In the editorial today in the Dominion Post on the Solid Energy fiasco, the editorial writer made quite an extraordinary statement:
“Ideologues of the Right will claim that the whole sad fiasco shows the dangers of the state getting into business. This is simple-minded. Not all SOEs have ended up hundreds of millions of dollars in debt. Some SOEs have been well run; some have not.”
It is absurd to claim that making a $20 million net profit on a portfolio of $30 billion in state owned enterprises in 2013 is some sort of reasonable investment for the taxpayer.
Opponents to the sale of minority shareholdings in a few state owned assets would have us believe that the government is selling the family silver.
Treasury’s annual portfolio return shows that silver isn’t returning much:
Government businesses with assets worth $45 billion made a total net profit of just $20 million in the year to June 30, according to the Treasury’s annual portfolio report.
The assets don’t include Meridian Energy, Air New Zealand and Mighty RiverPower, which were partially privatised, but cover troubled entities like KiwiRail, Solid Energy and New Zealand Post, which are all struggling to make their business models work.
The annual review covers Crown-owned assets valued at $125b.
Total shareholder…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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