Competition & Consumer Protection

The NSW state racing authority has won access to communications between public relations firm Cato & Clive and five other racing bodies, including Racing Victoria, as it weighs a lawsuit alleging they plotted to exclude the body from the Australian horseracing industry. 

Port operations provider Engage Marine is seeking to obtain copies of restricted documents in the ACCC’s case against TasPorts, as it mounts its own competition suit against the Tasmanian government-owned body.

A class action against Aveo Group has settled for $11 million mid trial, with the law firm that brought the case expressing regret for any “distress or anxiety” it caused and acknowledging the retirement village provider’s contracts with residents were lawful. 

An appeals court has partially sided with Toyota in a challenge to the damages bill assessed by a judge in a class action over defective diesel filters, saying the reduction in value of affected cars should be assessed at 10 per cent, not 17.5 per cent, of the price paid by motorists.

A judge overseeing a competition class action against Queensland power companies Stanwell and CS Energy has warned that judges need to be inventive in how they manage large group proceedings, otherwise the “system will collapse”.

In a class action long delayed by a battle over foreign shareholders, BHP Group has finally filed a defence, denying it misled shareholders over a failed Brazilian dam and saying knowledge about the risk of collapse cannot be imputed to the Melbourne-headquartered energy giant.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and Mazda have both lost their appeals in a case over the car manufacturer’s ‘appalling’ customer service, with three judges questioning the regulator’s decisions in how it ran the case.

App developers can be added as group members in class actions against Apple and Google alleging they engaged in anti-competitive conduct in operating their app stores, despite Apple’s concerns that the law firm running the case will owe conflicting duties. 

Mining equipment company Qteq and its executive chairman Simon Ashton have denied allegations of bid rigging and other cartel conduct levelled by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

A complaint has been lodged with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission against Etihad Airways for allegedly making false or misleading statements about its greenhouse gas emissions and plans for achieving net zero emissions.