The Competitive Edge

Energy partner Jamie Guthrie and Competition partner Geoff Petersen give us some good news on the energy transition, along with the challenges that lie ahead -- what the governments and energy networks are doing, the impact of data centres, how to finance it all, and a quasi-carbon tax. Plus merger reform reform gets closer, serial acquisitions in pets and vets, carmakers pull a fast one and the ACCC is furious, and FIFA finds out … All this and Marty McFly with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein.  Links:  Dr Emmett Lathrop Brown PhD on 1.21GW  The long-awaited Treasury Laws Amendment (Strengthening Accountability for Tax Adviser Misconduct and Other Measures) Bill 2026  More French leave in the Phase 2 Adelaide Hills vet merger, and the Microstar/Konvoy beer keg merger is 86ed  The Furious 7 skydriving scene and the ACCC's case against Subaru  The Hood's many defeats on The Thunderbirds  The Nelson Review, aka the National Electricity Market wholesale market settings review RES Group's 1.21GW  Meet the Gilbert + Tobin Competition, Consumer + Market Regulation team  Email us at [email protected]   Shai-Hulud  Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

That's a RAP: First Nations leaders Rachel Perkins, Fiona Jose and Shane Phillips join us at the Sydney launch of G+T's new Stretch Reconciliation Action Plan. What's a RAP, what's a Stretch RAP, what's our RAP, and what's the competition and consumer connection? Plus optimism and pessimism, model Ts and AI at the ACCC/AER Regulatory Conference, the Golden Globes lodge the Penske File, and the plan to wrap the Opera House. All this and more with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein.  Links:    Things that Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapped or wanted to wrap  Jayde Richmond from the National Anti-Scam Centre at the Bannerman Competition Lecture  AER's final decision on the Basslink conversion  Marinus Link and Marinus Dijkhuizen   G+T on the new mandatory standards for large-scale data centres and the Office of AI  Bono at the 2003 Golden Globes (NSFW)   Meet the Gilbert + Tobin Competition, Consumer + Market Regulation team  Email us at [email protected]   Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Partner Elizabeth Avery gives us a world tour of new directions in competition law, theories of harm and merger review both here and overseas, and lessons from our role in the Paramount / Warner Bros merger. Plus news you can use on all the Phase 2s, declarations and exemptions in exceptional circumstances, scambling and other portmanteaux, and how to watch — and how definitely not to watch — The Odyssey …  All this and — — — with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein.  Links:  Twenty Twenty Six on the BBC and the ABC   How Perez Prado's Mambo No. 5 became that other one  Coles's applications to the Competition Tribunal and the Federal Court  L1 Dominette 01449's genome  The Government's "exceptional circumstances" bill and the ACCC's class exemption  The National Anti-Scam Centre's "scambling" taskforce and NSW's "betiquette" spot  The Washington Post on all the ways you can watch The Odyssey  Or you could read it!  Meet the Gilbert + Tobin Competition, Consumer + Market Regulation team  Email us at [email protected]    Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Partner Tanya Macdonald and Special Counsel Haidee Leung join us to talk about the first year of the new merger regime -- half-voluntary, half-mandatory -- how it started, how it's going, what's changed and the changes to come. Plus exceptional circumstances call for exceptional measures, the ACCC whacks Miyagi and probes Prime for unfair contract terms, and new rules target supermarket price-gouging … All this and the Anzac Act with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein. Links:  The Thursday Murder Club on Netflix  Is the Strait of Hormuz open? or Is the Strait of Hormuz closed?  G+T on the ACCC's new powers to act in exceptional circumstances  The ACCC's court action against Miyagi and Amazon for unfair contract terms  ACCC media release, guidelines and the industry code on supermarket excessive pricing  The ACCC's latest merger FAQs  G+T on the latest changes to the merger control regime  SBS on Anzac cookies and biscuits  "Wogball: Australia's Beautiful Game" on SBS  Meet the Gilbert + Tobin Competition, Consumer + Market Regulation team  Email us at [email protected]   Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Andrew Leigh, Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury joins us to talk about AI, the revitalised National Competition Policy, non-competes and unfair trading practices, and competition on the field and in the economy. Plus, marathons and ultramarathons, the ParaSkyWarBroDisco merger, the 'Australia Plus' UK social media ban, and the ACCC takes Grill'd to court for greenwashing … All this, and Ewar Woowar, with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein.     Links:  Richard Bachman at Lilja's Library  Randy Bachman on pronouncing Bachman-Turner Overdrive  Ultraman: Rising on Netflix and "Ultraman Teo" coming soon.   The UK Government announces its "Australia-plus" social media ban  Shakespeare's "Sonnet VI"  ACCC's case against Grill'd press release, concise statement and court file  AEC profile of the electoral division of Fenner  Dr Andrew Leigh's speech on competition policy for AI agents  Anna Goldworthy's "The God We Made: The Threat and Promise of Artificial Intelligence", Quarterly Essay 102   Edward Woodward obituary with unexpected Judi Dench  Meet the Gilbert + Tobin Competition, Consumer + Market Regulation team  Email us at [email protected]   Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Professor Julian Wright from the National University of Singapore joins us to talk about competition and regulation up and down the AI stack -- from the chips to the chatbots and everything in between. Is it winner-takes-all or winner-takes most? Will the digital platforms displace the new labs? And do we need more regulation or less? Plus a competition conference is compliantly considered, Ampol/EG Australia is the first Phase 2 merger approved by the ACCC, the new-look unfair trading practices bill reaches parliament, and AI essays and encyclicals abound … All this and cinematic polycephaly with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein.    Links:   Michael B Jordan on playing identical twins Smoke and Stack in Sinners  Three-eyed animals in Train Dreams and The Secret Agent  ACCC approves Ampol's acquisition of EG Australia in first finalised Phase 2  Track the Competition and Consumer Amendment (Unfair Trading Practices) Bill 2026  Damien Charlotin's AI Hallucination Cases Database  Justice Needham, "AI and the Courts in 2025"  Pope Leo XIV's Encyclical Letter, "Magnifica Humanitas"  Prof Julian Wright, "Artificial Intelligence and Competition Policy" at ScienceDirect  Anna Goldsworthy's Quarterly Essay, "The God We Made: The Threat and Promise of Artificial Intelligence"  The Competitive Edge's cryptic crosswords, conspicuously inspired by Justice Wigney  Meet the Gilbert + Tobin Competition, Consumer + Market Regulation team  Email us at [email protected]   Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Lilla Csorgo, lay member of the High Court of New Zealand, joins us to talk about being Chief Economist in three different countries, approaches to ex ante regulation and merger control, being approximately correct vs precisely wrong, and whether fiction and economics have anything in common. Plus, the ACCC wins against Coles in its “was/now/had been” pricing case, the courts have thoughts on NSW Ports, competition and consumer initiatives in the federal budget, and competition and consumer concerns at the FIFA World Cup … All this and e-micromobility with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein.     Links:    Henry Ergas, "TSLRIC, TELRIC and Other Forms of Forward-Looking Cost Models in Telecommunications: A Curmudgeon's Guide" at SSRN  Softwar by Thierry Breton and Denis Beneich at The Internet Archive  Prose and plays by Dr Lilla Csorgo   ACCC v Coles [2026] FCA 598   Mayfield v NSW Ports [2026] HCA 21 Summary and Judgment  "Why Susie sells seashells by the seashore: Implicit egotism and major life decisions", Journey of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(4) 469-487  Why all fire trucks are called Dennis  Discover your Hogwarts House at Hatty Potter Wizarding World  Julien Guyon, "Risk of Collusion: Will Groups of 3 Ruin the FIFA World Cup?"  The Disgrace of Gijon on YouTube  Meet the Gilbert + Tobin Competition, Consumer + Market Regulation team  Email us at [email protected]   Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ACCC Commissioner Luke Woodward delivered this year's Bannerman Competition Lecture (jointly hosted by the Business Law Section of the LCA and the ACCC), tracking the development of trade practices and competition law in Australia, the enduring influence of its first Commissioner and Chair and the challenges that lie ahead. Plus Woolworths and was/now pricing, Apple and app store access, and Mastercard and merchant routing in the courts; the future of cash revisited; and another Phase 2 review, this time for IAG and the RAC … All this and Bananaman with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein. Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.