Nugget
24-12-2005, 08:52 AM
This will bring a smile to Fraser regulars. It was a bung fight in 2000 / 2001.
I think there is still some trickery going on - despite what signs indicate at Rainbow - you do not have to buy your barge ticket prior to boarding.
Dave ><>
TWO former Fraser Island barge operators have been ordered to pay $1 million in costs and penalties after they were found guilty of predatory pricing and breaches of the Trade Practices Act.
Sidney Albert Melksham and Angela Kay Burger and their companies were fined after the Federal Court declared they had used predatory techniques in an attempt to eliminate a competitor.
In December 2000, rival barge the Manta Ray begun operating from Inskip Point near Rainbow Beach to Hook Point, on Fraser Island.
The Federal Court declared Melksham and Burger and their companies Eurong Beach Resort, Jaigear Pty Ltd, and Oser Pty Ltd, had a substantial degree of power in the market and "took advantage of that power for the purpose of eliminating and substantially damaging" their competitor.
Melksham and Burger implemented a policy so that the price was kept at $10 less than their competitor.
The companies also admitted to entering into a contract with another operator, who agreed not to supply barge services to Fraser Island at the same time as them.
Justice Kiefel ordered the following penalties: $500,000 against Eurong Beach Resort; $100,000 against Jaigear Pty Ltd; $100,000 against Oser Pty Ltd; $100,000 against Melksham and $100,000 against Burger.
He also ordered the respondents pay the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's costs of $100
I think there is still some trickery going on - despite what signs indicate at Rainbow - you do not have to buy your barge ticket prior to boarding.
Dave ><>
TWO former Fraser Island barge operators have been ordered to pay $1 million in costs and penalties after they were found guilty of predatory pricing and breaches of the Trade Practices Act.
Sidney Albert Melksham and Angela Kay Burger and their companies were fined after the Federal Court declared they had used predatory techniques in an attempt to eliminate a competitor.
In December 2000, rival barge the Manta Ray begun operating from Inskip Point near Rainbow Beach to Hook Point, on Fraser Island.
The Federal Court declared Melksham and Burger and their companies Eurong Beach Resort, Jaigear Pty Ltd, and Oser Pty Ltd, had a substantial degree of power in the market and "took advantage of that power for the purpose of eliminating and substantially damaging" their competitor.
Melksham and Burger implemented a policy so that the price was kept at $10 less than their competitor.
The companies also admitted to entering into a contract with another operator, who agreed not to supply barge services to Fraser Island at the same time as them.
Justice Kiefel ordered the following penalties: $500,000 against Eurong Beach Resort; $100,000 against Jaigear Pty Ltd; $100,000 against Oser Pty Ltd; $100,000 against Melksham and $100,000 against Burger.
He also ordered the respondents pay the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's costs of $100