PwC’s head of reputation quits as firm’s horror show continues

The public relations department of embattled consulting giant PwC has not been a happy place of late. And as the horror show surrounding the firm’s misuse of confidential tax data refuses to go away,the team will now have to manage without its leader.

PwC’s head of reputationRory Grant told colleagues on Thursday afternoon that he was calling it quits after three years in the role.

The former staffer to federal Liberal ministersChristopher Pyne andAlan Tudge declined to speak publicly about his move,but CBD is reliably informed that Grant told acting chief executiveKristin Stubbins several weeks ago that it was in his and the firm’s best interest for a fresh set of eyes to be looking out for PwC’s rep.

That would have been one of the first conversations Stubbins had after stepping in to fill the void left byTom Seymourafter he stepped down amid the pressure of the scandal. CBD hears she reluctantly agreed with Grant’s decision.

Managing the crisis has been problematic for the firm from the beginning. Disaster management gun-for-hireSue Cato has been on the case since last week after she was hired by one group of partners at PwC Australia,while former Labor communications ministerStephen Conroyis handling crisis communications and lobbying efforts.

But formerRupert Murdoch spokesmanAndrew Butcher and ex-Bill Shorten adviserAndrew Thomas,who’d both been external PR advisers to PwC,are no longer working with the firm.

So,the recruitment effort for Grant’s successor should be an interesting process. No news at this stage on Grant’s next adventure,but we’ll keep you updated.

PARTNER PAUSE

Staying with PwC – because they simply can’t stay out of CBD these days – the consulting giant is now deferring mid-year partner intake,to be reconsidered in December.

“This decision is not at all a reflection of the candidates and we absolutely see these people as leaders of our firm,however,we believe this is a necessary and prudent step in light of the current circumstances,” came the all staff missive from Stubbins on Thursday.

Then again,in light of the current circumstances,we doubt a partnership has the lustre it once held.

CHEERS SCOMO

Former prime ministerScott Morrison was seen sipping overpriced pints with a quartet of former staffers on Wednesday evening –Nick Creevey,Ben Wicks,Nico Louw andDean Shachar at The Flynn in Sydney.

The bar,which calls itself “the go-to place for CBD movers and shakers” is a stone’s throw from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices and Liberal election night favourite the Sofitel Wentworth.

All four of the old Scomo boys have landed on their feet – Creevey is associate director corporate affairs for payments start-up Airwallex,while Shachar is Deputy Liberal leaderSussan Ley’s chief of staff. Wicks spun for former NSW premierDominic Perrottet and is now freelancing with our friends at the Pharmacy Guild,while Louw does government relations work for the Insurance Council.

In fact,the only person without a new gig is Morrison himself. Any day now.

RETURN OF THE KING

Last month marked the return of former Wentworth MP and barristerPeter King,who ousted Waverley councillorSally Betts to become president of the Liberal Party’s local Federal Electorate Conference.

Largely forgotten since he was turfed at preselection by Malcolm Turnbull in 2004 and then received a 10-year ban from the party for running as an independent,King is already causing a stir among harbourside silvertails.

That’s thanks to his choice of speaker for next month’s inaugural Menzies Talks event – who said the Liberals aren’t creative – which is none other than anti-Voice campaignerWarren Mundine.

We reckon Mundine would be the first former Labor national president to address a coterie of eastern suburbs Liberals at Woollahra Golf Club. But he might get a tougher than expected crowd because even Liberals in that part of the world are sympathetic toward the Voice.

Vaucluse Liberal MPKellie Sloane showed up at teal independentAllegra Spender’s Wentworth for the Voice launch event last month. And the Liberal-dominated Woollahra Councilbacked a Yes vote in March.

STAR THEATRE

The stars were out at the State Theatre on Wednesday night whenWarwick Thornton’sThe New Boyopened the Sydney Film Festival.

Taika Waititi,Rita Ora,Hugo Weaving,Mia Wasikowska,Rachel WardandBryan Brownwere all in attendance. So wasGretel Packer,who invested in the film and is an executive producer alongside the sadly absentCate Blanchett,who plays a bolshie nun who runs a remote orphanage in the 1940s. Other faces in the crowd included Arts MinisterJohn Grahamand Sydney Lord MayorClover Moore.

FilmmakerRachel Perkins,the co-chair of Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition,warmed up the audience with a stirring speech about the importance of a Yes vote in the Voice referendum. But the eight Indigenous boys who play the orphans stole the show,giggling in the stalls during the film and then getting a standing ovation on stage afterwards.

Thornton joked that after weeks of telling them not to look at the camera while shooting the film,he had to keep telling them to look at the camera on the red carpet. Outshining even Blanchett in the film is 11-year-old first-time actorAswan Reid,who plays the “new boy” dumped at the orphanage in a sack one night.

He was at the Cannes Film Festival for the world premiere last month but many of the other boys -Tyzailin Roderick,Laiken Woolmington,Shane McKenzie-Brady,Tyrique Brady, Kyle Miller-Power,Kailem Miller-Power andTyler Spencer – had their first plane trip from Adelaide to Sydney.

They live in remote South Australia so many of them also needed an outing to the shops to buy suits for opening night. Like showbiz pros,they took a simultaneous bow on stage that they’d practised in their hotel.

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