State-owned enterprises A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governme ...

(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 coun ...

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 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 differ ...

. The section of the Act defining this is usually interpreted as meaning that SOEs are expected to ready themselves for

privatisation 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 ...

, 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.

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, 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 cu ...

(RNZ). *

Timberlands West Coast Limited Timberlands West Coast Limited was a New Zealand State-owned enterprise based on the West Coast. It was formed to manage the native and exotic forests on the West Coast of the defunct New Zealand Forest Service. A large quantity of interna ...

, wound up in 2008 *

Learning Media Limited Learning Media Limited ( Māori: ''Te Pou Taki Kōrero'') was a New Zealand state-owned enterprise. The company published most of the Ministry of Education's material. A division of the Ministry until 1993, it continued to publish the ''New Zealan ...

, 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 state-owned enterprises include: *

Bank of New Zealand Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) is one of New Zealand's 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 December 1861. The ...

(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 – 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 * Health Computing Service *

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

– 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 * New Zealand Rail Limited (The rail operations of the Railways Corporation) – later renationalised as KiwiRail. * New Zealand Steel Limited – purchased by BHP * Post Office Bank Limited (Postbank) – sold to ANZ *

(Commercial Stations) – Sold to Clear Channel to form The Radio Network. 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 oper ...

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 of ...

remain. * Rural Banking and Finance Corporation – 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 – sold to P&O, 1989 * State Insurance Office * Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Limited – copper network later unbundled between 2006–2008 * Terralink International – GIS 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 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 , background_color = #012169 , image = New Zealand G ...

* National Airways Corporation – 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 Ind ...

(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