The Competitive Edge

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]  

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

How to Host a Merger: In our special Antipodean summer edition, head of Competition Elizabeth Avery and co-head of Corporate Advisory and M&A, Costas Condoleon, share their experiences with Australia’s new merger regime so far, with a focus on multijurisdictional mergers, foreign investment, and global counsel. Notification thresholds, forms and fees, engaging with the competition and foreign investment regulators, information requirements and timeframes, conditions precedent and how to avoid gun-jumping … all this and board games with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein of #TheCompetitiveEdge #podcast #competitionlaw

Links: 

• How to host a How to Host a Murder, original and reboot
• Our new merger review portal, Australia’s new merger regime: what you need to know
• All about drop bears, hoop snakes and fishing spiders
• Try our new competition-law-themed cryptic crossword and all our other ones
• 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.

Partners Simon Muys and Tanya Macdonald join us to ring in Australia’s new merger clearance regime – what's settled, what's still up in the air and how our clients are navigating the new world in the third but not necessarily final instalment of our webinar series. This episode may qualify for 1 CPD point depending on your jurisdiction. Plus Skarsgårds and Sarsgaards, trilogies of four or more, and our new MergerHub … All this and nothing more with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein.  

• Check out our new hub on Australia's new merger regime: what you need to know 
• Watch a video of the webinar 
• Assistant Minister Andrew Leigh's announcement of refinements to the regime 
• Skarsgårds in Murderbot on Apple TV, It: Welcome to Derry on HBO Max and Andor on Disney+ 
• Desert wildflowers in Broken Hill 
• The Matrix filming locations in Sydney 
• Try our new competition-law-themed cryptic crossword and all our other ones 
• 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 Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb delivers a keynote at our recent forum on the new merger framework that's just around the riverbend: why the change, how to engage with the ACCC, and what's still up in the air. Plus the Chatham chat on fees, thresholds and first-instance decision-making, an agreement on unfair trading practices, the FTC loses its case against Meta, and former chair Lina Khan's new gig in New York … All this and movie posters with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein of #TheCompetitiveEdge #podcast #competitionlaw #rrrjrrr

Links:

• The complete The Rural Juror on 30 Rock
• Heraclitus/Pocahontas on social media market definitions (sing-along)
• FTC v Meta memorandum opinion
• Treasury Ministers announcement on unfair trading practices
• The Guardian on Lina Khan's new gig
• John McWhorter on mispronouncing Mamdani
• Drew Struzan and Richard Amsel movie posters
• Our new competition-law-themed cryptic crossword and all our other ones

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

DPSI 10 Your Seatbelts: Kate Reader, head of the ACCC's Digital Markets Branch and G+T alum, returns to unpack the landmark Digital Platform Services Inquiry, developments in Australia and overseas and greatly exaggerated rumours about the ACCC's digital team. Plus the newest conference on the competition mafia or knitting circle's calendar, the new acquisitions register hits its stride, and a hot potato for the Wiggles … All this and merger jokes with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein.  [Links]  

• ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb's speech at the Australian Competition Summit 
• Julian Wright and Andrei Hagiu on Artificial Intelligence and Competition Policy 
• The entire Digital Platform Services Inquiry 2020-25 
• Australia's lunar rover Roo-ver 
• The Wiggles on button batteries and electricity more generally 
• 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.

The new Scams Prevention Framework will kick in next year with codes of conduct and big penalties for failing to take reasonable steps to combat scams. Competition partner Jeremy Jose and Disputes and Investigations partner Antonia Garling take us through the impact on the telecommunications, digital platform and banking sectors and what this will mean for business and consumers. Plus more tweaks to the new merger process; a green light for Cuscal/Indue but last drinks for MicroStar/Konvoy in the twilight of the old regime, or mergerdämmerung; and a new prohibition on excessive pricing. All this and our upcoming forum on the new merger system with co-hosts Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein.  

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.