January
Prudential watchdog must release secret Cbus review: advice
New advice from the clerk of the Senate argues APRA has no grounds to keep the critical review secret from parliament.
- Lucas Baird
December 2024
How Cbus’ big party year went horribly wrong
It’s not the biggest or the worst performing of the super funds. So why has Cbus become the poster child for the $4 trillion sector’s problems?
- Hannah Wootton
September 2024
Woolworths and Coles could be ‘innocent’: Samuel
Graeme Samuel says the higher prices charged by the two major supermarkets could have been caused by suppliers, as the ACCC found the retailers have increased their earnings and operating margins over the past five years.
- Carrie LaFrenz and Tom McIlroy
August 2024
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Time for lateral thinking on boards
Representation of pensioner members on super fund boards is an eye-catching idea. What if similar lateral thinking was applied to the future of corporate boards too?
- The AFR View
Former ACCC tsar Samuel pushes Cbus for more independent directors
Graeme Samuel recommended Cbus get more independent directors after a 2015 review, but he says the fund has scarcely acted.
- Hannah Wootton
July 2024
- Opinion
- Australian economy
Economic logic always trumps junk politics
Brexit, MAGA trade policies, and the Coalition’s nuclear power push will fail because they make no economic sense.
- Craig Emerson
‘Not the Coalition I used to support’: Samuel savages Dutton’s break-up plan
Former competition regulator Graeme Samuel and senior Liberal Kate Carnell have savaged Peter Dutton’s plan to break up supermarket giants, warning it could push up grocery prices.
- Tom McIlroy
May 2024
Human Rights Commission’s ‘silence deafening’ on antisemitism
Former regulator Graeme Samuel has taken aim at the Human Rights Commission for it’s ‘deafening silence’ on the rise of antisemitism.
- Patrick Durkin and Andrew Tillett
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
- 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
Let ASIC police big four conflicts: Samuel
Former ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel says the big four’s governance changes looked good on paper, but would not fundamentally change the culture of the firms.
- Maxim Shanahan and Ronald Mizen
April 2024
‘Take a chill pill’: Graeme Samuel urges calm on environment law delay
Former competition tsar Graeme Samuel has urged conservation groups to “take a chill pill”, and for miners to stop talking “rubbish” on plans to overhaul federal environment laws.
- Updated
- Phillip Coorey
March 2024
- Opinion
- Mining
Why miners are alarmed by Labor’s ‘nature-positive’ agenda
Miners worry proposed laws will not produce the environmental benefits suggested and will only delay good, environmentally focused projects.
- Jennifer Hewett
‘We’ve gone soft’: Labor old guard backs Keating
Chairman Tony Shepherd has backed Paul Keating’s sentiment that “we have gone soft” but billionaire Gerry Harvey says Keating is living in the past.
- Patrick Durkin
February 2024
ASIC polices only a ‘sliver’ of big four firm activities
The frank description of ASIC’s limited powers comes as outgoing Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan recommends the big four partnerships be brought under federal corporate laws.
- Edmund Tadros
January 2024
Grocery review won’t lower checkout prices: former ACCC chiefs
Former ACCC chiefs Graeme Samuel and Rod Sims say the review is unlikely to reduce people’s grocery bills.
- Sam Buckingham-Jones
- Opinion
- Renewables
Wetland or ocean wind farm? The choice is easy this time
There’s little chance of Victoria ever building its offshore turbines. But this week’s veto of the state’s plans contained an important precedent on the use of net zero in the environment legislation.
- Matthew Warren
Why Australia’s airports and airlines hate each other
“Everyone knows that monopolies are not good for consumers” says airlines group boss Graeme Samuels. “Spare me!” says former airports reformer Peter Harris.
- Updated
- Jacob Greber
December 2023
Warning for consultants: PwC fallout is not over yet
Senator Deborah O’Neill, who helped expose the full extent of the PwC tax leaks scandal, says the industry will continue to be under scrutiny in 2024.
- Updated
- Edmund Tadros
Samuel’s big four fix: ban firms consulting to audit clients
Former competition watchdog Graeme Samuel also said ASIC should resume naming and shaming firms with poor audit quality.
- Edmund Tadros