Financial Performance of Government Trading Enterprises 1999-00 To
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Financial Performance of Government Productivity Trading Enterprises Commission 1999-00 to 2003-04 Research Paper © Commonwealth of Australia 2005 ISBN 1 74037 179 8 This work is subject to copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, the work may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes, subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgment of the source. Reproduction for commercial use or sale requires prior written permission from the Attorney-General’s Department. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Attorney-General’s Department, Robert Garran Offices, National Circuit, Canberra ACT 2600. This publication is available in hard copy or PDF format from the Productivity Commission website at www.pc.gov.au. If you require part or all of this publication in a different format, please contact Media and Publications (see below). Publications Inquiries: Media and Publications Productivity Commission Locked Bag 2 Collins Street East Melbourne VIC 8003 Tel: (03) 9653 2244 Fax: (03) 9653 2303 Email: [email protected] General Inquiries: Tel: (03) 9653 2100 or (02) 6240 3200 An appropriate citation for this paper is: Productivity Commission 2005, Financial Performance of Government Trading Enterprises, 1999-00 to 2003-04, Commission Research Paper, Canberra, July. JEL code: D, H The Productivity Commission The Productivity Commission, an independent agency, is the Australian Government’s principal review and advisory body on microeconomic policy and regulation. It conducts public inquiries and research into a broad range of economic and social issues affecting the welfare of Australians. The Commission’s independence is underpinned by an Act of Parliament. Its processes and outputs are open to public scrutiny and are driven by concern for the wellbeing of the community as a whole. Information on the Productivity Commission, its publications and its current work program can be found on the World Wide Web at www.pc.gov.au or by contacting Media and Publications on (03) 9653 2244. Foreword This report into the financial performance of government trading enterprises (GTEs) continues previous work by the Commission and an earlier series of broader ‘Red Book’ reports of the Steering Committee on National Performance Monitoring of Government Trading Enterprises. There has been a pronounced improvement in the financial performance of GTEs since the early 1980s, primarily attributable to National Competition Policy (NCP) and related governance reforms. Nevertheless, despite some improvement in overall profitability, in 2003-04 over half of the monitored GTEs recorded rates of return below the risk-free government bond rate. This unsatisfactory outcome is difficult to reconcile with government agreements to operate GTEs on a fully commercial basis — a key plank of the GTE governance model. GTE external governance arrangements presented in this report exhibit various deficiencies. These can have potentially serious consequences, given the value of public assets under these arrangements. As noted in the Commission’s recent Review of NCP Reforms, if such businesses are to remain in public ownership, there would be considerable benefits from further governance reform and performance improvement. With current concerns about the adequacy of infrastructure, and the need for further reform identified in the NCP Inquiry, the Commission proposes to continue monitoring the performance of GTEs. This study was undertaken in the Economic Infrastructure Branch under the guidance of Commissioners Michael Woods and Tony Hinton. The Commission is grateful for the continuing cooperation of State and Territory Governments. Input from a range of individuals and organisations on external governance issues has also been valuable. Gary Banks Chairman July 2005 FOREWORD III IV FOREWORD Contents Foreword iii Table of Contents v Abbreviations ix Part A Key points 2 1 Introduction 3 1.1 Scope 3 1.2 External governance 4 1.3 Report structure 5 2 Financial performance overview 9 2.1 Profitability 9 2.2 Financial management 14 2.3 Government transactions 15 3 Interpretation of performance measure 31 3.1 Data 31 3.2 Performance indicators 35 4 External Governance of GTEs 45 4.1 Background 46 4.2 Characteristics of corporatised entities 47 4.3 Government ownership — and the public interest 48 4.4 How can external governance be improved? 50 4.5 Towards best practice 71 CONTENTS V Part B 5 Electricity 77 5.1 Monitored GTEs 77 5.2 Market Environment 80 5.3 Profitability 87 5.4 Financial management 90 5.5 Financial transactions 93 5.6 GTE performance reports 99 6 Water, sewerage, drainage and irrigation 143 6.1 Monitored GTEs 143 6.2 Market environment 147 6.3 Profitability 151 6.4 Financial management 155 6.5 Transactions with government 156 6.6 GTE performance reports 161 7 Urban transport 209 7.1 Monitored GTEs 209 7.2 Market environment 211 7.3 Profitability 214 7.4 Financial management 216 7.5 Transactions with government 218 7.6 GTE performance reports 223 8 Railways 233 8.1 Monitored GTEs 233 8.2 Market environment 236 8.3 Profitability 240 8.4 Financial management 241 8.5 Transactions with government 243 8.6 GTE performance reports 247 VI CONTENTS 9 Ports 259 9.1 Monitored GTEs 259 9.2 Market environment 262 9.3 Profitability 266 9.4 Financial management 268 9.5 Transactions with government 269 9.6 GTE performance reports 273 10 Forestry 321 10.1 Monitored GTEs 322 10.2 Market environment 323 10.3 Profitability 326 10.4 Financial management 329 10.5 Transactions with government 331 10.6 GTE performance reports 335 11 Australian Government GTEs 347 A Monitored GTEs 355 References 359 CONTENTS VII VIII CONTENTS Abbreviations and explanations Abbreviations AAS Australian Accounting Standard AASB Australian Accounting Standards Board ABARE Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics ACCC Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ACTEW ACTEW Corporation Ltd ACTION Australian Capital Territory Internal Omnibus Network Authority AEPU Agreement Equally Proportionally Underperformed AGS Auditing Guidance Statements AIE Australian Inland Energy AIEWI Australian Inland Energy and Water Infrastructure ANAO Australian National Audit Office ANRC Australian National Railways Commission APA Albany Port Authority ARA Australasian Reporting Awards ARG Australian Railroad Group ARIF Australian Rail Infrastructure Foundation ARTC Australian Railtrack Corporation ABBREVIATIONS AND IX EXPLANATIONS ASA Airservices Australia BACL Brisbane Airport Corporation Limited BCC Brisbane City Council BPA Benchmark Pricing Agreement BPC Burnie Port Corporation CCW Cradle Coast Water CHW Central Highlands Water Authority CoAG Council of Australian Governments CPA Competition Principles Agreement CPI Consumer Price Index CSO Community Service Obligation CWW City West Water DBCT Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal DDSO Digital Data Service Obligation DPA Dampier Port Authority DPC Darwin Port Corporation EBIT Earning Before Interest and Tax EDI Electronic Data Interchange ESC Essential Services Commission ESC Act Energy Services Corporations Act 1995 ETEF Electricity Tariff Equalisation Fund ETF Economic Type Framework FPA Fremantle Port Authority X ABBREVIATIONS AND EXPLANATIONS FPCWA Forest Products Commission of Western Australia GBE Government Business Enterprise GCCC Gold Coast City Council GFS Government Financial Statistics GMW Golburn–Murray Rural Water Authority GOC Government Owned Corporation GPA Gladstone Port Authority GPFR General Purpose Financial Reports GPOC Government Prices Oversight Commission GTE Government Trading Enterprise GVW Golburn Valley Regional Water Authority GWh Giga (109) watt hours HEC Hydro-Electric Corporation HIA Hobart International Airport Pty Ltd HPC Hobart Ports Corporation HWC Hunter Water Corporation ICAA Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia ICRC Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission IPART Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal KPI Key Performance Indicator kWh Kilo (103) watt hours MPA Mackay Port Authority MPC Melbourne Port Corporation ABBREVIATIONS AND XI EXPLANATIONS MW Mega (106) watts MWC Melbourne Water Corporation MWh Mega (106) watt hours NCC National Competition Council NCP National Competition Policy NEM National Electricity Market NEMMCO National Electricity Market Management Company NFPS National Forestry Policy Statement NPC Newcastle Port Corporation NRC National Rail Corporation NTER National Tax Equivalent Regime NWWA North West Water Authority OPT Office of Public Transport ORG Office of the Regulator-General OTER Office of the Tasmanian Energy Regulator PAWC Power and Water Corporation PBC Port of Brisbane Corporation PCQ Ports Corporation of Queensland PDC Port of Devonport Corporation PEP Port Enhancement Project PHPA Port Hedland Port Authority PKCTL Port Kembla Coal Terminal Limited PKPC Port Kembla Port Corporation XII ABBREVIATIONS AND EXPLANATIONS PoMC Port of Melbourne Corporation PPA Power–Purchase Agreement PTA Public Transport Authority PTB Passenger Transport Board PTE Public Trading Enterprise QNI Queensland–New South Wales Interconnector QPTC Queensland Power and Trading Corporation QR Queensland Rail QTSC Queensland Transmission and Supply Corporation RBA Reserve Bank of Australia RFA Regional Forest Agreement RIC Rail Infrastructure Corporation SA Water SA Water Corporation SCA Sydney Catchment Authority SCI Statement of Corporate