Consumer watchdog proposes merger law overhaul to protect Aussie consumers

In a bid to protect Australians, the consumer watchdog wants to overhaul the way companies conduct themselves.

The head of Australia’s competition watchdog has pitched a major overhaul to merger laws, after years of concerns the current regime may not be fit for purpose.

Australian Consumer and Consumption Commission chairwoman Gina Cass-Gottlieb used a speech at the National Press Club on Wednesday to officially launch the case first put forward by her predecessor Rod Simms.

Under her proposal, companies wanting to merge with another would need approval from the ACCC, to prevent firms from dominating markets without competitive pressures, which would keep consumers’ costs down.

Under the current regime, mergers can be blocked if they are likely to result in a substantial loss of competition, but the companies don’t need to advise the ACCC.

Instead, as it stands, the ACCC must apply to the Federal Court to have the merger unwound if the watchdog considers it to be anticompetitive.

In almost all cases, the ACCC has lost its bid.

ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb addressed the National Press Club on Wednesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Ms Cass-Gottlieb’s proposal would require merger parties to get the ACCC on-board before they can go through with any deal.

“We are finding that businesses are pushing the boundaries of the informal regime,” she said.

“Given that there are no upfront information requirements for an informal review, merger parties are increasingly giving us late, incomplete or incorrect information.”

She said the watchdog wanted “better process and legal framework” which would satisfy it and the broader community.

“We have provided a paper to Treasury, so we are commencing a process, but it will be for the government to take forward, and I do not have any indication as to what the Treasurer’s view is,” she said.

On anti-competitiveness, Ms Cass-Gottlieb said the ACCC was also concerned with the capacity for competition within Australian airlines.

The ACCC’s airline monitoring reports are due to end in June, and won’t be continued.

“It is a particularly important time to watch competition in airlines, because we have Bonza – a new entrant – which is introducing more choice on routes that have actually not been run before between regional areas direct to holiday destinations, not through major cities,” she said.

“And we have seen in the past problems about anti-competitive conduct.

“We are very concerned about slots at Sydney Airport and therefore the capacity for new competition.

“So we are concerned about competition.

“We will watch for anti-competitive conduct carefully, and we also will watch for misleading and deceptive and unconscionable conduct in relation to consumers.”