Accountability in the Privatised State

Using the same economic yardstick (enterprise sales proceeds as a proportion of gross regional economic product), Victoria ranked number one as the world's most ardent privatiser through the 1990s.

For details of these transactions, see Hodge G A , ‘Privatisation: The Australian Experience’, in Parker David Saal David (eds), Handbook on Privatisation (2003).

Of course, large slices of SOE sectors such as transport and electricity provision still nonetheless remain in public hands in most Australian states.

Hodge G A , Privatisation: An International Review of Performance (2000) 280; Walker B Walker B C , Privatisation: Sell Off or Sell Out? The Australian Experience (2000); Rouse Corbitt , Revisiting IT Outsourcing Risks: Re-analysis of a Recent Survey, (Working Paper No 2002/43, School of Information Systems, Deakin University, 2002); Australian National Audit Office, Department of Defence, Commercial Support Program, Audit Report Number 2 (1988).

Industry Commission, Competitive Tendering and Contracting By Public Sector Agencies, Report No 48 (1996); Hodge , above 4.

Russell W Waterman E Seddon N , Audit Review of Government Contracts: Contracting, Privatisation, Probity and Disclosure in Victoria 1992–1999 (2000).

Gray J , ‘Going Private: A Twenty Bn Shake Up’, Australian Financial Review, 11 February 2002, 1, 52–3.

Hall J , ‘Private Opportunity, Public Benefit?’ (1998) 19(20) Fiscal Studies 121–40; Pollitt M G ,; The Declining Role of the State in Infrastructure Investment in the UK', in Berg S Pollitt M Tsuji M , (eds) ‘Private Initiatives in Infrastructure: Priorities, Incentives and Performance’ (2002) 67–100.

Bishop M Kay J Mayer C , Privatisation and Economic Performance (1994).

Hodge G A , ‘Privatisation and Accountability’, in Hodge Graeme Sands Valarie Hayward David Scott David (eds) Power Progress: An Audit of Australia's Electricity Reform Experiment (forthcoming).

Mulgan R , ‘Contracting-Out and Accountability’ (1997) 56(1) Australian Journal of Public Administration 106–16; Donahue J D , The Privatisation Decision: Public Ends, Private Means (1989); Ernst J Harper , Whose Utility? The Social Impact of Public Utility Privatisation and Regulation in Britain (1994); Saunders P Harris C , Privatisation and Popular Capitalism (1994).

For examples, see Wiltshire K , ‘The Paradox of Privatization’ , (1990) 49(2) Australian Journal of Public Administration 195–9 and Hodge , above n 4.

Thomson L , ‘Reporting Changes in The Electricity Supply Industry’ (1993) 9(2) Financial Accountability and Management 131–5; Heald D , A Financial Autopsy on the CEGB, (1989) 17(4) Energy Policy 337–50.

Taggart M , ‘The Impact of Corporatisation and Privatization on Administrative Law’ (1992) 51(3) Australian Journal of Public Administration 368–73; Kelsey J , Rolling Back the State: Privatization of Power in Aotearoa/New Zealand, (1993).

The example of the influencial NZ Business Roundtable — a group of 43 chief executives from the country's largest companies, was symbolic to Kelsey, particularly when the community learned that the government had accepted large political donations, mainly from roundtable members.

Neave M , Presentation at launch of ARC report no 42, ‘The Contracting Out of Government Services’, Canberra, 27 November 1998.

Creyke R , ‘Sunset for the Administrative Law Industry?’ (1998) 87 Canberra Bulletin of Public Administration 39–57.

Tongue S , ‘Protection of Information Rights’ (1998) 87 Canberra Bulletin of Public Administration 66–77.

Mulgan R , ‘Perspectives on the Public Interest’ (2000) 97 Canberra Bulletin of Public Administration 6–12.

Ibid 7.

Shafritz J.M. Russell E W , Introducing Public Administration (2nd ed, 2001).

Mulgan R , ‘Public Servants and the Public Interest’, (2000) 97 Canberra Bulletin of Public Administration 1–4.

Mulgan , above n 22.

Ott S J Russell E W , Leadership and Accountability, in Introduction To Public Administration: A Book of Readings (2001) 355.

Hughes O , Public Management and Administration: An Introduction, (1994) 237.

Shafritz J M Russell E W , above n 21, 352.

Hughes , above n 25.

Funnel W Cooper K , Public Sector Accounting and Accountability in Australia (1998), 46; Official advice was nevertheless still being given that the traditional model was still in operation as late as 1993 at the Commonwealth level.

Corbett D C , Australian Public Management, (1992).

Stone B , ‘Administrative Accountability in the Westminster Democracies: Towards a New Conceptual Framework’, (1995) 8 Governance 8.

Coghill K , ‘Best Practice in Accountability’, (Paper presented at Privatisation and Good Governance Conference, Parliament House, Melbourne. 8 September 2000).

Romzek B S Dubnick M J , ‘Accountability’, in Shafritz Jay M. (Editor In Chief), The International Encyclopaedia of Public Policy and Administration (1998) 6–11. Their analysis of the space shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986 suggested that this had been due to accountability systems shifting away from a professional orientation to a politically responsive, more hierarchical agency.

Ibid. Romzek and Dubnick observed that those favouring hierarchical accountability values ask for priority to be given to supervision arrangements and performance reviews, whilst those favouring legal accountability ask for priority to be given to constitutional principles, laws or contractual obligations. Those favouring political accountability ask for priority to be given to responsiveness — external groups/markets/voters, and those favouring professional accountability ask for priority to be given to best professional practices as occurs when engineers design a bridge.

See Parker D , ‘International Experience in Restructuring Electricity’ in Hodge Graeme (eds), above n 10.

We might also note that the rising expectations of citizens for improved service standards, quality and price complicates any assessment as to the effectiveness of privatisation and accountability arrangements.

Russell E W , ‘Rebuilding Victoria After Kennett’ (2000) Dissent 54–7; Hayward D , ‘How Mr Kennett Lost and how the Coalition Let Him Do It’, (2000) Dissent 58–64.

Hodge , above n 10.

Personal communication with David White, former Minister for Minerals and Energy, Melbourne, 2000.

Hodge , above n 10.

One exception to this is the recent invention of a ‘public interest test’ as part of assessment procedures for public-private partnerships in Victoria.