The current reforms to the management of infrastructure in Australia justify an extensive series of books. In this volume, the authors are concerned with the question of access to essential infrastructure facilities which emerged as a major theme of the Hilmer Report, the Competition Reform Act 1995, and actions such as Victoria’s privatization of infrastructure enterprises. The Industry Commission calculated that these and related reforms as a parcel are expected to raise Australia’s national product by some 23 billion dollars per year (5.5%). If effective these would be amongst the most significant macroeconomic reforms to Australia since Federation.

The objective of this book is to throw light on the basic issues addressed in national competition policy. The law which implements this policy received assent on 1 July 1995 and its provisions will be phased in over the next few years. This book begins with a review of the infrastructure facilities currently provided by public enterprises looking at both the scope of such industries and the performance of the firms involved. In Chapter 3, the authors consider the approach taken by the Hilmer Report to the reform of the infrastructure industries and its implementation within national competition policy. Chapter 4 considers the standard issues involved in operating infrastructure industries whether in the public sector or as regulated private sector monopolies. The authors show that both approaches present significant potential problems.

Two other key areas addressed in the book relate to structural questions. Chapter 7 considers whether and how the new rules governing access will affect the investment incentives of facility owners, while Chapter 8 considers whether the structural separation of firms into separate enterprises, for example, with electricity for generation, transmission and distribution is likely to improve the situation. The authors also consider some of the problems which have arisen with the design and implementation of access regimes.

Reference: ISBN No. 1-86448-114-5