On 11 June 2009, the Australian Conservation Foundation submitted a complaint to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, alleging that six Australian companies had breached the misleading and deceptive conduct provisions of the Trade Practices Act.

This complaint is a timely reminder that companies need to exercise extra caution with regards to what they tell their shareholders on the one hand, and what they plead to the Government on the other.

The Australian Conservation Foundation complaint lists 14 instances where Boral, BlueScope Steel, Caltex Australia, Rio Tinto, Woodside Petroleum and Xstrata are alleged to have displayed a clear disjuncture between statements regarding the Government’s proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme and its effect upon the operations, profitability and workforce, as opposed to the public statements the companies have made to shareholders and investors in relation to their operations and profitability.

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