Unlocking the Infrastructure: The Reform of Public Utilities in Australia

by Stephen Peter King, Rodney Maddock

The Australian economy is undergoing its most comprehensive challenge since Federation in 1901. An intensive package of microeconomic reform, driven by the Hilmer Report and culminating with the National Competition Reform Act 1995, is to drag the economy into the age of international competitive advantage.
The heart of these reforms is to increase and make more effective the access of industry to the nation's essential and hitherto public infrastructure facilities. Unlocking the Infrastructure takes a close and essential look at the assumptions, anticipated benefits and intended practice of these changes.
Coverage extends to all infrastructure sectors, with case study examination of telecommunications, post and gas. The policy issues addressed include the public utility problem, access, pricing, natural monopolies, investment incentives and service integration.
Unlocking the Infrastructure is essential reading for the management of, and policy makers for, Australia's infrastructure industries, those companies reliant on that infrastructure, and students and academics in microeconomic policy and reform.

198 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Professor Stephen King is Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Prior to joining Monash University, Stephen was a Member of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). Before that, he was a Professor of Economics at the University of Melbourne and a Professor of Management (Economics) at the Melbourne Business School.

Stephen’s main areas of expertise are in Trade Practices economics, regulation and industrial organization. Stephen was a Lay Member of the High Court of New Zealand. His research in industrial economics has been published widely, including articles in major international economics journals such as the Journal of Political Economy and the Journal of Industrial Economics. In 1985, Stephen received the University Medal from ANU for his undergraduate studies in economics. He completed his PhD in economics from Harvard University in 1991. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.