New Zealand's TrustPower Ltd chair Bruce Harker made calls on Friday for the partial privatisation of the country's government-owned power companies as he underscored that under the plan, companies operating in the industry would be subjected to constant pressure of prudently utilising capital and maintaining minimal operational costs.

Dr Harker said that the country ought to give it a try amidst the prevalence of strong structures and competitiveness in the market, with due respect to the 20 percent partial float of the generator state-operated enterprise.

He said that under the plan, the government is set to retain control of the semi-privatised energy firms with clear provisions no mergers would take place through the actions of the others though he clarified that private players must exercise their rights to maintain "listed share prices and along with that, we will have the relentless pressure and judgment of investors and analysts."

Along the way, Dr Harker said that "companies that are less efficient in their use of capital or their operating costs will be judged for that by the market," whose company, TrustPower is 50.5 percent owned by infrastructure investor Infratil and 33 percent owned by Tauranga Energy Consumer Trust, with up to 13,000 small shareholders.

At present, the New Zealand government runs three power generators companies which include Mighty River Power, Meridian Energy and Genesis Power.

Government-owned coal miner Solid Energy suggested last month, through chair John Palmer, that the company and the government should consider partial privatisation but his call earned criticisms even as Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee stressed that Mr Palmer's position was not Solid board's position and was "certainly not the government's view."

Mr Brownlee said that Mr Palmer clearly stepped beyond his mark, clearly echoing the National Party government's

policy of securing state assets when it won election, effectively ruling out the possibility of joint undertaking by private and government players in running the country's power generators.

Australia, on the other hand, is embarking on some privatisation efforts on some state-run facilities as reports came out this week that the Wellington-based Infratil, through its representative, Morrison & Co, is leading a consortium in submitting a proposal for the takeover of the Port of Brisbane, put in the market by the Queensland government for privatisation.