Treasury officials first became aware that former PwC tax partner Peter Collins was under possible investigation for breaching Commonwealth secrecy rules in September 2018, about six months after he signed a third confidentiality agreement with the department in February of that year.
The Tax Office had the first hints in late 2017 that Collins may have breached Treasury confidentiality rules.
Senator Barbara Pocock speaks during a Senate inquiry into the use of consultancy firms. Alex Ellinghausen
But the Treasury officials could not say what action they took upon learning that Collins was the potential subject of the ATO investigation, and admitted it was the first time they knew about a possible breach of this type being investigated.
Greens Senator Barbara Pocock asked in a Senate inquiry today: “Tell me a little more [about] what that awareness was in September 2018?”
Treasury official Diane Brown: “I think as we’ve said previously, it was a very high-level conversation about a possible breach of confidentiality, but the ATO could not tell us many details of their concerns because of the operation of the secrecy provisions.”
Pocock: “Did you have his name? Mr Collins’ name?”
There was a slight pause here, before another Treasury official, Marty Robinson, answered: “Senator, we were asked to provide some information about Mr Collins.”
Pocock: “Okay, you did have his name. What action did you take, given that that query was now squarely in your in-tray and you had … signed a refreshed, a new confidentiality agreement [with Collilns] … what action did you take when Mr Collins’ name became known to you in September 2018?”
Brown: “So it became known to us only in the case of a possible breach. We always take our confidential consultations very seriously though. We only do them when they’re absolutely necessary. Our preference is to do public consultations for these reasons. When we do do confidential composite consultations, we frequently and regularly remind participants of the obligation to keep the information confidential.”
Pocock: “So how often in the last five years have you had a possible breach by someone who signed a confidentiality agreement?
Brown: “I don’t believe we’ve been advised of a possible breach in any other circumstance.”
Pocock: “No, this is the only time. It’s a little bit of a sleepy response. A possible breach, don’t worry about it. Is that appropriate?”
Brown: “I don’t think we don’t worry about it. We worry about keeping information confidential all the time, which is why we read, we review and remind people of their obligations.”
Earlier, Treasury officials said that they – the Treasurer and the Assistant Treasurer – only knew about the details of the Tax Practitioners Board’s findings in the PwC tax leaks matter when they were published by The Australian Financial Review in January of this year.
“I will indicate that the TPB did not tell us very much at that time [in December], just that there was going to be a finding. We only received the reasons for the findings, more or less the same time they were published by the TPB later in January. So really, it was really more in advance notice of what they’re making public at the time,” Brown told the inquiry.
Pocock: “Two years after the ATO, the tax office, was alerted to the issue. Do you think It’s a problem that one arm of the government [Treasury] is signing a third confidentiality agreement when another part of government [the Tax Office] knows that serious issues have arisen in relation to this individual [Collins]?”
Brown: “I think that’s that’s right, senator, why I said that the laws have to balance and at certain times you realise that balance might be right might not be right. And It’s appropriate that we look at whether that balance is right, given what we now know.”
