Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Ascot Four Pty Ltd [2008] FCA 1295

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Ascot Four Pty Ltd [2008] FCA 1295

TRADE PRACTICES – prosecution under s 75AZC in Pt VC of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) – whether corporation made a false or misleading representation about the price of goods – advertising of jewellery in catalogue with stated price and strike through price – jewellery previously ticketed at strike through price but never sold at or near strike through price – whether false or misleading – held that catalogue represented to a group of ordinary and reasonable potential consumers that, in purchasing the jewellery items, there would be a saving of the difference between the catalogue sale price and the strike through price – defendant found guilty TRADE PRACTICES – prosecution under s 75AZC in Pt VC of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) – whether necessary for prosecution to prove that no reasonable consumer could reasonably have understood representation in a way that was not false or misleading – consideration of usefulness of cases concerning the analogues of the sections in Pt VC in Pt V of the Act, particularly s 53(3) – held that s 75AZC did not require the prosecution to prove that Parkdale Custom Built Furniture Pty Ltd v Puxu Pty Ltd (1982) 149 CLR 191 applied Campomar Sociedad Limitada v Nike International Ltd (2000) 202 CLR 45 applied Taco Company of Australia Inc v Taco Bell Pty Ltd (1982) 42 ALR 177 followed Puxu Pty Ltd v Parkdale Custom Built Furniture Pty Ltd (1980) 31 ALR 73 followed Knight v R (1992) 175 CLR 495 followed Trade Practices Commission v Cue Design Pty Ltd (1996) 85 ACrim Rep 500 considered Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Allans Music Group Pty Ltd [2002] FCA 1552 considered Ducret v Chaudhiry's Oriental Carpet Palace Pty Ltd (1987) 76 ALR 182 considered AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION v ASCOT FOUR PTY LTD