This Month
- Opinion
- Federal budget
GST and gas show a government that’s still out of tune
A huge GST handout to WA and a report that gives a free pass to the state’s gas industry show how far parochial toadying in the west will go.
- Laura Tingle
Stokes’ anti-AFR price rise could breach competition law: Samuel
Billionaire Kerry Stokes has faced political criticism – and calls for an ACCC investigation – for forcing The Australian Financial Review print edition out of his home state of WA.
- Sam Buckingham-Jones, Tom McIlroy and Tom Rabe
- Opinion
- Retail
Half-priced detergent every few weeks? Shoppers can smell a rat
Deep food and grocery discounts have become increasingly popular with consumers, but the cost is unfairly borne by suppliers, prompting calls for change.
- Updated
- Sue Mitchell
- Opinion
- Competition
Consulting firm fixes are impractical and an overreach
More importantly, they are not necessary to correct a deficiency in the regulation of delinquent behaviour, says the former ACCC chairman.
- Graeme Samuel
Calls for power to break up Coles and Woolies split inquiry
The ACCC should get new legal powers to prosecute supermarkets found to be engaging in price gouging, a parliamentary inquiry has recommended.
- Tom McIlroy and Carrie LaFrenz
Vanessa Hudson’s ACCC settlement is six months too late
Vanessa Hudson could have made settling the ACCC case a hallmark of her regime. Nine months after her elevation, it’s a little late for that.
- Myriam Robin
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Why didn’t ACCC litigate Qantas?
Is what might be seen as regulatory brand ransom to force companies to admit to lesser charges and avoid the need to litigate, the way the watchdog should seek to uphold Australia’s consumer protection and competition law?
- The AFR View
- Opinion
- Aviation
Qantas’ Hudson takes the chance to shed some Joyce baggage
Vanessa Hudson has finally accepted reality by making a deal with the competition watchdog over ghost flights.
- Jennifer Hewett
- Updated
- Aviation
Qantas pays $120m to settle ghost flights case
Customers on cancelled flights will receive up to $450 in compensation after the airline admitted it misled travellers and agreed to pay $120 million to settle.
- Updated
- Ayesha de Kretser and Lucas Baird
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Admitting Qantas’ ‘ghost flight’ misconduct is a win for Hudson
Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson has taken the pragmatic approach of fessing up to the ACCC and ending the so-called ‘ghost flights’ case. It’s another step in her rebuild.
- James Thomson
April
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
How Chemist Warehouse can get its deal past the ACCC
Divestments may be needed to get the Chemist Warehouse/Sigma deal over the line, but they don’t look too strenuous.
- Updated
- Anthony Macdonald
Woolies cuts prices in bid to catch Coles’ growth
A JPMorgan survey of private label products shows the supermarket giants are competing more aggressively on price, closing the gap with discount retailer Aldi.
- Carrie LaFrenz
Companies at risk of ‘state-sponsored greenwashing’, Senate told
The ACCC has not yet signed off on the government’s Climate Active carbon neutrality certification even though more than 500 companies already use it.
- Hannah Wootton
Forced supermarket break-ups ‘a dopey idea’
Former Productivity Commission chairman Peter Harris questions legality of such an arrangement, citing the clause in the Constitution that saved The Castle’s Darryl Kerrigan.
- Ronald Mizen
- Analysis
- Competition
Five practical ways to turbocharge competition
Former productivity commission chairman Peter Harris suggests that supermarkets, banks and qualifications are some of the areas to focus on.
- Ronald Mizen
- Opinion
- Regulation
Regional banks dying a slow death
The country’s smaller banks have a bleak future due to higher cost of funds, excessive capital requirements, costly technology upgrades and lack of scale. But will regulators do anything about it?
- Tony Boyd
- Opinion
- Company mergers
Wrong to shield merger regulators from the scrutiny of the courts
Under the proposed merger laws the only recourse will be to the ACT. That’s worrying when you look at the history of head-scratching decisions by the ACCC.
- Zaven Mardirossian and Gabriel Sakkal
The merger that is paying competition dividends
The new deal laws out this week suggest that bringing Gina Cass-Gottlieb into the ACCC led to a poacher-turned-gamekeeper story for the ages.
- Ronald Mizen
- Opinion
- Supermarkets
Emerson review has no evidence to support mandatory supermarket code
Amazon and Bunnings aren’t covered because consumers love them. That shows it is all about political cover to bash Coles and Woolworths for inflation.
- Robert Hadler
Merger reforms ‘will stymie big tech buying up start-ups’
Citing Facebook parent Meta’s purchase of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014, Gina Cass-Gottlieb said it was important the ACCC was able to think broadly about merger effects.
- Ronald Mizen and Hannah Wootton
