Australia’s system for rationing shipping berths at Newcastle must now stop unless the New South Wales state government steps in to protect it from anti-trust action. According to Reuters, Graeme Samuel, chairman of Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, made the comment after withdrawing anti-trust immunity for the system, which was originally devised as an interim step toward a more competitive long-term solution. “The interim, transitional measure has been running for five years now. We no longer think this (the immunity) is in the public interest. I expect the queue management system will go into suspension for a period of time, until the government spells out what it wants to do,” Samuel said.
