The Competitive Edge

Xmas in February: Partner Louise Klamka takes us behind the scenes of the ACCC's compliance and enforcement priorities and what we can expect in the coming year -- a wake-up call for business and advisers, changes to the law and the three-body problem of competition law, consumer protection and ex ante regulation. Plus Phase 2 mergers join the school of hard NOCCs, Fortnite fans emote as Epic Games and Google settle up, and a slap on the wristband for Live Nation/Ticketmaster? All this and the Brisbane Olympics with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein.   Links:    G+T on the ACCC's compliance and enforcement priorities for 2026-17  Notice of Competition Concerns summaries for Ampol/EG Australia and Coles in Kalgoorlie   All about Spudshed  Pantone 16-1350 TPG Amberglow and 17-1463 TCX Tangerine Tango  The Premier League's statement on Manchester City's 115 charges   Term sheet outlining the settlement between Epic Games and Google  AFL and NRL footy at the Brisbane Olympics?  Meet the Gilbert + Tobin Competition, Consumer + Market Regulation team  Email us at edge@gtlaw.com.au   Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David Holmes, a competition lawyer at Gilbert + Tobin, and Liana Witt, a partner in their competition practice, break down Australia’s proposed unfair trading rules. They cover subscription traps, drip pricing, the general prohibition test, enforcement priorities, penalty risks and practical steps businesses should start taking. Short, focused and full of regulatory detail.

Amelia McKellar, Special Counsel specialising in merger control and antitrust across Asia. She unpacks China’s merger review and industrial policy tug-of-war. Short takes on semiconductor self-sufficiency, SAMR’s call-in powers and China-specific remedies. Lively asides include involution-style competition and the viral accidental sad horse moment.

How to Host a Merger: In our special Antipodean summer edition, head of Competition Elizabeth Avery and co-head of Corporate Advisory and M&A, Costas Condoleon, share their experiences with Australia’s new merger regime so far, with a focus on multijurisdictional mergers, foreign investment, and global counsel. Notification thresholds, forms and fees, engaging with the competition and foreign investment regulators, information requirements and timeframes, conditions precedent and how to avoid gun-jumping … all this and board games with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein of #TheCompetitiveEdge #podcast #competitionlaw Links:  How to host a How to Host a Murder, original and reboot Our new merger review portal, Australia’s new merger regime: what you need to know All about drop bears, hoop snakes and fishing spiders Try our new competition-law-themed cryptic crossword and all our other ones Meet the Gilbert + Tobin Competition, Consumer + Market Regulation team Email us at edge@gtlaw.com.au Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Partners Simon Muys and Tanya Macdonald join us to ring in Australia’s new merger clearance regime – what's settled, what's still up in the air and how our clients are navigating the new world in the third but not necessarily final instalment of our webinar series. This episode may qualify for 1 CPD point depending on your jurisdiction. Plus Skarsgårds and Sarsgaards, trilogies of four or more, and our new MergerHub … All this and nothing more with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein.   Check out our new hub on Australia's new merger regime: what you need to know  Watch a video of the webinar  Assistant Minister Andrew Leigh's announcement of refinements to the regime  Skarsgårds in Murderbot on Apple TV, It: Welcome to Derry on HBO Max and Andor on Disney+  Desert wildflowers in Broken Hill  The Matrix filming locations in Sydney  Try our new competition-law-themed cryptic crossword and all our other ones  Meet the Gilbert + Tobin Competition, Consumer + Market Regulation team  Email us at edge@gtlaw.com.au   Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb delivers a keynote at our recent forum on the new merger framework that's just around the riverbend: why the change, how to engage with the ACCC, and what's still up in the air. Plus the Chatham chat on fees, thresholds and first-instance decision-making, an agreement on unfair trading practices, the FTC loses its case against Meta, and former chair Lina Khan's new gig in New York … All this and movie posters with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein of #TheCompetitiveEdge #podcast #competitionlaw #rrrjrrr Links: The complete The Rural Juror on 30 Rock Heraclitus/Pocahontas on social media market definitions (sing-along) FTC v Meta memorandum opinion Treasury Ministers announcement on unfair trading practices The Guardian on Lina Khan's new gig John McWhorter on mispronouncing Mamdani Drew Struzan and Richard Amsel movie posters Our new competition-law-themed cryptic crossword and all our other ones Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

DPSI 10 Your Seatbelts: Kate Reader, head of the ACCC's Digital Markets Branch and G+T alum, returns to unpack the landmark Digital Platform Services Inquiry, developments in Australia and overseas and greatly exaggerated rumours about the ACCC's digital team. Plus the newest conference on the competition mafia or knitting circle's calendar, the new acquisitions register hits its stride, and a hot potato for the Wiggles … All this and merger jokes with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein.  [Links]   ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb's speech at the Australian Competition Summit  Julian Wright and Andrei Hagiu on Artificial Intelligence and Competition Policy  The entire Digital Platform Services Inquiry 2020-25  Australia's lunar rover Roo-ver  The Wiggles on button batteries and electricity more generally  Meet the Gilbert + Tobin Competition, Consumer + Market Regulation team  Email us at edge@gtlaw.com.au   Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The new Scams Prevention Framework will kick in next year with codes of conduct and big penalties for failing to take reasonable steps to combat scams. Competition partner Jeremy Jose and Disputes and Investigations partner Antonia Garling take us through the impact on the telecommunications, digital platform and banking sectors and what this will mean for business and consumers. Plus more tweaks to the new merger process; a green light for Cuscal/Indue but last drinks for MicroStar/Konvoy in the twilight of the old regime, or mergerdämmerung; and a new prohibition on excessive pricing. All this and our upcoming forum on the new merger system with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein.   Meet the Gilbert + Tobin Competition, Consumer + Market Regulation team  Email us at edge@gtlaw.com.au  Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Moving On Up: Non-compete and no-poach restrictions in employment contracts in the government's sights, and Special Counsels Amelia McKellar and Kaushalya Mataraaratchi explain how long-standing exceptions to the competition law could be put on gardening leave. Plus subscription traps and Amazon's Iliad flow, Taylor Swift and Ticketmaster, Treasury on AI and the ACL, ASIC and ANZ, and a new Commissioner at the ACCC … All this and M People with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein.   Breaking News:   ACCC announces decisions on two of the eight remaining old school mergers on its register, waving through Cuscal's acquisition of payment facilitation supplier Indue Limited but opposing MicroStar Logistics' acquisition of the assets of keg pooling service provider Konvoy Holdings.    Links:   M People with "Moving On Up" and Loleatta Holloway with "Love Sensation" and "Ride on Time"  The Final Countdown on the ACCC's public informal merger clearance register  MN-01019: Ampol's proposed acquisition of retail sites from EG Australia FTC and Amazon settle for $US2.5bn over Prime subscriptions  FTC takes Ticketmaster to court over resales and price and ticket limits  ASIC press release and press conference on ANZ agreed penalties  Treasury's Final Report in its review of AI and the ACL  G+T on Treasury's consultation on non-competes  ABC on the rebel R360 league and eligibility for internationals   Treasury and ACCC announce the new ACCC Commissioner  Meet the Gilbert + Tobin Competition, Consumer + Market Regulation team  Email us at edge@gtlaw.com.au  Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kieran Pender from the Human Rights Law Centre joins us to talk about whistleblowers -- how they're protected, how they engage with regulators, the changes that could be coming, and how businesses can encourage accountability in their own culture and processes. Plus the new merger notification waiver form; firings, re-hirings and re-firings in the US antitrust agencies; Google wins, loses or draws on penalties; the ACCC's purple patch in cartel enforcement and the last informal merger reviews race for the finish line. All this and morels with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein of The Competitive Edge podcast. Breaking News: All three judgments and 750,000 words of the Epic Games and class action cases against Apple and Google are now available: Epic v Apple, Epic v Google and all the class action action. Justice Beach has indicated he may be up for additional reasons or judgments on the non-section 46 issues so we may yet break the million-word mark. Links: G+T's analysis of the draft Waiver Notification form CJ John Roberts stays the Appeal Court's stay of the stay Young MacGyver pilot The District Court's penalty decision in US v Google ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb's address to the Competition and Consumer Workshop New cartel enforcement actions in cranes and cauliflower Commitments and understandings in the Delta and BlueScope appeals Fisk S02E06 - "Snitches get Riches" on ABC iView The last days of chez public informal merger review Meet the Gilbert + Tobin Competition, Consumer + Market Regulation team Email us at edge@gtlaw.com.au Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.