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"Ord River sandalwood plantation near Kununurra The Ord River is a 651 km (500 miles) long river in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The river's catchment covers . The lower Ord river and the conjunction with Cambridge Gulf create the most northern estuarine environment in Western Australia.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228110703_The_Response_of_the_Lower_Ord_River_and_Estuary_to_Management_of_Catchment_Flows_and_Sediment_and_Nutrient_Loads_Final_Science_Reporthttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/263543507_The_Ord_River_Estuary_A_Regulated_Wet- Dry_Tropical_River_SystemCase Study: The Ord River page 206 of The Ord River Irrigation Scheme was built in stages during the 20th century. Australia's largest artificial lake by volume, Lake Argyle was completed in 1972. It has not been economically successful; $1.45 billion has been spent on the Ord Irrigation Scheme for a return of 17 cents on the dollar, and only 260 jobs created. The lower reaches of the river support an important wetland area known as the Ord River Floodplain, a protected area which contains numerous mangrove forests, lagoons, creeks, flats and extensive floodplains. The traditional owners are the Miriwoong Gajerrong peoples who have inhabited the area for thousands of years and knew the Ord river as Goonoonoorrang.. In a letter to the Surveyor General, dated 12 October 1959, Miss Louise Gardiner, Secretary of the Nomenclature Advisory Committee wrote: “’Cununurra’…means ‘Black Soil’. It is the native name for Ord River. Perhaps it may be the native name for any big river, but according to Mary Durack it is definitely the name for the ‘Ord’.” https://sites.google.com/site/kimberleyhistory/research/naming-kununurra Naming It was given its current name in honour of Sir Harry St. George Ord GCMG, CB, RE, Governor of Western Australia from 1877 to 1880, by Alexander Forrest on 2 August 1879. Forrest's journal states. > We are still 300 miles from the telegraph line, and cannot of course tell > what difficulties may not yet be in store for us, so I feel bound to push > on, at the same time no one can regret more than I do that I am unable to > follow this magnificent stream to its mouth which I have no doubt will be > found in Cambridge Gulf–the whole of its waters in that case being in > Western Australian territory. I have named this river the Ord, after His > Excellency the Governor of Western Australia, who has taken so great an > interest in this expedition. Marked a tree F 158. The headwaters of the Ord river are located below the 983 metre Mount Wells and initially flows east and around the edge of Purnululu National Park before heading north through Lake Argyle then passing west of Kununurra and discharging into the Cambridge Gulf, which is at the southern extremity of the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, Timor Sea. The river has 35 tributaries of which the five longest are Bow River, Nicholson River, Dunham River, Panton River and Negri Rivers. Ord River Irrigation Scheme crossing the Ord river at Kununarra c1960 Ord Diversion Dam under construction c1962 The idea of damming the Ord was first mentioned over 100 years ago, when the Western Australia Commissioner of Tropical Agriculture, Adrian Despeissis, suggested, > Substantial wooden dams constructed on a double row of jarrah piles driven > into the bed of the river, with a core wall of puddle clay between, would > appear to form suitable weirs. Between 1935 and 1942 drought affected the Kimberley Pastoral Industry providing the key motivation for the Ord Scheme. The focus in 1937 was that a dam on the Ord could supplement the pastoral industry. = Ord River experimental station = Then Minister for Lands and Agriculture, F J S Wise, in 1937 wrote > ..we set a plan in motion during the past twelve months in connection with > the establishment of experimental areas on Ivanhoe Station somewhere near > Carlton Reach. Carlton Reach was the largest waterhole in the Kimberley, being naturally dammed and held back by the Bandicoot Bar, a quartzite rock bar that held back the waterhole for many miles forming a natural permanent lake. In 1939, Michael Durack and Isaac Steinberg traveled to the region to investigate its suitability for resettling Jewish refugees. Any resettlement scheme would have involved irrigation works on the Ord. By 1941 the Carlton Reach Research Station, also known as the Ord River Experimental Station, was set up by Kimberley Michael Durack for the Western Australia Department of Agriculture with funds, supposedly "siphoned off" from the Kalgoorlie pipeline and assistance from the Western Australia Public Works Department (PWD). = Ord River dam surveys = During August 1941 the newly appointed Director of Works, R. J. Dumas, spent three weeks in the East Kimberley, > ...accompanied by F. Forman (Government Geologist). T. Brennan (Acting > Engineer for the North West), K. Durack, J. Walker (a half caste aboriginal) > and a full blood aboriginal, Jacko This party travelled by horseback along the Ord River and through the Ord River gorges in the Carr Boyd Range, selecting several possible dam sites. Work continued at the Carlton Reach experimental station for Kim Durack with assistance from his brother William A. Durack, on various agricultural experiments, centred on supplementing the pastoral industry. = Involving the Commonwealth = Early in 1944 Dumas wrote to the Commonwealth Government, advising of the soil, botanical, erosion and engineering surveys about to take place in the East Kimberley, explaining, the project must become largely a national one and any assistance from the Commonwealth would be welcome. By May 1944 there was a large body of agriculturalists, botanists and surveyors carrying out investigations in the vicinity of Carlton Reach. The Aborigines who lived in the Ord River basin were decimated through killing and the spread of introduced diseases.Land of Promises: Aborigines and Development in the East Kimberley by Herbert Cole Coombs, Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Australian National University, 1989. = Establishment of the Kimberley Research Station = It would be another two years before the Commonwealth Government became involved, with the establishment of a joint CSIR and Western Australia Department of Agriculture facility. As the Carlton Reach, Ord River experimental station site was river alluvium (red soil) and most of the surveyed agricultural land was "Cununurra Clay" (blacksoil - Volcanic soil eroded from the Antrim Plateau Volcanics), it was moved to a new site further down river and the new Kimberley Research Station (KRS) was established in 1946. = Justifying dam construction = In 1951, The KRS Supervisory Committee (KRSSC) indicated that sugar and rice were two cash crops that could justify dam construction. Over the 13 years between 1946 and 1959 various agricultural experiments were undertaken at KRS and in April 1959 the KRS Supervisory Committee recommended the establishment of a pilot farm. In August 1959, the Commonwealth Government made a grant of £5m to WA Government, most to be used for the Ord River Scheme. =Origin of the Ord River Irrigation Area= Pumping station, river and irrigated fields The Ord River Irrigation Area (ORIA), which was originally known as the Ord River Irrigation Scheme (ORIS) or Ord River Project, when it was approved by the Commonwealth Government, late in 1959 and began in 1960 with the establishment of the town of Kununurra, which was gazetted a town on 10 February 1961. = The first dam – Ord River Diversion Dam = The construction of the Ord River Diversion Dam started in late 1960 and was officially opened in July 1963 by then Prime Minister, Robert Menzies. The Ord River Diversion Dam holds back Lake Kununurra, which gravity feeds the Ord River Irrigation Area with water via the Main Channel (M1C1). The main channel is visible in the photograph with Lake Kununurra, Ord River (formerly the Carlton Reach waterhole, Ord River) in the background. = The Ord River pilot farm = To test the commercial viability of the ORIA, the WA Government, passed an act of parliament, known as the Northern Development (Ord River) Act, and in October 1960, ratified an agreement with the company Northern Developments, Ord River Pty. Ltd. to set up and run the first "pilot farm." This was backed by the WA Government but was to run as a commercial farming venture. By November 1960 the first 200 acres had been chain-dozed and cleared, a channel and pumps were in place, to irrigate the first commercial rice crop that had been planted on the new pilot farm. This was almost three years before the completion of the Ord River Diversion Dam and main channel, so the pilot farm irrigated by pumping water from the Carlton Reach waterhole. = Commercial irrigation farming = Allocation of commercial farm land during Stage 1 of the project was allocated in stages, with the first group of farmers arriving in 1962 and final allocations completed in 1966. 30 farms produced mostly cotton, however pest problems soon became apparent. The early 1970s saw the application of large amounts of pesticides on crops. The primary pest was the caterpillar Helicoverpa armigera which developed resistance to the pesticides. The resulting low crop yields combined with a drop in world cotton prices led to suspension of the commercial cotton industry in the region. = The second dam – Ord River (Main) Dam = Work started on the main Ord River Dam in 1969 and was completed before the official opening on 30 June 1972 by Prime Minister William McMahon, when he said.. > This marks the beginning of Ord stage twoFilm – Building the Ord River Dam – > Water Authority of Western Australia The main Ord River Dam, known locally as "Top Dam" holds back the waters of the Ord River in Lake Argyle. The Ord scheme created Lake Argyle, which is Australia's largest dam reservoir, covering an area of 741 km2. =Disputed views about economic value of the irrigation scheme= Until the mid-2010s most reports of the scheme derided its lack of economic return. In 2013, the Wilderness Society estimated that $1.45 billion had been spent on the Ord Irrigation Scheme for a return of 17 cents for every dollar spent.Tristan Knowles, Economists at Large. The Wilderness Society. 2013. Rivers, rivers, everywhere. The Ord River Irrigation Area and the economics of developing riparian water resources. Prepared for the Wilderness Society, Economists at Large, Melbourne, Australia. In 2016 the Auditor General for Western Australia reported that "The sustained social and economic benefits underpinning the decision to proceed with this $529 million investment have not been realised. Nor is there a plan to track and assess them."Ord-East Kimberley Development. Report 20 of the Office of the Auditor General for Western Australia. 7 September 2016. https://audit.wa.gov.au/reports-and-publications/reports/ord- east-kimberley-development/auditor-generals-overview/ The Australia Institute reported that "Attempts to develop northern Australia by subsidising capital- intensive industries like irrigated agriculture have a long and unimpressive history. An example is the Ord River Scheme which currently supports just 260 jobs despite $2 billion spent and decades of effort.".Dam the expense. The Ord River irrigation scheme and the development of northern Australia. Matt Grudnoff, Rod Campbell. May 2017. The Australia Institute, Level 5, 131 City Walk, Canberra, ACT 2601 http://www.tai.org.au/sites/defualt/files/P309%20Dam%20the%20expense%20-%20Ord%20River%20report%20FINAL.3_0.pdf In the late 2010s the possibility of large-scale Chinese investment and the opening of export markets in China gave the Ord Scheme a potential basis for financial sustainability. The Ord River irrigation area today The Ord River dams provide water for irrigation to over 117 km2 of farmland and there are plans to extend the scheme to allow irrigation of 440 km2 in the near future. The main Ord River dam also generates power for the local community of Kununurra. By 2009 more than 60 different crops were grown in the Ord catchment area. One third of the area is used for sugar cane cultivation. In 2012 the release was approved of an additional 74 km2 of Stage 2 Goomig lands for irrigated agriculture, while the same year the West Australian Department of Agriculture conducted soil and water investigations of the Cockatoo Sands (red loamy sands) near the Ord River Irrigation Area, Kununurra. These investigations identified about 65 km2 of Cockatoo Sands and about 24 km2 of Pago Sands on Carlton Hill Station suitable for fodder or perennial crops. The Cockatoo Sands have great potential because they are well-drained and have capacity to support agriculture throughout the wet season. As part of the Water for Food government program, the Department of Agriculture also investigated an additional 300 km2 of Cockatoo soils north of Kununurra for possible expansion. In 2009, the Rudd Government and Colin Barnett announced a development plan for the area. The plan emphasised community and infrastructure development including upgrades of Kununurra Airport and the port at Wyndham. =Power generation= The Ord River Dam Hydro Scheme is a privately funded, owned and operated power system in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia. It consists of a new 36 MW hydro electric power station at Lake Argyle interconnected, by lengthy 132 kV transmission lines, with existing diesel fuelled power systems at the Argyle diamond mine and the Kununurra township. The scheme can currently only produce 1% of the power the Snowy Mountains Scheme produces. The power station was constructed from 1995 to 1996. =Environmental effects= CSIRO research conducted in 2008 found that the water quality in the lower reaches of the river was good and that planned activities were not an ecological threat. Salinity and erosion are also becoming an issue in the area, due to the rising of the water table in the area. The use of groundwater drains has been suggested by hydrologist Dr Tony Smith, as a possible remedy to salinity problems. Some concerns have been raised that the large body of water created by the dam could attract Asian insects and birds which may transmit dangerous viruses such as avian influenza. Like so many other experiments in tropical agriculture the scheme initially failed because of difficulties growing crops and attack from pests. Today the irrigated areas successfully produce a variety of fruits and vegetables, with the most recent crop being sandalwood. Associated wetland areas have been preserved within the Lakes Argyle and Kununurra Ramsar Site. Ord water quality and flow contributed to the disappearance of the Common Banana Prawn (Rachel Carbonell, "North Queensland irrigation plan could 'destroy' prawn fisheries in Gulf of Carpentaria, producers warn", ABC News – 27 March 2014) The site forms part of the Ord Irrigation Area Important Bird Area (IBA), so identified by BirdLife International because of its importance for wild birds, especially estrildid finches. =Logistics= Much of the produce is exported to South East Asia. Sugar, which was produced from the late 1990s until the end of 2007 in the ORIA was trucked to Wyndham where it was exported to a Korean-owned food manufacturing plant in Surabaya, Indonesia. Fruit and vegetables are sold to domestic markets and are trucked to all capital cities. The ORIA is also home to the largest commercial Indian Sandalwood plantations in the world. See also *Irrigation in Australia *List of rivers of Australia *List of watercourses in Western Australia References Notes * Ord Development Council. Conference (1991 : Kununurra, W.A) 50 years of Ord irrigation : review & future perspectives : conference proceedings, Kununurra, Western Australia, 1–3 November 1991 / sponsored by Minister for North West Agriculture, Water Resources, Ord Development Council. Kununurra : Ord Development Council, 1991. External links * NT Country Hour – 29/8/2002: Katherine – a future rail transport hub? – ABC. * Tropical Forestry Services which harvests Indian Sandalwood in the ORIS. *Kununurra Historical Society Inc. Archive, Library, Museum & Research for history and images of the Ord River. Category:Cambridge Gulf "
""Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade" is the third episode of The Simpsons fourteenth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 17, 2002. In the episode, the Simpsons buy a satellite television system, which Bart spends so much time watching that he does not study for an important achievement test. He scores so low that Principal Skinner demotes him to third grade, while Lisa does so well that she is moved up to third grade. The two are placed in the same class and become rivals. During a trip to Capital City, they get separated from their class and are forced to help each other in order to find their classmates. Plot Homer buys a satellite system with over 500 channels. He and Bart become addicted to it, and Bart does not study at all for an important upcoming achievement test, even as Lisa is spending all her time preparing. Once the test is done, Principal Skinner announces the results at a school assembly. Not only does Bart fail the test and is demoted to the third grade, but Lisa aces the test and gets promoted to the third grade, where they meet their new teacher, Audrey McConnell. Interestingly during class, Bart performs well on tests (having memorized the answers from his previous experience in the third grade), while Lisa has a hard time adjusting to the class. Audrey decides to clamp their desks together after Bart answers a trick question he had seen the previous year, as the teacher thinks Lisa needs Bart's help. Later, Bart gets an A on a map test while Lisa only gets an A–. Bart says that the test was easy and recites all of the answers to Lisa, which he had memorized from last year in third grade (because he claims that the answer key never changes). Lisa proclaims that Bart cheated but the teacher did not hear Bart's recitation and tells Lisa to stop being jealous. Bart and Lisa are made field trip partners as part of the buddy system on a field trip to Capital City. When they are there, they hear that the flag for the state Springfield is an embarrassment (it contains a Confederate flag, despite the state being from the North), and their teacher assigns for homework an assignment to design a new flag. Lisa calls Marge as she designs her flag, which says "To Fraternal Love". On the phone, she complains about and makes fun of Bart, unmindful of the fact that Bart is overhearing the conversation on another phone and getting very angry about her comments. The next day, Bart, Lisa and the other third-graders hand over their flag designs to the Governor. When the Governor sees Lisa's design, she starts to cry and displays the flag which now reads "Learn to Fart". This appalls Lisa, as Bart innocently admonishes her for making the Governor cry. Later, Bart again teases Lisa and they get in a fight and miss the bus heading back to Springfield. The fight brings them out of the parking lot and into the forest. As a result, the two wind up getting lost. Lisa tells Bart she is hurt by his behavior and Bart sounds somewhat apologetic, though he also adds in the interest of full disclosure that he wants to say he is sorry for using Homer's steamroller a while back to crush Lisa's bike, which he then blamed on Gypsies. Back in Springfield, Principal Skinner informs Homer and Marge that Bart and Lisa are missing. They go to Capital City to find them. Meanwhile, Bart and Lisa have been confronted by a family of hillbillies, who save them by driving them back to Capital City. Marge is ecstatic on seeing her children safe and sound. Principal Skinner, worried about the effects of placing Bart and Lisa in the same class, suggests that they return to the "status quo ante" – both Simpson kids go back to their proper grades. Production "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade" was written by Tim Long and directed by Steven Dean Moore as part of the fourteenth season of The Simpsons (2002–03). American singer Tony Bennett is credited as guest starring in the episode, though his lines were taken from archival audio. Release The episode originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 17, 2002. It was viewed in approximately 7.47 million households that night. With a Nielsen rating of 7.0, the episode finished 44th in the ratings for the week of November 11–17, 2002 (tied with new episodes of Becker and Boomtown). It was the highest-rated broadcast on Fox that week, beating shows such as King of the Hill, 24, and Malcolm in the Middle. On December 6, 2011, "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade" was released on Blu-ray and DVD as part of the box set The Simpsons – The Complete Fourteenth Season. Staff members Al Jean, Tim Long, Ian Maxtone- Graham, John Frink, Kevin Curran, Steven Dean Moore, Mike B. Anderson, and Michael Price participated in the DVD audio commentary for the episode. DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson wrote that the episode "opens with a TV-based segment awfully reminiscent of Season Two's 'Homer Vs. Lisa and the Eighth Commandment' and doesn’t get much better from there. As usual, we discover a few laughs along the way – particularly when Bart tries to teach mnemonics – but these are less plentiful than I’d like. This ends up as a wholly mediocre episode." Aaron Peck of High-Def Digest called the episode "memorable". References External links *"Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade" at The Simpsons.com Category:The Simpsons (season 14) episodes Category:2002 American television episodes pt:Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade "
"The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (CCA). is an Act of the Parliament of Australia. Prior to 1 January 2011, it was known as the Trade Practices Act 1974 (TPA). The Act is the legislative vehicle for competition law in Australia, and seeks to promote competition, fair trading as well as providing protection for consumers. It is administered by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and also gives some rights for private action. Schedule 2 of the CCA sets out the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). The Federal Court of Australia has the jurisdiction to determine private and public complaints made in regard to contraventions of the Act. Application of Act The Competition and Consumer Act (CCA) is an act of the Parliament of Australia and so its application is limited by section 51 of the Australian Constitution, which sets out the division of powers between the federal and state parliaments. As a result, most of the CCA is drafted to apply only to corporations, thus relying on Section 51(xx). Some parts of the CCA have a broader operation, relying for instance on the telecommunications power (Section 51(v)) or the territories power. The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) is applied as state law through the Fair Trading Acts in each Australian State and Territory, to extend the application of the ACL to individuals. The Act exempts the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments from some provisions of the Act. The immunity from the Act does not generally derive to third parties who deal with the government: see Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Baxter Healthcare.. The article: 'Consumer Protection Law in Australia' (LexisNexis 2011) by Ven. Alex Bruce ('Tenpa') was the first Australian text to critically analyze the most extensive changes to consumer protection law embodied within the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.Bruce A. Consumer Protection Law in Australia. LexisNexis 2011 (2nd edition due 2013) Provisions =Establishing Parts= The CCA establishes four organisations with a role in administering the Act: * Part II establishes the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) * Part IIA establishes the National Competition Council * Part III establishes the Australian Competition Tribunal * Part IIIAA establishes the Australian Energy Regulator =Part IIIA: Access to Services= Part IIIA of the CCA deals with third party access to services of facilities of national significance. For example, it covers access to electricity grids or natural gas pipelines. The aim of this part of the act is to encourage competition in upstream or downstream markets. This part of the Act allows services to be 'declared' and for parties to negotiate terms and conditions of access. The National Competition Council and the ACCC are both involved in registering agreement and assessing what is fair (to owners, to public, to users). As an alternative to declaring a service, it may be subject to undertakings registered with the ACCC. =Part IV: Restrictive Trade Practices= The restrictive trade practices, or antitrust, provisions in the CCA are aimed at deterring practices by firms which are anti-competitive in that they restrict free competition. This part of the act is enforced by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The ACCC can litigate in the Federal Court of Australia, and seek pecuniary penalties of up to $10 million from corporations and $500,000 from individuals. Private actions for compensation may also be available. These provisions prohibit: * Most Price Agreements (see Cartel and Price-Fixing) * Primary boycotts (an agreement between parties to exclude another) * Secondary boycotts whose purpose is to cause substantially less competition (Actions between two persons engaging in conduct hindering 3rd person from supplying or acquiring goods or services from 4th) * Misuse of market power – taking advantage of substantial market power in a particular market, for one or more proscribed purposes; namely, to eliminate or damage an actual or potential competitor, to prevent a person from entering a market, or to deter or prevent a person from engaging in competitive conduct. * Exclusive dealing – an attempt to interfere with freedom of buyers to buy from other suppliers, such as agreeing to supply a product only if a retailer does not stock a competitor's product. Most forms of exclusive dealing are only prohibited if they have the purpose or likely effect of substantially lessening competition in a market. * Third-line forcing: A type of exclusive dealing, third-line forcing involves the supply of goods or services on the condition that the acquirer also acquires goods or services from a third party. Third-line forcing is prohibited per se. * Resale price maintenance – fixing a price below which resellers cannot sell or advertise * Mergers and acquisitions that would result in a substantial lessening of competition A priority of ACCC enforcement action in recent years has been cartels. The ACCC has in place an immunity policy, which grants immunity from prosecution to the first party in a cartel to provide information to the ACCC allowing it to prosecute. This policy recognizes the difficulty in gaining information/evidence about price-fixing behaviours. =Part IVB: Industry Codes= Part IVB allows the Australian government to prescribe Industry Codes, and breach of these codes is a breach of the Act. The ACCC administers ongoing compliance with these codes. There are currently three codes made under this part: * the franchising code * the oilcode, and * the horticulture code. =Part VII: Authorisations, Notifications, and clearances in respect of restrictive trade practices= A unique feature of the Competition and Consumer Act, which does not exist in similar legislation overseas, is that the ACCC may grant exemptions. The ACCC may grant immunity based on assessment of the public benefits and anti-competitive detriments of the conduct, through the 'notification' or 'authorisation' process. Such exemptions do not apply to resale price maintenance or misuse of market power. The ACCC maintains a public register of authorisations and notifications. In 2006 the Act was amended to include a new Division 3 to Part VIIA providing a process for formal clearance and authorisation of mergers. =Part VIIA: Prices surveillance, Notification, and Monitoring= Part VIIA enables the ACCC to examine the prices of selected goods and services in the Australian economy. The ACCC's functions under this part are: * To hold price inquiries in relation to the supply of goods or services, and to publicly report the findings to the responsible Commonwealth minister * To examine proposed price rises on 'notified' goods, subject to instruction from the Minister. This allows some control over price rises * To monitor the prices, costs and profits of an industry or business under the direction of the minister and to publicly report the results to the Minister. Australia is a free market economy; consequently, the Act does not establish the ACCC as a price-fixing body. An example of the use of this section is that, under a direction from the Minister, the ACCC monitors the price of petrol. However, the ACCC cannot set the price of petrol, which has led to complaints that the ACCC is a "toothless watchdog". =Part IX: Review by Tribunal of determinations of commission= Part IX allows the Australian Competition Tribunal, established in Part III of the Act, to review certain decisions of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Part X: Liner shipping Part X provides immunities for liner shipping from the competition provisions of the Act contained in Part IV. Upon registration of agreements with the registrar of liner shipping, shipping operators may discuss and fix prices, pool revenues and losses, coordinate schedules and engange in other conduct that would otherwise breach Part IV provisions. =Part XIB and Part XIC: Telecommunications Regulation= The Act also regulates aspects of the Telecommunications market. In Australia the previously government-owned Telstra, now privatised, has traditionally dominated the telecommunications sector. Telstra owns the copper network infrastructure. The market was partially deregulated in 1992 with the introduction of Optus as a competitor. In 1997 deregulation continued when new entities were permitted to enter the market (see Communications in Australia). However, a feature of the Australian telecommunications market is that it is neither feasible nor efficient to have multiple networks, for example, of fibre-optic cables or of copper cables. For this reason, sections XIB and XIC of the Act exist to ensure that competitors (downstream users) have access to Telstra's networks. Part XIB of the Act allows the ACCC to issue a Competition Notice to a carrier (telecommunications corporation) if it has reason to believe the corporation has engaged in "anti- competitive conduct". "Anti-competitive conduct" refers to the restrictive trade practices in Part IV of the Act (Sections 45, 45B, 46, 47 or 48), or when a carrier with a substantial degree of power in a telecommunications market has taken advantage of the power with the effect, or likely effect, of substantially lessening competition. If the conduct continues after the issue of the Competition Notice, the ACCC can seek an injunction and financial penalty through the Federal Court. Competition Notices also allow third parties to take legal action. Part XIC is a telecommunications-specific access regime. The object of Part XIC is to promote the long-term interests of end- users of telecommunications carriage services and services that facilitate the supply of such carriage services: s152AB. The extent to which something promotes the long-term interests of end-users is assessed by having regard to three, and only three, objectives, namely: * promoting competition in markets for listed services; * promoting any-to-any connectivity; and * encouraging economically efficient use of, and investment in, the infrastructure by which listed services are supplied. Under Part XIC, the ACCC can 'declare' particular telecommunications carriage services if it is in the long-term interests of end-users: s152AL. Suppliers of declared services must comply with standard access obligations: s152AR. Persons can obtain access to declared services on terms and conditions set either: * by agreement with the supplier of the declared service, * by an ordinary access undertaking given by the supplier of the declared service, or * through arbitration by the ACCC. =Schedule 2: Australian Consumer Law= The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) is based on the proposition that low consumer power or lack of information is a market failure which needs to be addressed by interference in the market. These parts deal with: * Unfair Practices (including unconscionable conduct, misleading or deceptive conduct and unfair contracts) - Chapter 2 and Part 3-1 * Conditions and Warranties in Consumer Transactions – Part 3-2 * Product safety and information - Part 3-3 * Product Liability - Part 3-5 Misleading or Deceptive Conduct Misleading or deceptive conduct (s 18 of the ACL, formerly s 52 of the TPA) is one of the most important consumer parts of the act. It allows both individuals and the ACCC to take action against corporations who engage in conduct that is misleading or deceptive, or likely to mislead or deceive. Misleading or deceptive conduct carried out by companies can also be prosecuted by the state (under Chapter 4 of the ACL). Unconscionable Conduct The inclusion of unconscionable conduct in the Australian Consumer Law is a codification and extension of the equitable principle of 'unconscionability' which was later clarified as a cause-of- action.. The High Court of Australia held that an act was unconscionable if a party to a transaction is under a 'special disability', the other party is or ought be aware of that disability, and that other party acts in a way that makes it unfair or unconscionable to accept the offer of the weaker party.. Section 20 codifies the common law by referring to the "unwritten law" (i.e. the common law). However, the inclusion of section 20 allows for remedies under the Law. Section 21 bans unconscionability in consumer transactions. Section 22 gives factors that indicate unconscionability. This clarifies the application of unconscionability and circumstances where a consumer is at a "special disability". Other Unfair Practices The Australian Consumer Law also prohibits a range of other unfair practices including bait advertising (advertising a product that is not reasonably available), pyramid schemes (Division 3 of Part 3-1 of the ACL, formerly Division 1AAA of Part IV of the TPA), and certain misrepresentations (e.g. a misrepresentation as to price). Consumer Guarantees (Division 1 of Part 3-2) The Australian Consumer Law implies into contracts with consumers certain guarantees (these were formerly known as warranties). Similar conditions are implied by the State Sale of Goods Acts, but these acts have slightly different jurisdictional limits (e.g. 'consumer' and 'goods') and the legislative phrases may have been interpreted slightly differently. Under the Trade Practices Act implied conditions and warranties are mandatory: they cannot be excluded by a contractual intent to the contrary. The implied conditions are as to title (s 53 of the ACL, formerly s 69 of the TPA), quiet possession, freedom from encumbrances, fitness for purpose (s 55 of the ACL, formerly s 71 of the TPA), supply by description or sample (s 56, s 57) and that the goods are of acceptable quality (s 54 of the ACL, formerly s 66 of the TPA, which used the term "merchantable quality"). As a caveat, where the consumer guarantees are not that of title, undisturbed possession or undisclosed securities, they only apply if the goods or services in question are supplied in trade or commerce. The most important of these to a consumer is likely to be acceptable quality. If goods or services fail to reach a basic level of quality (considering the price of the goods/services) – that is they are defective, break, or do not do what they should do – then the ACL has been breached. =The Dawson Report= The Review of the Competition Provisions of the Trade Practices Act (Dawson Report) was released in January 2003 and received 212 submissions. The scope of the report was quite broad, with recommendations regarding mergers and acquisitions, exclusionary provisions, third line forcing, joint ventures, penalties and remedies, and the functions and powers of the ACCC. As a result, some amendments have been made to the Act. See also * Consumer Credit Act 2006 References External links * Australian Competition Law ;Restrictive Trade Practices * Julie Brebner Resale Price Maintenance – The Need for Further Reform (2001) 9 Trade Practices Law Journal 19-29 * Brendan Bailey, Small business success on Section 46 of the Trade Practices Act 1974 ;Consumer Protection * Freehills Law Firm, ;Industry Codes * ACCC webpage on industry codes of conduct ;Amendments and Reform * Dawson Report * Freehills Law Firm, Dawson Report Key Implemented Changes to Trade Practices Act * Deacons Law Firm, Dawson Report Amendments Category:Acts of the Parliament of Australia Category:Competition law Category:1974 in Australian law Category:2010 in Australian law Category:Consumer protection in Australia "