Newspaper Ends Big Four Probe. In Unrelated News, It’s Audit Has Been Signed Off

2 September 2026

SYDNEY — The Australian Herald confirmed on Friday that it had ended a seven-month investigation into a Big Four accounting firm, over allegations that the firm withheld clean audit opinions from clients who declined to purchase its tax and advisory services. In unrelated news, the firm, which audits the Herald’s parent company, signed off on this year’s accounts the following morning.

Both the Big Four firm and the newspaper stressed that the two events were unrelated. The Big Four managing partner said the firm’s independence was not for sale; it remained available as part of a broader advisory engagement.

The sign-off followed the parent company’s acceptance of a remediation package under which the Big Four firm’s earlier concerns would be resolved. The Big Four engagement partner confirmed the package consisted of tax and advisory services.

The Herald editor said the investigation had been wound back on its merits. The Big Four lead audit partner said the firm simply found it easier to provide assurance where it also held the client’s tax and advisory work.

The Herald editor said the newspaper had removed its earlier reporting on the Big Four firm from public access in a routine archival review. The material is no longer archived.

The Herald editor confirmed that the Big Four firm had been appointed to a fortnightly opinion column on trust and integrity in the professions. The appointment was made on merit.

The Big Four lead audit partner explained that a qualified opinion would have required the parent company to disclose the matter to the ASX. The Herald editor added that such a disclosure would have lowered the share price, to which the remuneration of the parent company’s directors is linked. Both confirmed the matter was unrelated to the newspaper’s decision.

The Herald editor said the Big Four firm had been engaged to conduct a strategic review of the newspaper’s information technology systems following a competitive tender. The Big Four engagement partner confirmed the Big Four firm was the only participant. It was separately retained for advisory services of unspecified scope and duration.

The Big Four managing partner said audit represented a small and shrinking share of the Big Four firm’s revenue, and that the firm remained committed to the practice for reasons entirely unrelated to the roughly seventy per cent of its income earned from services other than audit.

A parliamentary committee examining the four large firms announced an independent review of the Big Four firm’s culture, governance and integrity. The review will be conducted by the Big Four firm.

The Big Four managing partner said the firm looked forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the Herald, and to forming an independent view of it.

The Daily Cartland, like its audited accounts, is a work of satire.