Competition & Consumer Protection

Convenience store chain On The Run has filed proceedings against public relations firm the Civic Partnership, claiming it is liable for misleading or deceptive conduct after an employee allegedly created a campaign aimed to damage the business for an unknown client. 

The federal government has backed suggestions for changes to the Food and Grocery Code that would slap major grocery stores with fines of up to $10 million for violating the code, amid concerns over rising food prices.

The ACCC has raised concerns that Singaporean agricultural giant Olam Agri Holding’s bid to acquire ASX-traded cotton ginner Namoi Cotton could reduce competition and stick cotton farmers with higher prices, one month after flagging similar concerns with Louis Dreyfus’ competing takeover proposal. 

Mexican fast food giant Zambrero has settled misleading and deceptive conduct claims brought against ex-CEO Stuart Cook, who has agreed to refrain from representing that he is “primarily responsible” for the chain’s success. 

The ACCC has flagged competition concerns about drug supplier Sigma Healthcare’s proposed $8.8 billion reverse merger with Chemist Warehouse, saying the tie-up could harm independent pharmacies and lessen competition in pharmacy retail.

The corporate regulator is on a winning streak in its greenwashing cases, with a judge rejecting Active Super’s attempt to qualify its “unequivocal” statements about limiting its investment in companies connected to gambling and coal mining.

Industrial technology company Delta Building Automation has been hit with a $1.5 million penalty after it was found liable for attempting to rig a bid for construction work on the National Gallery of Australia, a penalty five times the sum it asked the court to impose.

The judge overseeing a consumer class action against wealth manager Colonial First State Investments has given the green light to a $100 million settlement, but questioned a $23.1 million cut to funder Augusta under a “strange” funding agreement.

A judge has approved a $25 million settlement in a class action against a group of surgeons who worked for the Cosmetic Institute, including a $8.9 million payout for the lawyers that ran the seven-year-old case, saying the deduction from the settlement was reasonable given the “very significant discount” applied to the legal bill.

Approving a settlement between insurers and group members in an investor class action against lender Axsesstoday, a judge has aired his frustration with expansive confidentiality provisions and deeds that “misapprehend the nature of the court’s role” in dealing with group members’ claims.