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Watch live as KPMG, its lawyers, clients, regulators and associates face a grilling
By Colin Kruger
Welcome to our live blog of the parliamentary joint committee public hearing into the KPMG whistleblower scandal in Canberra.
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KPMG in damage control: ‘Nothing to see hear’
By Colin Kruger
After the whistleblower allegations were made public in March KPMG boss Yates contacted van Onselen: “We were informed that there was no basis to the allegations.”
O’Neill: “He says, don’t worry, it was a whistleblower matter, and we’ve investigated it. There’s nothing
to see here?”
van Onselen: “Mr Yates and KPMG are very well informed about their disclosure obligations.”
CAANZ boss ‘I’m disgusted by it’
By Colin Kruger
When she found out, van Onselen says she was deeply unhappy. “What I think it says in relation to the individuals involved who were partners of KPMG is extremely serious conduct, and I’m disgusted by it. It’s basic 101 … in terms of ethics, principles,” she says.
“Every young lawyer and every young accountant in the country has it drummed into them to respect your client’s confidentiality.”
CAANZ in the dark on Lendlease ‘theft’ before it became public
By Colin Kruger
Labor Senator Deborah O’Neill takes a victory lap for raising the scandal to the public’s attention via a speech in the Senate, making a point by implication that KPMG did not disclose the issue to the professional accounting body.
O’Neill: “For clarity, did you know about the Lendlease theft of documents before my speech on the 24th of March?”
Van Onselen: “No, we did not, Senator.”
Accounting body CAANZ says it has 12 active investigations under way
By Colin Kruger
CAANZ boss Ainslie Van Onselen, whose organisation is responsible for professional standards among accountants, says there are numerous investigations underway relating to the KPMG scandal.
“The independent professional conduct committee is progressing 12 active investigations, including three initiated for self-disclosures,” she says.
“It’s basic professional principle. If you access something you shouldn’t, you should fix it immediately and not use it to your advantage.”
‘What else was accessed and used?’
By Colin Kruger
Lendlease chairman John Gillam says the scandal has raised wider concerns about KPMG, though the Lendlease witnesses have also emphasised to the Senate that there many people of integrity at the firm.
Gillam: “It’s a good question, because whenever you have a fundamental breach of trust, you then have these other doubts creep in.”
O’Neill: “I guess that the reality is, that it (information) was accessed and used. The question is, what else was accessed and used?”
KPMG have denied Lendlease access to information relating to the illicit sharing of the company’s information
By Colin Kruger
Legal professional privilege, which is intended to protect lawyers’ advice to their clients, is a key issue in these proceedings. KPMG and the firm’s lawyers at Allens have made clear they will claim that a lot of information about the scandal is protected, and should not be made available to the Senate or the public. Here’s how that’s affecting Lendlease.
O’Neill: “So they’re claiming legal professional privilege over documents that relate directly to information that you seek to manage what’s happening in your own company and about your company”
Lombardo: “Yeah, they are seeking to protect their information. Importantly, we were trying to make sure we understand exactly the use of that information through the allegations.”
Lendlease boss ‘took comfort’ there would be a robust investigation in 2025
By Colin Kruger
Lombardo on his interactions with KPMG chief executive Peter Yates: “I do remember him saying an investigation had taken place at that point in time, so I took comfort that [they] would have undertaken a robust investigation, was my assumption.”
Additional costs and disruption for Lendlease from whistleblower fallout and change of auditors
By Colin Kruger
Lendlease chairman John Gillam mentions the cost and disruption of having to dump KPMG as its auditor: “As stated in my opening statement, this is a grave misuse of their access privileges, and we’re deeply discontented with this behaviour. So, we will move as expeditiously as we can.”
‘Fundamental breach of trust’: Lendlease criticises KPMG’s response to the scandal
By Nick Bonyhady
Lendlease boss Tony Lombardo says that there has been a “fundamental breach of trust” by KPMG, and acknowledges that it was brought to the property company’s attention by the Senate committee now investigating the matter.
Previously, Lombardo says, KPMG had claimed that allegations about the misuse of confidential Lendlease information could not be substantiated.
He says that his team has had numerous meetings with KPMG. “KPMG has responded at each of those points,” he says, but the information from the consultancy “has come back very piecemeal … as we’ve learnt more through this whole process”.
‘This is clearly a massive fail’: O’Neill
By Colin Kruger
O’Neill: “Your particular case study is very, very helpful in terms of revealing where there are some clear challenges in what’s going on in terms of trust … one of the big challenges in this particular matter, which is betrayal of trust, the taking of confidential information, and the use of that for financial gain for your auditor.”
“This is clearly a massive fail,” she says.
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