The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission believes it has at all times acted lawfully and properly in investigating allegations of unlawful petrol price-fixing by oil companies, ACCC Chairman, Professor Allan Fels, said today.
"Caltex is not cooperating with the ACCC on a significant line of inquiry as part of its investigation to determine whether or not there has been a breach of the Trade Practices Act 1974.
"It will be up to the court to determine if the objections have any basis.
"For its part, the ACCC considers it is well within its rights in seeking this particular information and has independent advice from senior counsel that this is so.
"Caltex has brought up an incident from the past in its media release. The fact is that the ACCC had information that required it, in its view, to look at computers that a Caltex employee used at home.
"In the course of this aspect of the ACCC investigation, the ACCC did not speak to the employee. Contrary to reported assertions by the CEO of Caltex, Mr Jeet Bindra, in today's Australian Financial Review the ACCC did not visit the home of the employee concerned. The employee was represented by a solicitor. The ACCC did speak briefly with the employee's partner.
"Following a request from the solicitor, the ACCC agreed to pay the employee's legal costs and the computers were brought to the solicitor's offices where they were reviewed. It was concluded that there was no evidence obtained from the computers and the ACCC apologised for any distress to the employee. The ACCC provided confidentiality undertakings to the solicitor concerned, properly protecting the employee's privacy.
"However, the ACCC is firmly of the view that the inquiry was necessary, justified and in the public interest and conducted properly. The ACCC considers the public would be entitled to be concerned if it did not investigate properly certain information it had.
"Similar information to that sought by the ACCC from Caltex has been provided voluntarily from another company that has been subject to the investigation. This company has cooperated and provided this information.
"ACCC staff met with the General Counsel for Caltex in August and requested Caltex to supply voluntarily the information being sought. In a series of letters Caltex declined to provide this information even though the ACCC through its lawyers was prepared to undertake all steps within its power to keep information relating to Caltex employees confidential.
"The ACCC, through its lawyers, has already indicated to Caltex that the information sought may assist to show evidence of communications between employees and officers of Caltex and employees and officers of other companies, being competitors of Caltex.
"The case is expected to take several months".