00:00 If you go back over government scandals for the past few years, you'll hear this phrase a lot.
00:05 The Big Four accounting firms.
00:09 The Big Four refers to this group of companies. KPMG, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers and EY, formerly known as Ernst & Young.
00:19 Collectively, they do nearly all the auditing for the biggest companies in the world,
00:23 meaning they independently check the accounts for reports that get sent to governments and shareholders.
00:30 Another major part of their business is selling advice to governments on things like tax and policy.
00:35 And that's where some other major names come into the industry, like McKinsey & Company, Bain and Boston Consulting Group.
00:42 The use of these companies within our governments is not a scandal,
00:46 but some people are worried that the conflict of interest from the work they do for corporations
00:51 and at the same time governments is a big red flag.
00:54 Because these consultants don't just offer advice, they also perform roles as contractors,
00:59 filling up jobs that used to be done by public servants.
01:03 In Australia right now, senators are asking how PwC were employed to help the government write laws
01:09 to stop companies avoiding paying tax, but at the same time told those companies how to avoid it.
01:16 In Canada, consultants McKinsey have been accused of being too close with the government of Justin Trudeau
01:21 and even of helping to fuel the opioid crisis through its work with OxyContin producer Purdue Pharma.
01:27 In the UK, during COVID, the government handed huge sums of money to these firms
01:33 rather than use their own public servants, which bypasses major rules of accountability.
01:38 The scandal that keeps appearing reflects a pattern of behaviour that goes back beyond the 1980s.
01:44 Governments keen to keep costs down end up spending way more on getting external consultants
01:50 to do the job of public servants.
01:52 The question is, does the taxpayer get their money's worth?
01:55 And if governments and these firms have nothing to hide,
01:58 why are they so worried about being held accountable?
02:02 you
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