The Competitive Edge

Hosted by Gilbert + Tobin

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Latest episode

Jun 2026

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EN-AU

About the show

Get the lowdown on developments in competition law in Australia and around the world with The Competitive Edge, a competition law podcast. Each fortnight Moya Dodd and Matt Rubinstein explore insights and trends with our resident experts and special guests to give you the competitive edge.

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60 recent

June 10, 202645 min

Smoke and Stack: Professor Julian Wright on competition and regulation up and down the AI stack.

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 edge@gtlaw.com.au   Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

May 22, 202632 min

TSLRIC Poetry: Dr Lilla Csorgo on merger control, ex ante regulation, economics and literature

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 edge@gtlaw.com.au   Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

May 6, 202639 min

Bannerman - The Legend of Ron Bannerman: ACCC Commissioner Luke Woodward on the development of competition law in Australia and the centrality of enforcement

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. Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

April 21, 202639 min

O, for Hormuz of Fire: Geoff Petersen on the regulatory response to the fuel shocks that are raising prices and causing shortages around the world.

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 edge@gtlaw.com.au   Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

April 1, 202640 min

The Secret Agent: Peter Waters and Andrew Low on the rise and the risks of agentic AI in commerce

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 edge@gtlaw.com.au   Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

March 17, 202629 min

Xmas in February: Louise Klamka on the ACCC's compliance and enforcement priorities for 2026-27

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 edge@gtlaw.com.au   Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

March 4, 202640 min

The World's Fair: Liana Witt and David Holmes on Australia's new unfair trading practices proposal

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 edge@gtlaw.com.au     Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

February 18, 202633 min

Once Upon a Time in China: Amelia McKellar on merger control, involution-style competition and the accidental sad horse in China

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.     &ensp;&ensp;&ensp; &ensp;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 edge@gtlaw.com.au   Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

January 9, 202633 min

How to Host a Merger: Elizabeth Avery and Costas Condoleon on the latest updates to the merger regime and what global counsel need to know about our new system.

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 edge@gtlaw.com.au Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

December 16, 20251 hr 7 min

Mergerbot: Simon Muys and Tanya Macdonald on the recent and upcoming refinements to the new merger process

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 edge@gtlaw.com.au   Support the show: https://www.gtlaw.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.