Speech by ACCC chair, Graeme Samuel, to the International Competition Enforcement Conference, Tokyo.

Cartel activity will not be deterred if the potential penalties are perceived by firms and their executives to be outweighed by the potential rewards. Under Australia's existing penalty regime, there was a real danger that, at least for some of the bigger international cartels, the penalties were simply not a deterrent. Imprisonment has no such qualifications - it is a penalty for which no company or shareholder can be forced to pick up the cost.

Released 21 April 2005