Privately-owned utilities in 19th century Western Australia

Abstract

The issue of whether network-based public utilities should be government or privately owned has been debated in most countries. The Australian experience is interesting as the various states of that country have seen different shifts in ownership over time. The shift towards government control of the utilities in the state of Western Australia took place at a comparatively later date than in the other Australian states. In this paper, the issue of why private entities initially dominated the utility sector in Western Australia is examined. The state's small size, low income, and Crown colony status, consequently limited ability to borrow, were all found to have contributed.