Price-fixing, price leadership or ordinary commercial considerations: Guilt under section 45 of the Trade Practices Act

Richard A Miller, David K Round
(1982) 10 Australian Business Law Review 251

Notes

Includes discussion of two major TPC cases to that point:

• The Adelaide Hotels Case (TPC v Nicholas Enterprises ... Morphett Arms)
• The Kilowatt-Hour-Meters Case (TPC v Email)

Notes that having 'sound commercial reasons' for price list exchange is not 'inconsistent with collusion, as there are always sound commercial reasons lurking behind any decision by firms to collude' (p 263)

Concludes: '... the appropriate policy stance is the prohibition of any communications between rivals which involve prices. Such discussions can serve only to pollute independent, individual judgments on market conditions with group judgments, resulting in decisions being made which are "in the interests of all" except, of course, the consumers in the economy.' (p 264)

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