Australia news live: KPMG apologises to whistleblower as firm fronts inquiry over ethical failures
now 22.05 BST Good morning, and happy Friday. We’re back to regular news today after another week in parliament. Nick Visser here – let’s get
now 22.05 BST Good morning, and happy Friday. We’re back to regular news today after another week in parliament. Nick Visser here – let’s get to it. Share 15m ago 21.51 BST Luca Ittimani The Labor-led parliamentary committee investigating KPMG’s audit leaks has put pressure on the Albanese government to reform laws that could have protected the scandal’s whistleblower. The committee, which includes five Labor MPs, on 9 July asked Anthony Albanese to urgently fix whistleblower protections. On Thursday, it published a 30 July letter from Albanese’s assistant minister, Patrick Gorman, acknowledging the concerns and saying Treasury was reviewing tax and corporate whistleblower laws. The committee also shared its submission to Treasury’s review, where it said Australian law failed to protect whistleblower and was “largely ineffective in deterring misconduct”.
The laws had issues that were “long standing, well known, and have been well-ventilated over many years”, demonstrated most recently by the KPMG whistleblower’s difficulties, the submission reads. The committee said it had made dozens of recommendations in the last decade, unanimously backed by members across the political spectrum and noted “the ongoing importance of all the recommendations made by the committee that have not yet been implemented by the government”. Share 25m ago 21.41 BST KPMG apologises to whistleblower as inquiry looms Luca Ittimani KPMG has contacted the man who blew the whistle on its audit leaks scandal to apologise, ahead of an inquiry into its failures today. The whistleblower was a KPMG employee who sent an email raising alarm in May 2024, in which he claims he was covered by Australia’s legal protections.
In a letter published by the inquiry committee, Mike Ebeid, KPMG’s new chair, offers a series of mea culpas. Ebeid told the whistleblower that KPMG still believed not think his email was protected by Australia’s complex whistleblower laws. Ebeid said the firm had still treated the issue as if it were being raised as an official whistleblower issue and would not challenge the matter if a legal case was brought against it. Ebeid has also admitted the firm did not ask its lawyers to investigate “every aspect” of the whistleblower’s allegations, meaning it did not look into some of the ethical issues now being examined. He said KPMG had in April 2026 wrongly claimed it had “not substantiated” allegations of internal leaks because investigations by December 2025 had found confidential information was being shared.
Share 33m ago 21.32 BST Man dies after house fire on NSW south coast Achol Arok NSW police have declared a critical incident investigation into the death of a man who allegedly barricaded himself inside a home and started a fire. Emergency services attended a unit on the state’s south coast at about 1.15pm on Thursday, after reports of concern for the man’s welfare. Authorities were forced to gain entry to the unit and extinguish the fire. The 57-year-old man was treated for his injuries at the scene but could not be revived. The man has yet to be formally identified. A report will be prepared for the coroner. Share Updated at 21.55 BST
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