I received this from the ACCC today as I suspect others who made submissions did. I am pleased they have responded positively to the newsXpress request for a pre-decision conference.
Dear Sir or Madam,
I write in relation to the authorisation application lodged by the Magazine Publishers of Australia (A91472). A pre-decision conference has been called by the newsXpress buying group of newsagents in relation to the application. The conference will provide the opportunity for applicants and interested parties to make oral submissions to the ACCC about the draft determination.
The conference has been tentatively booked to be held on Thursday, 23 April 2015 from 12pm. It is hoped that video link ups will be available for interested parties to attend the conference from ACCC offices in the capital city of each state and territory.
If you think you may wish to attend the conference, please express your interest by COB Wednesday 8 April 2015, and advise which city you would be attending from.
I will be in touch with parties who express interest in attending with further details in due course.
Further information about the MPA’s authorisation application is available on the public register:http://registers.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/1183386/fromItemId/278039. Further detail about the pre-decision conference procedure is available in the ACCC’s publication Authorisation Guidelines: http://www.accc.gov.au/publications/authorisation-guidelines-2013.
Involving newsagents in matters such as these is important, especially since the ANF appears to not have.