Acting CEO Kristin Stubbins has been turfed after seven weeks and will be replaced by the parent’s Singapore-based global clients and industries leader Kevin Burrowes.

PwC also announced it has entered into an exclusivity agreement to divest its federal and state government consultancy business to private equity firm Allegro Funds for a nominal fee of $1.

Burrowes, who is still waiting on visa approval so he can relocate and will become a partner in PwC Australia, said on Sunday he is honoured to take up the role.

“Along with the leadership team, I will work tirelessly to increase transparency and repair trust with our stakeholders, while also enhancing our governance and culture,” he said on Sunday.

PwC Australia has faced immense pressure since it was accused of abusing its trusted role as an adviser by leaking information about proposed federal government tax changes to clients for financial gain.

Former PwC partner Peter Collins has since been referred to federal police and nine other partners have stood down.

Chief executive at the time, Tom Seymour apologised and stepped down from his role in May, with the firm saying it needed to rebuild trust with government and the public.

The sale of PwC’s government contracts to Allegro, expected to be finalised by the end of next month, will protect 1700 jobs, PwC Australia board chair Justin Carroll said.

“This transaction will result in the first pure play, at scale, government business in the market,” he said.

“This was an extremely difficult decision, but we are determined to take all necessary steps to protect the jobs of our people and re-earn the trust of our stakeholders.”

Labor senator Deborah O’Neill said questions still remained about the timing of PwC’s sale of government contracts.

“The whole amount is just mind-boggling itself, $1 for a business of this scale,” she said on Monday.

“(They have been) very resistant responses to any of those public inquiries, and yet we have this unseemly haste with a profit-driven motive to try and phoenix itself back into some sort of connection with the government.”

O’Neill, who has been spearheading efforts in parliament to examine the conduct of PwC, said the misconduct within the firm could go further.

“We’ve opened the lid on on a set of practices that this sector have tried to keep quiet and have just considered business as usual for a very, very long time,” she said.

“People who are in PwC and have been on the partner track for most of their lifetime have been enculturated into the ways at PwC, that have now been revealed to the Australian public as contemptuous of the Australian public.”

The divestment of the government consultancy business will create two separate firms.

It also means PwC Australia’s exit from all government advisory work, at both the state and federal levels.

That business generated about 20 per cent of the Australian firm’s fiscal year 2023 revenue.

But PwC said it would allow the firm to move on from the tax leak scandal and ensure stability for the rest of its clients in other parts of the business.

State and federal departments of finance both said they would be waiting to assess the impact of the proposed restructure.

The Australian Department of Finance said it would “carefully consider the implications of these changes for existing and future contracting arrangements”.

An independent review of PwC’s conduct in the scandal headed by former Telstra boss Ziggy Switkowski is due to be released in September.

-with AAP