Former KPMG director Mike Baird has admitted the accounting giant’s independent directors were initially too trusting of how the firm presented explosive whistleblower claims to the board, and says the company’s response lacked urgency.

The one-time premier of NSW, who served as an independent director at the consulting firm from 2022 until September last year, also criticised KPMG’s controversial use of a legal defence to keep details from a Senate inquiry where he gave evidence on Friday.

Baird was blunt in expressing his unhappiness with how KPMG responded to whistleblower’s complaint, which has thrown the consulting giant into turmoil and led to the resignation of its most senior executives and the loss of business from major clients.

“As you’ll see in my letter, I was also unhappy with the progress on the whistleblower claims, and my request was that, well, pursuing the external investigation had been secured before I resigned, and that was important to me,” Baird told the hearing.

Before he resigned, Baird had been assured by management that there was no substance to claims from a whistleblower that senior KPMG staff had shared data from blue-chip clients including construction giant Lendlease in order to win business.

“Now, were we too trusting in that position? Clearly, we were,” Baird said.

Baird, who is the current chair of Cricket Australia, said he had offered to stay on KPMG’s whistleblower committee “post my resignation, to help, because I felt that what I...

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