Australia Meat Holdings Pty Limited v Trade Practices Commission

Australia Meat Holdings Pty Limited (the applicant) sought special leave to appeal from a decision of the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia concerning the interpretation of provisions of the *Trade Practices Act*. The dispute arose from an acquisition of shares in Thomas Borthwick by the applicant, which the trial judge, Wilcox J, found resulted in the applicant being in a position to dominate the market for fat cattle in North Queensland, a market it had not previously dominated.

The central legal issues before the High Court concerned the proper construction of subsections (1) and (1C) of section 81 of the *Trade Practices Act*. Specifically, the court was required to determine the scope of the court's power to make orders for the disposal of shares or assets acquired in contravention of section 50, and the circumstances under which an undertaking to dispose of other shares or assets could be accepted in lieu of such an order.

The applicant accepted that a contravention of section 50 had occurred. The Full Court's majority decision, as reflected in the submissions, considered the geographical market for fat cattle in North Queensland, noting that the applicant's Mackay abattoir acquired only a small number of cattle from this defined market. The submissions referred to the judgments of Davies J and Pincus J of the Full Court, highlighting their differing perspectives on the impact of the acquisition on market dominance.