. If the retail transaction happens in Australia; or materials are shipped from Australia, the transaction is deemed to have happened within Australia. I do not object to paying something towards the upkeep of the nation, but, when the big corporates fail to pay their way, that makes me livid!

Australia's varius "corrupt" former corporate coalition federal and state governments, have kept worker renumeration as low as they possibly could, while corporate profits and executive salary/bonus packages are absolutely exorbitant... Hopefully the current labor government's, have some modicule of decency/honesty... Also the desire/ability to solve issues such as the housing crises, declining wages, corporate profiteering and illicit payments to bent political creatures...

Well, there you go. More corruption, that gentleman is very courageous.

Thank you Brendan. Thank you ABC.

Audit the auditors and i guarantee you they do not fully adhere to the regulations that are the foundation of our economy

"in the last decade" ...under the watchful eye of the coalitions tenure. The "better economic managers". But they knew exactly what they were doing. As was said, it gave a veneer of legitimacy to terrible (and I would say corrupt) decision making.

Great piece. Thank you

No mention of the tentacle's outreach and to whom the $$$$$$$ are going too..

The conflicts of interest as individuals move from senior public service roles to partnerships in the big 4 and sometimes back thrived in Victoria under both governments. Their advice and the quality of work was laughable. The VPS could have acted but did not. Those who had integrity avoided it all.

Once again nobody will go to jail over this.

It's not lost on me that the happiest countries in the world all pay high levels of tax. Minimising it divides the country and takes from those who need it the most. Higher tax rates allows for greater income redistribution and social equality. Corporate Australia and ASIC need a good hard look themselves.

Everyone is acting like this isn't their fault. Who voted these parties in? Why don't people vote for smaller parties that are against big uncontrollable government? It's the big 4 or whichever corporation you want to outsource your blame to, it's not you right? You just voted for the politicians that allow this like the libs, greens or labour. Vote in small independents (not teals) and it's a step towards fixing this stuff for real.

Could it be posdible the govt ministers are getting a kickback from approving these outrageously high consulting fees.

Firstly hands off to this brave whistleblower, but realistically nothing will happen to these large powerful accounting/consulting firms. When you’re turning over huge amounts of money, you can make people “look the other way”.

Im from New Zealand 🇳🇿 and live in outback WA and i think what's happening here is not right. If i were Australian I'd consider these people serious criminals and traitors.

There should be a law implemented for Government employees whereby they must not work for another employer where there is a potential conflict of interest. Conversely, a government senior position should not be given to a private sector employee where there is a potential conflict of interest given this private sector employee's past association with their former employer.

Every where in Australia thanks 😊

0:54: 🔍 The big four accounting firms, originally known for auditing financial accounts, have expanded their influence to advising multinational corporations and governments, while avoiding serious scrutiny and accountability. 5:49: 💰 Concerns are raised about the conflicts of interest and lack of transparency in the government's reliance on the big four consulting firms, who receive a significant amount of taxpayer money. 10:11: 💸 There is concern over the use of public money on consultants in government departments, with a lack of transparency and flawed recording of spending. 13:15: 💼 The lack of regulation and accountability for auditors and tax advisors allows them to operate without consequences and avoid paying corporate tax. Recap by Tammy AI

the next season of rake is looking good

Someone quickly clone Brendan, we need more people like him. Do not associate and stay away from at least those big 4 SCAMMERS!

I am seeking to appoint one of the big four to a major FDI initiative in the GCC. This puts me off all of them. But my Government ministry here says I must use one of them! Hmmm.....

So who are the politicians who developed, concocted the schemes, open contracts; 14:35 selfregulating consultants of their own companies? (per reportage) ? Where is the common decency...10 years no-one noticed. ...& the rest- 4:20 ++ privacy of Australians data...?!?!

I follow politicians, I invested in military, medical and pharma stocks at the start, the planned war and pandemic have made us so freaking rich off taxpayer money being laundered into the stocks.

Everyday Australians are struggling.

This is why I laugh when people talk as if free market is essence of democracy ...

if you think this is bad, just wait till the business groups get exposed,,,

I watched most of this last night, it was both infuriating and distressing, I had to switch it off.

From privatisation of national institutions to this mob of crooks, this stuff has a whiff that has been poring out for decades to the detriment of Australia and its people. I truly hope someone can crack this facade…….

We all have Rights and Freedoms, but Your Freedoms end where my Rights begin!

Just employ public servants again!

"In order to get the government to listen, they had to pay a consultant huge amounts of money.... that is a huge waste of public money..." Sounds like what is happening with NDIS as well. OT's being paid $2-4,000 for reports every single year. Incredibly wasteful amounts of public money.

Get them Deborah, shut them all down and get proper consultants.

The salary of an entry level accountant at Deloitte was 100k. That was 20 years ago.

I just realised what's happened... this is so bad....

Imagine government that represented the people

Kleptocracy comes in many guises

Thank god

No, Chris, the nameplate generation capacity of a wind or solar farm is not what it produces all the time. Its sort of like a hamster wheel connected to the light bulb. It only glows when the hamster feels like running. You know, clouds come, winter comes to solar, so does dust and degradation. With wind, it often doesn't blow much at all. All the batteries could last up to two minutes at peak load. Can you see it? Think hard, you can do it...(?)

This day had to come, let’s just hope that if this does make a Royal Commission that the terms of reference cover evert possible immoral malpractice is identified. 🤬 their fundamental function of audits ceases to exist. 🤬

Dastardly symbiotic co-dependency.

The big civil constructors should be next. Cartels by definition.

They should be split into 32 different smaller firms, regulated heavily, and banned from government contracts. The independant public service should be funded and reestablished.

Cancel all contracts with this big 4

The public service are full of box tickers, is it any wonder why consultants are used for policy and strategy.

What can we do?

Can someone please look into sound issues with ABC, the mics are exagerrating the S sounds being pronounced. There are several segments here clearly recorded with a different mic or filter that don't have the issue.

Thank God for honest people 🙏🙌

Same and worse in South Africa 🤬

McKenzies?

Not so surprising if thorough investigation in the future can reveal that this Big 4 firms also advises multinational organized crime syndicate or drug cartels because this Big 4 accounting firms is no differents from organized crimes syndicate. The only differences is one is wearing a suits while another group mostly wore whatever shit they wanted😂

Someone needs to stand against these people !

Is this true or was it on the ALPBC?

Well, the government pays their public sector like shit while cost of living explodes. It's not about contractors de-skilling the public sector, it's about quality people wanting to be paid what they are worth. It's why many Defence veterans opt to contract back into Defence with their organizational experience and technical skills. In this way they can get paid far more than they ever would as an APS - which in many cases is worse money than staying in uniform. It's not rocket science. Yes the 'big four' should not hold as much sway on Defence contracts and that should be scrutinized and regulated. But most quality people will never work as public servants, it's just an unfortunate reality. Government and Defence will continue to need a contracted workforce for highly specialized positions in particular - maybe this will make room for smaller firms with less conflict of interest to make headway instead of the big four.

the last government let this happen. make their mates happy.

Accountable to no one...

FMD, we can't do sweet FA about it 🤷🏾‍♂️

A bunch of nonsense. The title should be: “How our state and federal governments became so inept to complete their own work needs, and outsourced everything to consulting firms.” Big-4 are the most internally governed, compliance driven and cultured organisations in Australia. The issue is not with big-4 but with government departments having no accountability for their external spend, and becoming quasi-procurement teams.

Casinos online marketing tax grand too

I’m mad as hell !!! They lied to me

Mining company's of Australian foreign buyers

The Big Four used to be the Big Eight. Scandals and mismanagement killed half.