The Harper Review provides an ideal opportunity to reinvigorate Australia’s competition culture, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Chairman Rod Sims said today (Monday) at the CEDA State of the Nation Conference in Canberra.
“Australia has lost a lot of its pro-competition culture that it gained from the 1990s National Competition Policy. Clearly we need ‘Hilmer Mark 2’, as the current Harper Review is styled,”
Mr Sims said.
Addressing the CEDA State of the Nation Conference in Canberra, Rod Sims says the Harper Review provides an ideal opportunity to reinvigorate Australia’s competition culture.
Mr Sims explains that effective competition policy depends on using competition and other incentives to boost productivity, effective competition laws and creating processes and institutions that continually foster competition.
Competition issues have featured prominently in the rapidly changing aviation sector, ACCC Commissioner Dr Jill Walker said today at the Swinburne Aviation Industry Conference in Melbourne.
“The competitive landscape in the airline market has been characterised by rapid expansion and transformation,” Dr Walker said.
“Recent features of the Australian market include changes in airline structures and increased competition on international routes from mid-point carriers.”
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has instituted proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia against Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd and Grocery Holdings Pty Ltd (together, Coles) alleging that Coles engaged in unconscionable conduct in relation to its Active Retail Collaboration (ARC) program, in contravention of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).
The Federal Court in Brisbane has made declarations in the ACCC v Cement Australia Pty Ltd & Ors matter, finding numerous contraventions of section 45 of the then Trade Practices Act 1974, now the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (the Act).
Section 45 of the Act prohibits corporations from entering into, and giving effect to, contracts and arrangements that have the purpose or effect of substantially lessening competition.
Chairman, Rod Sims, announces the ACCC's priorities for 2014. Issues discussed include drip pricing, disruption of scams, "discounts off what?" in the energy and telco sectors, emerging consumer issues in the online marketplace, and credence claims.
Where businesses are concerned that their proposed conduct may give rise to a breach of the competition provisions of the Act, they can seek authorisation from the ACCC. If the ACCC is satisfied that the relevant legal test is met and grants authorisation, this removes the risk of legal action under the competition provisions.
In a keynote address to the VFF Annual Conference in Melbourne, Enforcement and Compliance, Executive General Manager, Marcus Bezzi discusses the ACCC's investigation into major supermarkets. Mr Bezzi also explains how the ACCC sets priorities and outlines recent activities of interest to the farm sector.