The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Business Law section of the Law Council of Australia will host the annual Bannerman Competition Lecture in Melbourne this evening.
Dr Philip Williams AM, Head of Legal and Competition Practice at Frontier Economics Australia, will deliver the lecture titled 'QCMA: 40 years on'.
The event, now in its second year, will also include comments in memory of Ron Bannerman delivered by Professor Maureen Brunt AO.
“The lecture is a fitting tribute to Ron Bannerman’s enormous contribution to the promotion and acceptance of competition law in Australia,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.
Ron Bannerman was the first and only Commissioner of Trade Practices being first appointed to that role in 1966. He was then appointed Chairman of the Trade Practices Commission, a forerunner to the ACCC, on its establishment in 1974.
“The lecture provides an annual forum for eminent competition practitioners to deliver new ideas and perspectives, which the community can debate.”
“This year, we are privileged to hear from two economists who have made invaluable contributions to Australia’s competition law and policy over several decades,” Mr Sims said.
Dr Williams will reflect on the Queensland Co-Op Milling Association Limited and Defiance Holdings Limited (QCMA) matter, which the Trade Practices Tribunal ruled on in 1976.
The landmark determination, which Professor Brunt contributed to as a Tribunal member, determined a methodology for analysing competition issues which was adopted by the Federal and High Courts and is still influential today.
Dr Williams will publish his speech on the Frontier Economics website in due course.