Independent Senator Nick Xenophon will give support to rebel CPA Australia members by introducing a bill that closes a loophole that has allowed the accounting body's leadership to keep members' contact details secret.
The intervention came as the push for the accounting body's CEO Alex Malley and the board to resign spreads to the broader business and political community. Mr Malley has rejected calls for him to step down and accused his critics of suffering from tall-poppy syndrome, after an interview where he could not explain the group's conflicting membership numbers.
Senator Xenophon will introduce, "as a matter of urgency", a private members bill to force organisations such as CPA to produce email addresses of members when requested under the Corporations Act.
"I just think the CPA leadership shemozzle indicates that the Corporations Act needs to be brought into the 21st century by allowing members to access email addresses of other members. Right now a lot of entities know that they are insulated from member or shareholder action by virtue of the prohibitive cost of contacting them all by mail" Senator Xenophon said.
The issue emerged after rebel member Brett Stevenson, who has effectively led a rebellion against the leadership of the CPA Australia, requested a full list of members, including their contact details citing the Corporations Act. Mr Stevenson made the request in after CPA Australia shut down the "Find a CPA" function on its website.
He received the information at the end of April with only the name, the address and the date the member joined, which strictly complied with the Corporations Act, but made it cost prohibitive for Mr Stevenson to easily contact all the other CPA Australia members.
The next week the CPA Australia sent out an email accusing Mr Stevenson for sending "a series of negative emails containing numerous inaccurate claims" about the accounting body and accusing him of intending to spam other members.
Senator Xenophon, who would not be drawn on whether Mr Malley should step down, said it should not be this difficult to make organisations like CPA Australia accountable to its members.
"This goes beyond way beyond the CPA but it's a prime example of how broken the system is in terms of notifying members. Ultimately, if passed, his amendment means members will be empowered to have their say and I think there are quite a few members out there who want a say in the way the organisation is run," Senator Xenophon said.
Mr Malley maintains the grievances are the concerns of a handful of rogue members. However, the Financial Review revelations about Mr Malley's $1.79 million pay have sparked condemnation from across the community this week including directors, academics and business leaders both privately and on social media platforms such as ASA CEO Judith Fox and CEO of the Australian Livestock Exporters' Council Simon Westaway.
"A credit to Rear Window team and the editorial team for being prepared to play the long game to obtain legitimate answers to very legitimate questions over governance at one of Australia's largest industry groups," he wrote.
In an interview on the ABC on Thursday, Mr Malley could not explain how CPA Australia could claim a 45,000 increase in members to 160,000 when CPA documents show the level was 144,000 four years ago.
"I just want to pick you up on that because after all you are an accountant," ABC presenter Elysse Morgan asked.
"We stand by our figures, they're out, recorded, they're public," Mr Malley replied.
Earlier, Mr Malley appeared on New-Zealand based radio soundcloud NBR and claimed that the negative publicity was the result of a few rogue members, a campaign by The Australian Financial Review and a case of tall poppy syndrome.
"That's what happens in life when you're successful, particularly in Australia. I think the New Zealanders are much better at dealing with successful stories," he said.
