Privatisation was the bogey for the left during the 2003. Most people are over it. Further, compared to other countries we seem to have few captains of industry who many recognise. There are not enough of the likes of Stephen Tindall, but plenty of ex politicians and Wellington civil servants feeding at the trough, and gouging the public.

I would sign up for that as well Bill.....if Weldon applied the same logic to his own company and voluntarily handed in his regulatory capacity and focused on being a player in a true free market.

The SOE rules seem to apply to one sort of business and not his own.

Agree Bill. Long-term ownership control can be achieved at 51%, or 75%, or whatever %, as long as there is a majority control position and a constitution that embeds that with supermajority and other provisions. We could probably free up to about $10b (asset base of SOEs is $40b) by partially listing 25% of each SOE. Could quite easily sell to NZers only. While the free market may squeal about this, at some point foreigners will look to buy on the market - and the NZers who bought will get a profit. That is a detail, but thing is that we could fund superannuation, tax cuts, infrastructure, etc instead of having so much "dead capital" locked up in SOEs. More than that, it is guaranteed that the performance of SOEs will improve with a partial listing - as there will be transparency into their performance - and they will have to up their game. There will thus be two good effects for NZ, and no downside.

Weldon pushing them to think about how to maximise value is sensible stuff. It is time for this conversation. Bizarre actually that it has to be said. Same in terms of flash openings for the elites. Disgrace how these directors "pay" themselves by making themselves feel important at such things - thus continuing their political career in a way.

Not sure Cactus Kate is right, or that there is even a parallel with NZX. NZX is listed and she seems to be saying to delist a part of it? This is the other way around. And, more importantly, where would that function go? To the Securities Commission? Please - look how good they were with finance companies. That would not improve things. NZX maybe should get rid of it, but need to find a better home that is better governed first I would think. Anyway, key point here is that SOE performance must improve, and we need a strategy for that. The one Weldon lines up is bang on

Firstly, why sell off assets? Sell off liabilities. All that privatisation does is surrender kiwi ownership into foreign hands so that we effectively end up importing (profits go overseas) local services. Seems crazy that we currently import banking & phone services at a cost of $5-6bn each year - gee, isn't that almost our current account deficit?

I would prefer the Government to concentrate on opening up competition to not only SOE's but other government monopoly's like ACC which have become nothing more than a vortex of waste for the losers in society that can't fix their ankle sprain. The taxpayer has become nothing but a gravy train for Physio's through ACC. Time to make everyone responsible for their own healthcare as this will encourage people to take better care of themselves, exercise, go on a diet, stop smoking, stop getting drunk on Fri/Saturday night and getting into brawls and causing car crashes with innocent people, take responsibility for their own base jump mis-hap and other risky sports etc etc

I quite like kiwibank. Yes there are cues in the Post Office but its part of the charm and where else can the girls and chinese lads get a job to train as bank clerks. The railways well I was the guy who wrote just about every article to justify rail privatisation in l991-93 published in New Zealand. At the time I believe it was a justiifiable anarchistic kick to clean old the old and dead. It was criminal but sometimes criminal actions are justified and I beleive there was know way the old Brit Rail with its unions and drabness could have been allowed to go on. Yes there were job losses and accidents but different acccidents would hav occured under state control. Private owners didn't cut services Helen Clark did. It was Clarka nd Cullen who refused to subsidise the Waikato connection, Bay Express and Southerner and axed the Northerner. All to get even with e boys and Fay Richwhite. The absurd claims of insider training over Tranz Rail shares where th nadir of NZ Legal History. David Richwhite settled for $20 million. The following day Micheal Fay sold the highly succesful English, Welsh and Scotish for 50 million pounds. REd ink all over Clarka nd Rebstock.

Nice column Bill. Well said on all counts. SOEs a big blimmin killer for our productivity, and having people like Bolger and Cullen involved who have not exactly been experts in either growth or productivity in their careers, gives no confidence at all. These are also the people who will love opera, ballet, private boxes at the races, etc. Ex-politicians hosting current politicians at fancy pants events is useless.

Shows they do not want to run commercial enterprises, but they want to run "powerful" enterprises. This is not what NZ needs. Partial float will improve all this. Bring it on quickly please

The idea that Bill English would try "to balance the books in the teeth of a howling recession" simply reflects how bereft of ideas this government really is.

Every other Western government is engaged in Keynsian expansion and trying to preserve jobs. English is busy destroying jobs as fast as he can - another 550 gone at MSD today, I see - and trying to behave like a cheap plastic Ruth Richardson. It will achieve nothing other than making the recession deeper and harder than it needs to be.

And the idea that privatising SOEs will produce economic benefit for the country is equally laughable. If I recall correctly, the last lot - the power companies established under National's "market reforms" - have just finished ripping off consumers to the tune of $4.3 billion. I'm sure that as fully privatised corporations they will be even more ruthless at exploiting their natural monopoly positions to the detriment of working New Zealanders.

But for all that, it was a fabulously ironic column Bill - you really had me thinking you were serious for a moment there.

A first step to sane politics would be a requirement for all political journalists to have qualifications in economics before they are allowed to publish economic commentaries in our major media. Otherwise their comments should carry a mandatory health warning: "This opinion is probably complete nonsense."

The same goes for such second-hand opinions as Clarke #8. There will be plenty more like it as soon as the voodoo word "privatisation" is chanted to bring them screaming out of the woodwork.

Labour had a decade to make SOEs work and failed. They are due for reform but I probably agree with Key that is a second term job. There is much else to tackle first.

Alan #9 I did do Economics at university but that doesn't prevent me, I am sure, from talking nonsense at times. Still, I think the debate on partial privatisation is vital, especially as the government WILL push on with it from 2011. Clarke #8 I don't think English is Richardson in drag, he seems to be taking a much more balanced approach (ie. no dumb slashing of benefits etc). The reason NZ can't follow those Western nations and hurtle wholesale down the Keynesian path is we already carry a critically high level of debt. I think the government has been traveling a sensible middle path but will, over the next two years, be forced into harder and harder calls.