State-owned enterprises (SOEs) in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

are registered

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared go ...

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 of State Owned Enterprises The Minister of State Owned Enterprises is the government minister in New Zealand responsible for trading enterprises owned by the New Zealand Government (see State-owned enterprises of New Zealand), usually in conjunction with the minister r ...

. 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 Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

. 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

(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).

List of state enterprises

The state enterprises are listed in Schedule 1 of the State-owned Enterprises Act.

State-(part-)owned enterprises

The following table lists entities that are monitored by Treasury, but are not state enterprises (see table above). For a more complete list of government entities and organisations, see

Public sector organisations in New Zealand Public sector organisations in New Zealand comprise the state sector organisations plus those of local government. Within the state sector lies the state services, and within this lies the core public service. Legally, the Legislative Branch ...

Former state-owned enterprises

Former state-owned enterprises come in three forms – those removed from the Schedules of the Act and made

Crown entities A Crown entity (from the Commonwealth term ''Crown'') is an organisation that forms part of New Zealand's state sector established under the Crown Entities Act 2004, a unique umbrella governance and accountability statute. The Crown Entities Act ...

, those removed and not

privatised Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

, and those removed and privatised. Well-known SOEs that became Crown entity companies include broadcasting companies

Television New Zealand , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the Solo ...

(TVNZ) and

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and c ...

(RNZ). * Timberlands West Coast Limited, wound up in 2008 * Learning Media Limited, wound up in 2013 *

Solid Energy Solid Energy was the largest coal mining company in New Zealand and is a state owned enterprise of the New Zealand Government. The company was formed from the former government department State Coal Mines. It was then established as a state owne ...

, wound up in 2018

Privatised state-owned enterprises

Privatised Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

state-owned enterprises include: *

Bank of New Zealand Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) is one of New Zealand's Big Four (banking), big four banks and has been operating in the country since the first office was opened in Auckland in October 1861 followed shortly after by the first branch in Dunedin in D ...

(BNZ); sold to

National Australia Bank National Australia Bank (abbreviated NAB, branded nab) is one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia (colloquially referred to as "The Big Four") in terms of market capitalisation, earnings and customers. NAB was ranked 21st-la ...

in 1992 *

Contact Energy Contact Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generation, electricity generator, a wholesaler of natural gas, and a retailer of electricity retailing, electricity, natural gas, broadband and Liquefied petroleum gas, LPG. It is the second- ...

– sold to cornerstone shareholder and sharemarket float in 1999 * DFC New Zealand Limited – went bankrupt in 1989 and later liquidated * Export Guarantee Office * Fairway Resolutions * GCS Limited – formerly Government Computing Services, purchased by EDS New Zealand * Government Printing Office – became GP Print,

Whitcoulls Whitcoulls is a major New Zealand book, stationery, gift, games & toy retail chain. Formerly known as Whitcombe & Tombs, it has 54 stores nationally. Whitcombe & Tombs was founded in 1888, and Coulls Somerville Wilkie in 1871. The companies mer ...

, Blue Star Group and Webstar *

Government Supply Brokerage Corporation (NZ) Limited A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

* Health Computing Service *

National Film Unit The National Film Unit (NFU) was a state-owned film-production organisation originally based in Miramar, New Zealand, Miramar, New Zealand. Founded in 1936 when the government took over a private film studio, Filmcraft, the NFU produced newsreels, ...

– purchased by

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

and renamed

Park Road Post Park Road Post Production is an international film and television post-production facility located in Miramar, a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. Built out of the state-owned National Film Unit (NFU), the new facility opened upon completion i ...

* New Zealand Rail Limited (The rail operations of the Railways Corporation) – later renationalised as

KiwiRail KiwiRail Holdings Limited is a New Zealand state-owned enterprise responsible for rail operations in New Zealand, and operates inter-island ferries. Trading as KiwiRail and headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand, KiwiRail is the largest rail ...

. *

New Zealand Steel New Zealand Steel Limited is the owner of the Glenbrook Steel Mill, the steel mill located 40 kilometres south of Auckland, in Glenbrook, New Zealand. The mill was constructed in 1968 and began producing steel products in 1969. Currently, the ...

Limited – purchased by

BHP BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...

Post Office Bank Limited Post Office Savings Bank, or very briefly PostBank (trading name of Post Office Bank Limited), was a bank owned by the New Zealand Government as the government's postal savings system. The bank was established in 1867. It became PostBank in 1 ...

(Postbank) – sold to

ANZ ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand ** ...

(Commercial Stations) – Sold to Clear Channel to form

The Radio Network New Zealand Media and Entertainment (abbreviated NZME) is a New Zealand newspaper, radio and digital media business. It was launched in 2014 as the formal merger of the New Zealand division of APN News & Media, APN New Zealand; The Radio Ne ...

. Non-commercial stations

RNZ National RNZ National ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa Ā-Motu), formerly Radio New Zealand National, and known until 2007 as the National Programme or National Radio, is a publicly funded non-commercial New Zealand English-language radio network operat ...

and

RNZ Concert RNZ Concert ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa Kōnohete) is a publicly funded non-commercial New Zealand FM fine music radio network. Radio New Zealand owns the network and operates it from its Wellington headquarters. The network's playlist o ...

remain. *

Rural Banking and Finance Corporation In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

– purchased by the

National Bank of New Zealand The National Bank of New Zealand Limited (NBNZ), often referred to as The National Bank, was one of New Zealand's largest banks. Throughout much of its history, the National Bank provided commercial banking services to mainly major industrial and ...

) *

Shipping Corporation of New Zealand The Shipping Corporation of New Zealand was a New Zealand shipping company created by the Third Labour Government of New Zealand, Third Labour Government led by Norman Kirk in 1973. Background Norman Kirk advocated for the creation of a New Ze ...

– sold to P&O, 1989 * State Insurance Office *

Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Limited Spark New Zealand Limited is a New Zealand telecommunications company providing fixed-line plain old telephone service, telephone services, a mobile phone network, internet service provider, internet access services, and (through its Spark Digi ...

– copper network later unbundled between 2006–2008 *

Terralink International Terralink International was a New Zealand owned and operated provider of geographic information systems (GIS) and mapping solutions. In 2014 it was bought by Property IQ, and has now become CoreLogic NZ Limited; 60% owned by the US-based CoreLog ...

–

GIS A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing Geographic data and information, geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with Geographic information system software, sof ...

provider * Tourist Hotel Corporation of New Zealand Limited * Vehicle Testing New Zealand, sold in 1999 to the Motor Trade Association *

Works and Development Services Corporation New Zealand Works may refer to: People * Caddy Works (1896–1982), American college sports coach * Samuel Works (c. 1781–1868), New York politician Albums * '' ''Works'' (Pink Floyd album)'', a Pink Floyd album from 1983 * ''Works'', a Gary Burton album ...

Ltd which remained in state ownership after the sale of Works Civil Construction Ltd to Downer & Company. Company has been struck off Companies Office register on 21 May 2005.

Former, non-SOE state-owned corporations

State Insurance State Insurance is an insurance company based in New Zealand. , it is a business division of IAG New Zealand, a subsidiary of Insurance Australia Group. History State Insurance was formerly called the State Insurance Office. Previously, it had ...

* Tourist Hotel Corporation * Government Life Insurance Corporation – later renamed

Tower Insurance Tower is a New Zealand-based insurance company which provides car, home, contents, business, boat, pet, travel and other general insurance. History In 1869 the New Zealand Government provided the capital for the creation of the New Zealand G ...

National Airways Corporation National Airways Corporation is a commercial aviation company with its head office on the grounds of Lanseria Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa. The company offers a range of products and services for fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter mark ...

– merged with

Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier airline of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 30 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily around and within the Pacif ...

in 1980

Other Crown-owned companies

Other, non-SOE Crown-owned companies are the

Crown entity A Crown entity (from the Commonwealth term ''Crown'') is an organisation that forms part of New Zealand's state sector established under the Crown Entities Act 2004, a unique umbrella governance and accountability statute. The Crown Entities Act i ...

companies. These are the

Crown Research Institutes In New Zealand, Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) are corporatised Crown entities charged with conducting scientific research. Crown Research Institutes date from 1992, with most formed out of parts of the former Department of Scientific and Indu ...

(CRIs), the broadcasting companies Television New Zealand Limited (TVNZ) and Radio New Zealand Limited (RNZ), and the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund Limited.

References

External links and sources

State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986 as consolidated and amended at the www.legislation.govt.nz site
*

** ttp://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0124/latest/DLM98602.html Schedule 2 (New State Enterprises), State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986 as amended
State sector organisations at the State Services Commission site
{{DEFAULTSORT:State-Owned Enterprises Of New Zealand Lists of companies of New Zealand