Infrastructure Australia, the Government’s advisory body on infrastructure, today published a report “Australia's Public Infrastructure - Part of the Answer to Removing Infrastructure Deficit”. The report calls on governments to examine the viability of selling publicly owned assets to the private sector, in order to fund new infrastructure. According to the report, many assets in the energy, port, regional airport and rail freight sectors could be sold relatively quickly and with only minor changes to current regulatory arrangements.
The report highlights that many of the public's concerns about private sector ownership could be addressed through appropriate regulatory regimes that maintain service levels and protect against monopoly pricing.
Frontier (Australia) provided economic advice to assist Infrastructure Australia with its report.
For more information, please contact Marita O’Keeffe at m.okeeffe@frontier-economics.com.au or call on +61 (0)3 9620 4488.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) today announced that Sonic Healthcare Limited (Sonic) could buy one of the pathology businesses it wished to buy from the troubled Healthscope Limited (Healthscope). Sonic had sought clearance from the ACCC to acquire Healthscope’s pathology businesses in Western Australia and Queensland. The ACCC decided to clear the acquisition of Healthscope’s pathology business in Western Australia, but not in Queensland.
Frontier (Australia) advised the lawyers for Sonic, which included an empirical analysis of the likely effects of the proposed acquisitions on prices for pathology services.
For more information, please contact Marita O’Keeffe at m.okeeffe@frontier-economics.com.au or call on +61 (0)3 9620 4488.
The Essential Services Commission of South Australia today released for public consultation a draft determination to change the wholesale electricity cost allowance.
The Commission is currently investigating the wholesale electricity component of the retail costs that make up the standing contract price. The standing contract is a statutory arrangement under which any residential or small business customers who have not entered into a market‐based contract with a licensed electricity retailer are able to purchase electricity under terms, conditions and prices regulated by the Commission. The investigation was prompted by the Commission’s belief that recent developments in the wholesale electricity market suggested that the forward cost of wholesale electricity was materially lower than was assumed by the Commission in making its initial price determination.
Frontier (Australia) estimated wholesale energy purchase costs for the Commission, which fed into the draft determination.
For more information, please contact Marita O’Keeffe at m.okeeffe@frontier-economics.com.au or call on +61 (0)3 9620 4488.
