State-owned enterprises of Australia
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 leading telecommunications company, was privatized in 1997 by the government of John Howard. 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 fiber 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 and Fuel Corporation were the best-known government enterprises to be disaggregated and sold.
Australian Government[]
As of March 2021, there are nine GBEs of the Australian Government, comprising two corporate Commonwealth entities and seven Commonwealth companies.[1][2]
- ASC Pty Ltd
- 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 (13%)
- WSA Co Ltd
The Government also has other public non-financial corporations (PFNCs) that are not prescribed as GBEs:
- Airservices Australia
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation
- Australian Government Future Fund
- Australian Government Solicitor
- Clean Energy Finance Corporation
- Reserve Bank of Australia
- Screen Australia
- Special Broadcasting Service – fully owned, and combines government funding and commercial funding
Australian Capital Territory[]
The GBEs of the Australian Capital Territory include:
- ActewAGL (50%)
- Icon Water
New South Wales[]
The statutory state-owned corporations of New South Wales include:
- Essential Energy
- Hunter Water Corporation
- Newcastle Port Corporation, trading as the Port Authority of NSW
- Sydney Water Corporation
- Transport Asset Holding Entity
- Water NSW
Northern Territory[]
The GBEs of the Northern Territory include:
Queensland[]
The GBEs of Queensland include:
South Australia[]
South Australia is notable for having very controversially privatized most of its GBEs:
Tasmania[]
Tasmania has a considerable amount of GBEs, relative to other states:
- Aurora Energy
- Forestry Tasmania
- Hydro Tasmania
- Metro Tasmania
- Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority
- Public Trustee
- TasRail
- TasNetworks
- TasPorts
- TasWater
- TT-Line
Victoria[]
The GBEs of Victoria include:
- Port of Melbourne
- Port of Hastings
- Snowy Hydro (29%)
- VicForests
- VicTrack
Western Australia[]
The GBEs of Western Australian include:
- Horizon Power
- Water Corporation
- Western Power
- Synergy
- Pilbara Ports Authority
- Fremantle Port Authority
- Mid-West Ports Authority
- Southern Ports Authority
- Kimberley Ports Authority
- LandCorp
References[]
- ^ "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.
- Government-owned companies of Australia
- Australia-related lists
- Lists of companies of Australia
- Lists of government-owned companies