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]  

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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]  

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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]  

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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]  

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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. 

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G+T Partner Geoff Petersen unpacks the regulatory response to the fuel shocks that are raising prices and causing shortages around the world, including security of energy supply and infrastructure, new demand from electric vehicles and data centres, and questions about fuel price gouging and domestic gas reservation.. Plus, the first quarter of the new merger regime and another round for the MicroStar/Konvoy acquisition, our new Solicitor-General of Australia, and the Wiggles deliver their product safety podcast … All this and a muse of fire with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein.    

Links:   

• Derek Jacobi's "Wooden O" speech from Kenneth Branagh's Henry V  
• Dire Straits, "Heavy Fuel" 
• What was the googlewhack? 
• ACCC, "New merger regime off to a positive start" 
• MicroStar/Konvoy on the new acquisitions register and the old public informal review register 
• Attorney-General recommends Solicitor-General to Governor-General 
• The Wiggles' podcast on button battery and toy safety 
• The ACCC's weekly fuel price monitoring report  
• G+T on the new maximum penalties for competition and consumer contraventions 
• Meet the Gilbert + Tobin Competition, Consumer + Market Regulation team 
• Email us at [email protected]  

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Legend emeritus Peter Waters and Partner Andrew Low take us through the rise and the risks of agentic AI in commerce and beyond: how AI agents can organise our holidays and even our lives, why we might or might not want them to, and how they interface with contract, competition and consumer protection law. Plus, Australia's highest individual competition law penalty in the Qteq case, and the US war against Iran brings concerns over fuel supply and pricing as well as limits on AI. All this and Maxwell Smart with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein.    Links:   

• The ACCC's fuel price monitoring updates 
• Treasury Laws Amendment (Doubling Penalties for ACCC Enforcement) Bill 2026 
• One of the David Byrnes talks to the ABC about petrol prices 
• The other one sings "(Nothing but) Flowers" 
• Anthropic on its dispute with the Department of War and its preliminary reprieve (for now) 
• Meet the Gilbert + Tobin Competition, Consumer + Market Regulation team 
• Email us at [email protected]  

Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/

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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 [email protected]  

Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/

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Partner Liana Witt and lawyer David Holmes take us through the Australian government's plan to prohibit unfair trading practices -- with all the low-down on subscription traps and drip pricing, the tests and the penalties, and how businesses can prepare for the new rules. Plus, the ACCC's compliance and enforcement priorities for 2026-27, what's going down down down at the Coles pricing hearing, and even more changes to the US antitrust landscape … All this and Buffalo buffalo with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein.   

Links:   

• The Garden Palace Fire of 1882 
• G+T on the ACCC's compliance and enforcement priorities for 2026-17 
• Lian and David on the government's unfair trading practices proposal 
• Buffalo buffalo and had had had had 
• New York Times on Gail Slater's departure from the Antitrust Division 
• What is a possession arrow in basketball or merger review? 
• We're All Going to the World's Fair trailer 
• Meet the Gilbert + Tobin Competition, Consumer + Market Regulation team 
• Email us at [email protected]  

Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/

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Special Counsel Amelia McKellar joins us to explore merger control and microchips, industry policy and involution in the world's second-largest economy. Plus, all the news on the new and now mandatory Australian merger framework, G+T's new tool to navigate all those thresholds and forms, the proposed prohibition on unfair trading practices planned for 2027, and a whistleblower bounty in the US … All this and the accidental sad horse with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein.        

 Links:   

• ABC on Australia's Central Western Standard Time Zone (UTC+08:45)  
• The Criterion Collection on the Once Upon a Time in China series  
• The consolidated Notifications Determination and the Forms Determination  
• G+T on the merger changes that came into effect in January 2026 
• Our new merger assessment obligation tool: MerTL 
• Possibly the best book written on the subject of turtle stacking 
• US Antitrust Division and US Postal Service pay $1m whistleblower bounty 
• Check out our episode on whistleblowers with Kieran Pender from last September 
• No-one's far from anyone anymore with the OTC in 1990 
• The Guardian on the accidental sad/crying horse 
• 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.