About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

40 U.N.S.W.L.J. 1035 (2017)
Regulating Supermarkets: The Competition for Space

handle is hein.journals/swales40 and id is 1055 raw text is: Regulating Supermarkets REGULATING SUPERMARKETS: THE COMPETITION FOR SPACE CHRISTOPHER ARUP,* CARON BEATON-WELLS** AND JO PAUL-TAYLOR*** I THE STUDY The purpose of this article is to evaluate the case for a proposed competition policy law reform. If implemented, the reform would roll back land-use planning regulation, so that supermarket businesses have greater freedom to regulate privately where and with what format they site their stores.1 With planning regulation reduced, the check on this greater freedom to site will be competition regulation; this regulation should also be light touch. Competition policy continues to insist that we shall be better off if public regulation defers to the market and private regulation. In Australia, such a reform has considerable impetus and must be taken seriously. In March 2015, the Government's Competition Policy Review ('Harper Review' or 'Review') recommended that planning regulation be reduced. The Review takes the view that, '[p]lanning and zoning requirements can restrict competition by creating unnecessary barriers to entry'.2 To counter these restrictions, the Review picks up on a line of recommendations running through Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ('ACCC') and Productivity Commission ('PC') enquiries.3 The Review recommends that planning regulation defer to competition in the marketplace. It insists that competition between individual businesses and the impact on the viability of * Adjunct Professor, Department of Business Law and Taxation, Monash University. ** Professor, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. *** Research Fellow, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. This study of siting regulation forms part of a project funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant DP150100504 from 2015-18 entitled 'Regulating Australia's Retail Grocery Sector- Goals, Actors and Techniques'. Thanks to our colleagues, Jane Dixon and David Merrett, for their guidance. 1 For the definition of 'siting' used in this study, see below n 50. 2 Jan Harper et al, 'Competition Policy Review' (Final Report, Competition Policy Review, 31 March 2015) 130 ('Harper Review Final Report'). 3 Ibid 122-4. See Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, 'Report of the ACCC Inquiry into the Competitiveness of Retail Prices for Standard Groceries' (July 2008) ('Competitiveness ofRetail Prices Report'); Productivity Commission, 'Relative Costs of Doing Business in Australia: Retail Trade' (Research Report, September 2014) ch 6; Productivity Commission, 'Performance Benchmarking of Australian Business Regulation: Planning, Zoning and Development Assessments' (Research Report, April 2011). 2017 1035

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most