Unlocking the Infrastructure: The Reform of Public Utilities in Australia

The nation's infrastructure is undergoing the most intensive microeconomic, legal and political reform of its history. However, the anticipated benefits of those reforms depend on a range of assumptions and ideologies concerning the best design of public and private infrastructure. This work examines those assumptions, the reforms and how the vision of the reforms may work in practice. Issues covered include the public utility problem, pricing, natural monopolies, access to essential infrastructure, investment incentives and integration of services. All industries are covered, with case studies of telecommunications, rail and gas.