In Australia the predominant term used for SOEs is government business enterprise (GBE). Various Australian states also have GBEs, especially with respect to the provision of water and sewerage, and many state-based GBEs were privatized in some states during the last decade of the twentieth century. Former Commonwealth SOEs include Telstra, established in the 1970s as Telecom Australia. Telstra, now Australia's largest telecommunications company, was privatised in 1997 by the Howard government. As of June 2010 Telstra owned a majority of the copper wire infrastructure in Australia (the rest is owned by Optus) and is pending sale to its former parent, the Australian government, for a non-binding amount of 11 billion Australian dollars, as ducts in the copper wire tunnels are needed to install the fibre optic cable. The Commonwealth Bank, as its name indicates, was also founded as public company before later being privatized.
In Victoria many GBEs were sold in the 1990s to reduce the state's level of debt. The State Electricity Commission of Victoria and the Gas & Fuel Corporation were the best-known government enterprises to be disaggregated and sold.
Australian Government
editAs of March 2021[update], there are nine GBEs of the Government of Australia, comprising two corporate Commonwealth entities and seven Commonwealth companies.[1][2]
- ASC
- Australian Naval Infrastructure
- Australia Post (corporate Commonwealth entity)
- Australian Rail Track Corporation
- Defence Housing Australia (corporate Commonwealth entity)
- Moorebank Intermodal Company Limited
- NBN Co – fully owned and responsible for the rollout of the National Broadband Network
- Snowy Hydro
- WSA Co
The Government also has other public non-financial corporations (PFNCs) that are not prescribed as GBEs:
- Airservices Australia
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation
- Australian Government Solicitor
- Clean Energy Finance Corporation
- Future Fund
- Reserve Bank of Australia
- Screen Australia
- Special Broadcasting Service – fully owned, and combines government funding and commercial funding
Australian Capital Territory
editThe GBEs of the Australian Capital Territory include:
- ActewAGL (50%)
- Icon Water
New South Wales
editThe statutory state-owned corporations of New South Wales include:
- Essential Energy
- Forestry Corporation of New South Wales
- Hunter Water
- Landcom
- Newcastle Port Corporation, trading as the Port Authority of New South Wales
- Superannuation Administration Corporation
- Sydney Water
- Transport Asset Holding Entity
- WaterNSW
Northern Territory
editThe GBEs of the Northern Territory include:
Queensland
editThe GBEs of Queensland include:
South Australia
editSouth Australia is notable for having very controversially privatized most of its GBEs:
Tasmania
editTasmania has a considerable amount of GBEs, relative to other states:
Victoria
editThe GBEs of Victoria include:
Western Australia
editThe GBEs of Western Australian include:
- DevelopmentWA
- Fremantle Port Authority
- Gold Corporation
- Horizon Power
- Kimberley Ports Authority
- Mid-West Ports Authority
- Pilbara Ports Authority
- Southern Ports Authority
- Synergy
- Water Corporation
- Western Power
References
edit- ^ "Government Business Enterprises". Australian Government Department of Finance. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
- ^ "Paul Fletcher says NBN Co was free to award $77.5m in bonuses under the rules covering government-owned businesses. Is he correct?". ABC News. 23 March 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021.