2024 Programme
Programme updated 13/06/2024 and subject to minor changes
| 8.30am | Registration open | |
| 9.00am | Welcome and Introduction Anna Ryan, Partner, Lane Neave - Chair, Competition Law and Policy Institute of New Zealand | |
| 9.15am | Keynote session: The Competitive Effects of Information Sharing Our 2024 keynote address centres on the topic of information sharing between competitors. Our keynote speaker, John Asker, Professor of Economics at the University of California, and our commentator, Fionnghuala Cuncannon, Partner at Cuncannon, will discuss the competitive impacts of information sharing, and its implications for competition law and policy. | |
| Chairperson: Keynote speaker: Commentator: | Anna Ryan, Partner, Lane Neave Prof John Asker, Professor of Economics, University of California, Los Angeles Fionnghuala Cuncannon, Partner, Cuncannon | |
| 10.35am | Morning tea | |
| 11.05am | Session Two: Tikanga – is it relevant to Competition Law? This session will examine how tikanga could interact with competition law. After introducing tikanga and how it engages with the law, the speakers will work through some case studies (real and fictional) and discuss the relevance of tikanga when applying a competition law lens. | |
| Chairperson: Speakers: | Emma Ihaia, Principal Economist, Link Economics Justice Whata Simon Peart, Partner, Chapman Tripp Te Aopare Dewes, Partner, Chapman Tripp | |
| 12.25pm | Lunch | |
| 1.25pm | Session Three: “Wellington, we have a problem!”: Competition law in the public sector In a country the size of New Zealand, actions by government can have an outsized impact on competition. The provisions that apply the Commerce Act 1986 to “the Crown” and “Crown Corporations” are outdated and do not reflect changes over the past nearly 40 years, including reforms of the public sector’s structure and scope. They are long overdue for review and modernisation. This session will review how the Commerce Act 1986 applies to public bodies and suggest reforms to ensure that government limits on competition are no broader than reasonably necessary. | |
| Chairperson: Speaker: Commentator: | Paul Comrie-Thomson, Partner, Wynn Williams Ben Hamlin, Barrister Eric Crampton, Chief Economist, The New Zealand Initiative | |
| 2.45pm | Afternoon tea | |
| 3.15pm | Session Four: Next Gen This session we will hear from a range of the ‘next generation’ on important topics | |
Chairperson: Speakers: | Dr Will Taylor, Partner, NERA Economic Consulting Privatisation in the space industry The application of competition law to professional sports New analytical tools for understanding retail competition | |
| 5.00pm | Day close | |
| 5.15pm | Annual General Meeting Pullman Hotel Bar | |
| 7.00pm | Workshop dinner Gerome | |
| 9.30am | Session Five: Settlement of IP disputes IP disputes are settled in good faith in most cases. Good faith settlements of IP disputes are economically efficient and in the public interest, yet the expansions to the cartel provisions in New Zealand’s Commerce Act 1986 are a real problem for IP settlements. If you consider that a competitor's product infringes your IP rights and you sue them or just raise the issue with them, then a settlement in which the competitor withdraws the product from the market can breach the Act (and potentially amount to a criminal offence). Even settlements implemented by consent court orders are problematic. This is bad law. | |
| Chairperson: Speaker: | A/Prof Ed Willis, University of Otago Earl Gray, Barrister John Land, Barrister | |
| 10.50am | Morning tea | |
| 11.20am | Session Six: Competition Policy: Back in Fashion? In this session, Danielle Wood, Chair of Australia’s Productivity Commission, will explore why competition policy is back in fashion in advanced economies. She will examine the ongoing debate in Australia – and elsewhere – about economic dynamism and how competition policy might be used as a level to revitalise productivity and economic growth. Catherine Montague, Manager of Competition at MBIE, will then provide an overview of New Zealand’s competition policy landscape and a preview of potential future developments. | |
| Chairperson: Speaker: Commentator: | Hayden Green, Director, Axiom Economics Danielle Wood, Chair, Productivity Commission Australia Catherine Montague, Manager of Competition Policy, Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment | |
| 12.40pm | Workshop close | |