Melbourne businessman and National Competition Council chief Graeme Samuel will probably take over as ACCC Chairman in mid-2004, and already comparisons are being drawn with present chairman Allan Fels.

Mr Samuel, a Melbourne lawyer, business consultant and AFL commissioner, has been appointed deputy to Professor Fels by Federal Treasurer Peter Costello. His ascension to the chairmanship after Professor Fels retires in mid-2004 is seen as a virtual certainty.

The fact that Mr Samuel has no consumer-based experience seems to indicate that the Government has opted for a complete switch of personalities at the helm of the competition and consumer regulator. Most pundits say he is unlikely to take the same hardline attitude towards business that Professor Fels has.

But Professor Fels, who has wholeheartedly endorsed Mr Samuel as his successor, says sections of the business community are “naïve” to think they will come under less scrutiny once he retires. Business leaders – none from the financial services sector – have questioned Mr Samuel’s ability to understand the complexities of business.

Don’t expect any change at all for a while.