The ACCC and Compulsory Competition

Just as well Graeme Samuel and the ACCC are looking out for my interests by blocking the roll out of a fibre-optic network. Telstra's refusal to build it is nothing more than a unreasonable dummy-spit. What business could be unhappy about a couple of bureaucrats with a spreadsheet setting prices for competitor access to its investment? Without the ACCC's steely intervention, Telstra could have tricked me into handing over monopoly rents for a high-speed internet connection!

In this same spirit of competition regulation, I look forward to picking up a cost-controlled Subway sandwich from McDonalds' drive-through network, The Bulletin in next weekend's Age delivery (at government-set prices) and a DVD from the regulator-mandated "Blockbuster Booth" at the back of my local Video-Ezy.