Category: NZHC

“Loyal to what?”: the role of parliamentary opposition

“… political opposition is empowered and dignified in a democratic system, and… pays tribute to and teaches lessons about… ‘the provisional nature of political authority’ in circumstances of plurality.”

Andrew Little’s recent High Court victory, finding his commentary on aspects of a Niue holiday resort’s financing to be qualifiedly privileged from defamation liability, casts light into the shadows of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition’s constitutional role. Continue reading ““Loyal to what?”: the role of parliamentary opposition”

Advertisement

0867: Remembering dial-up, and reinforcing the counterfactual test

Around the turn of the century, the Commission claimed that Telecom’s decision to introduce a free internet access number range (0867 xxx xxx), while implementing a charge for residential local number dial-up access to the Internet, was a breach of s36 of the Commerce Act.

Section 36 at the time (since amended) prohibited firms in a dominant market position from using that dominance for anti-competitive purpose. The High Court has held that Telecom neither used any dominance it may have had, nor had any anti-competitive purpose: instead, it was engaged in “normal profit maximising behaviour, to be expected of any firm, dominant or otherwise”. Continue reading “0867: Remembering dial-up, and reinforcing the counterfactual test”