Hello and welcome to another MLEX podcast. I'm Laurel Henning, senior correspondent at Emlex. And joining me for today's podcast is Australasian managing editor James Panicki. Hi James.

Hello Laurel. Country care. It's a company our listeners outside of Australia might not be

very familiar with and on paper that seems fair enough. A rehabilitation service provider or a provider

of mobility aids and assistive technologies.

The company is based in a rural town called Mildura in Australia's southeastern state of

Victoria, but this little company is involved in a landmark Australian court case.

James, as the proceedings make their way to federal court, which may well be in my neck of the

woods in Sydney, tell us why the allegations

against country care are so groundbreaking. Okay, look, they're groundbreaking because this is

the first time that Australia's 2009 criminal cartel laws have really been put to the test.

Now, there have been two successful prosecutions so far under this legislation. Both of those

involved Japanese shipping companies and the prosecution was part of a global cartel. So it was all

very far removed from the Australian context. The country care case involves charges against,

firstly against an Australian company, which is definitely a first, and it case involves charges against, firstly against an Australian company,

which is definitely a first, and it also involves charges against two people.

Now, criminal cartel charges against individuals haven't occurred before in Australia,

so that's another first.

So this prosecution is important.

It's also unfolding as another two criminal cartel prosecutions have been announced, with possibly three more to be announced over the coming year.

So, I mean, you're right, absolutely right to point out that this case is relatively small in terms of the money and the industry involved.

But it is significant because lawyers

on much larger cases coming up are getting their first taste of how the prosecution will be

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