While AHBs were being established during the 1980s,
the New Zealand economy underwent radical reform.
Drawing on free market economics thinking, the fourth
labour (left-leaning) government (1984–1990) introduced
major policies to liberalise the economy; inter alia, deregulating
the financial system; reducing government assistance
to key sectors, e.g. farming; removing or reducing
trade protections; and selling key government-owned organisations
or turning them into more business-oriented
state-owned enterprises (SOEs) with an emphasis on
reducing costs and ensuring profitability [15].