Barbara Pocock has become one of the faces associated with Parliament's clean-up in the wake of the PricewaterhouseCoopers scandal.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
But she wasn't thinking about politics a few years ago, let alone pursuing honesty and transparency in government spending.
The Greens senator's rise to prominence this year was a matter of right person, right time, she reflected.
"Politics is a lot about your background and your expertise, but it's also a little bit about the wave that comes at you," she said.
The Senator's push for an inquiry into the government's billion-dollar dealings with consultants in March this year set in motion a chain of revelations about the profit-driven cultures of big firms.
It was an early flash of good instinct for the new senator, whose dogged questioning of consultants, and blistering rebukes of those attempting to hide behind the status quo, has landed her on front pages and in front of microphones.
But she laughs off any suggestion she plotted out this trajectory, insisting her interest has always been in one thing: value for money.
"There was no plan to make this a platform for politics," she said.
"For me, it's a platform for values. It's a platform for justice ... in spending, and it's a platform of fairness about what we do with the public dollar."
'Please take action on this'
![Greens senator Barbara Pocock has become one of the star performers in the Senate's inquiry into consultants. Picture by Keegan Carroll Greens senator Barbara Pocock has become one of the star performers in the Senate's inquiry into consultants. Picture by Keegan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/143258707/8779d989-48d6-4a8f-bb04-5caf763a724d.jpg/r0_256_5000_3078_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
It is a thread she can follow back into her childhood, spent on a farm in the Mallee, 100 kilometres out of Adelaide, with a father who "measured things in bales of wool and bags of wheat".
One which wound into a long career in academia, spent meticulously applying for grants as an emeritus professor at the University of South Australia, where she led an employment research centre.
Pulling on this thread has "taken me in places I didn't expect it to," she admits.
"But I think the straightforward poor behaviour, the unethical practices we've seen, have filled my email inbox, with Australians saying: 'Please take action on this'."
It was not her background in employment and economics which landed her in Parliament after the 2022 election, but rather, an urge for climate action.
![Climate action was what propelled Greens senator Barbara Pocock into Parliament. Picture by Keegan Carroll Climate action was what propelled Greens senator Barbara Pocock into Parliament. Picture by Keegan Carroll](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/143258707/a16604ce-b799-4f2c-9267-573b823b3753.jpg/r0_256_5000_3078_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"I wasn't thinking about [politics]," she said.
"My parents had just died in 2017, and I had been out of university for a few years and I was thinking about [how] I had energy now, to look out into the world. What was I going to do?"
"But friends said you could think about making a contribution and running in a seat. So I ran in the seat of Adelaide in 2019, lower house seat, no chance of success, just making up a ticket.
"And after that, it was really reading more and more about climate damage and the climate crisis, that made me think about the Senate."
Every revelation has been a surprise
In January, The Australian Financial Review revealed a little-known tax regulator had sanctioned a former PwC tax partner for revealing confidential Treasury information.
The breach, which was later revealed to have reached 63 staff and partners, set off a chain reaction in the APS, including a referral to the Australian Federal Police, an overhaul of procurement rules, and an effective blacklist on PwC which forced it to sell off its public sector business for $1.
An independent review of the firm's culture has since exposed an aggressive growth focus within the firm, and "whatever it takes" attitude.
There was no way the senator could have foreseen how those early revelations would unravel.
"Every day really, from that first set of events from PwC, I've felt surprised," Senator Pocock said, looking back at how the story had snowballed.
"And whistleblowers say to me, 'You know, people inside the Big Four who are leaders are just hoping you will lose interest and the Senate will back off and move on, the caravan will move on'.
"I don't think that's going to happen."
![Calling for the Senate inquiry was an early flash of good instinct for Barbara Pocock. Picture by Gary Ramage Calling for the Senate inquiry was an early flash of good instinct for Barbara Pocock. Picture by Gary Ramage](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/143258707/daa9c318-93f7-49a9-ab7a-96661171967b.jpg/r0_0_4000_2258_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The Senate inquiry into the federal government's dealings with consultants has been a powerful tool for the Parliament, with Senator Pocock emerging as a star performer alongside Labor's Deborah O'Neill.
A career in academia has left her adept at pursuing answers at all costs, at times lecturing those before her, from private firm big-wigs to the most senior public servants.
"It's definitely been like pulling teeth to gather information from the Big Four," Senator Pocock said, referring to PwC, Ernst&Young, Deloitte and KPMG.
"We have used every possible instrument available to the Parliament: questions on notice, freedom of information, estimates processes and, of course, all of the powers of a Senate committee.
"And some players are clearly very reluctant to have the Parliament have insight about what has occurred, and the nature of the business."
The scrutiny on the Big Four - and Big Seven, when Accenture, McKinsey & Company and Boston Consulting Group are included - has exposed other instances of unethical behaviour, shone a light on gaping holes in the APS' capability, and raised serious questions about successive governments' return on investment for ballooning procurement bills.
The next test for Senator Pocock
And with Labor's move into government, and the Opposition's seeming disinterest in the public service, a vacant space for an agitator on APS matters has opened up.
Though she denies the consultants inquiry has been a crash course on the APS, referencing time spent in the Reserve Bank of Australia and the NSW government, the Greens senator's confidence has grown since the beginning of the year.
While the Albanese government has set in motion election promises to reform the APS, including slashing a ballooning consultants bill and lifting staffing levels, just how far it will go to rebuild is yet to be seen.
"What's been really deeply shocking is how much spending in the last 10 years, that was technically public money, has not built and sustained a robust public sector," Senator Pocock said.
"And that's our big challenge now, is to build a public sector that can respond to the big challenges and to insist on a proper regulated consultancy sector."
She is right, that challenge does rest with her, too. Her test, as the Greens' public sector spokesperson, will come when the road runs out on the consultants inquiry. As the scandals melt away, politicians must keep focus on the drier content of rebuilding a structurally sound APS.
"The public sector doesn't make it onto the front page of the paper every week, but there are people out there who are very unhappy about what they are seeing in terms of value for money, and they want a much fairer and more effective system," she said.
"And that's a big motivation for me."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark canberratimes.com.au
- Download our app
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram