State-owned enterprises (SOEs) in New Zealand are registered companies listed under Schedules 1 and 2 of the State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986. Most SOEs are former government departments or agencies that were corporatised. They are responsible to the Minister for State Owned Enterprises.
Many other government-owned companies and statutory trading organisations are referred to informally as "state-owned enterprises" although they are not SOEs in the strictest sense. These are also listed here.
Function
The function of SOEs is to operate successfully as a business, as profitable as those not owned by the Crown. The section of the Act defining this is usually interpreted as meaning that SOEs are expected to ready themselves for privatisation, though this is not always the case.
Two Ministers of the Crown act as the shareholding ministers in the company. In the case of SOEs these are usually the Minister for State Owned Enterprises (see article for list) and the Minister responsible for the particular company.
The Crown is assisted in the running of SOEs and other Crown-owned companies by the Treasury's Commercial Operations group (formerly the Crown Ownership Monitoring Unit).[1]
List of state enterprises
The state enterprises are listed in Schedule 1 of the State-owned Enterprises Act.[2]
State-(part-)owned enterprises
The following table lists entities that are monitored by Treasury, but are not state enterprises (see table above).[1] For a more complete list of government entities and organisations, see Public sector organisations in New Zealand.
Former state-owned enterprises
Former state-owned enterprises come in three forms – those removed from the Schedules of the Act and made Crown entities, those removed and not privatised, and those removed and privatised. Well-known SOEs that became Crown entity companies include broadcasting companies Television New Zealand (TVNZ) and Radio New Zealand (RNZ).
- Timberlands West Coast Limited, wound up in 2008
- Learning Media Limited, wound up in 2013
- Solid Energy, wound up in 2018
Privatised state-owned enterprises
Privatised state-owned enterprises include:[9]
Former, non-SOE state-owned corporations
- State Insurance
- Tourist Hotel Corporation
- Government Life Insurance Corporation – later renamed Tower Insurance
- National Airways Corporation – merged with Air New Zealand in 1980
Other Crown-owned companies
Other, non-SOE Crown-owned companies are the Crown entity companies. These are the Crown Research Institutes (CRIs), the broadcasting companies Television New Zealand Limited (TVNZ) and Radio New Zealand Limited (RNZ), and the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund Limited.
See also
- Constitutional economics
- Council-controlled organisation – a New Zealand local government equivalent
- Crown entity
- List of government-owned companies
- Political economy
- Public sector organisations in New Zealand (lists SOEs and Crown entities)
External links and sources
- State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986 as consolidated and amended at the www.legislation.govt.nz site
- Schedule 1 (State Enterprises), State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986 as amended
- Schedule 2 (New State Enterprises), State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986 as amended
- State sector organisations at the State Services Commission site
References
- List of Entities monitored by the Treasury The Treasury, 5 January 2016^
- Schedule 1 – State enterprises State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986, Parliamentary Counsel Office^
- NZ NZ Government. State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986 No 124 (as at 01 December 2014), Public Act 1 Short Title and commencement – New Zealand Legislation