ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that a practical answer might flow from a reality check on the utility of the current, imported model. It reinforces that view, arguing such a theory is imperative from a public policy perspective. The chapter restates the extant conception of the government owned corporation (GOC) and uses this to pursue a search for key governance principles underpinning the international policy context. The conception of the GOC as a 'halfway house' governance system has been dominant in public policy since the late 1980s. The chapter returns to Australia to review separate local traditions in public enterprise, and how this tradition came to be lost in the interplay between Australian, British and United States post-war political cycles. The longevity of the model in Australia is best explained by a reversion to political drivers similar to those inspiring it in 1979. A key goal of the Thatcher vision was to encourage a new 'property owning democracy'.
