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Telstra helped scupper new competition laws: report

'Big end of town' breathes sigh of relief

A change to competition laws that would have given small businesses a lever against the big end of town has been scuppered, with Australia's largest carrier among the successful lobbyists.

The Harper Review had recommended a small-but-significant change to how the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission tests the use of market power under Section 46 of the Competition and Consumer Act.

At the moment, it can only block or punish an action if it were taken for the “purpose” of reducing competition. That's hard to prove, since it means the ACCC has to demonstrate that someone planned to use their market power to reduce competition.

The review said this should be changed to an “effects test” – in other words, that the ACCC need only demonstrate that a company's actions had the effect of reducing competition.

The effects test was brought to cabinet yesterday (September 1) by Bruce Billson, the minister for small business, and was deferred, with several outlets saying that the delay was intended to avoid a split in cabinet.

Telstra's public submission to the Harper review argued against changes to Section 46 of the act, and The Guardian in Australia reports that the carrier, along with other big names such as Qantas, continued lobbying against the change. ®

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