The rash of privatisations that occurred up to 1999 ceased – and even went into reverse – under the subsequent Labour-led governments. To some extent, this was because the remaining state-owned enterprises would not have been so easily disposed of in a financially profitable manner, without political risk. But, more significantly, during the three terms of the centre-left government, there were some re-nationalizations of previously privatized enterprises. The most prominent were Air New Zealand and the railways. Also, the government used its regulatory powers to prevent Auckland International Airport from falling into the hands of overseas private interests. But these decisions were made in reaction to circumstances (such as the need to inject capital into Air New Zealand to save it from bankruptcy) rather than being driven by an anti-business ideology or electoral manifesto.
The exception to this was the re-nationalization of workers’ compensation. In this case, the previous National-led government had opened the work-injury account of the accident compensation scheme to competitive provision in 1999. Six competing insurers underwrote the employers. But the Labour Party, well before the passage of the relevant legislation in 1998, had warned insurers entering this new market of its intention to renationalize, if elected. Once in power, Labour (and its coalition partner, the Alliance Party) moved quickly to carry out this ‘promise’ (Duncan 2002).
All of the other re-nationalizations, however, were in response to perceived problems arising from special circumstances. But the Labour-led government seemed to prefer re-nationalization to other remedies, even when officials were advising that other options were available. Their policy seemed to be that these were ‘strategic assets’ which needed to remain in New Zealand hands – even though no definition of what constituted a ‘strategic asset’ was ever publicly stated.
The rash of privatisations that occurred up to 1999 ceased – and even went into reverse – under the subsequent Labour-led governments. To some extent, this was because the remaining state-owned enterprises would not have been so easily disposed of in a financially profitable manner, without political risk. But, more significantly, during the three terms of the centre-left government, there were some re-nationalizations of previously privatized enterprises. The most prominent were Air New Zealand and the railways. Also, the government used its regulatory powers to prevent Auckland International Airport from falling into the hands of overseas private interests. But these decisions were made in reaction to circumstances (such as the need to inject capital into Air New Zealand to save it from bankruptcy) rather than being driven by an anti-business ideology or electoral manifesto.
The exception to this was the re-nationalization of workers’ compensation. In this case, the previous National-led government had opened the work-injury account of the accident compensation scheme to competitive provision in 1999. Six competing insurers underwrote the employers. But the Labour Party, well before the passage of the relevant legislation in 1998, had warned insurers entering this new market of its intention to renationalize, if elected. Once in power, Labour (and its coalition partner, the Alliance Party) moved quickly to carry out this ‘promise’ (Duncan 2002).
All of the other re-nationalizations, however, were in response to perceived problems arising from special circumstances. But the Labour-led government seemed to prefer re-nationalization to other remedies, even when officials were advising that other options were available. Their policy seemed to be that these were ‘strategic assets’ which needed to remain in New Zealand hands – even though no definition of what constituted a ‘strategic asset’ was ever publicly stated.
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