Libertarians believe that private enterprise is inherently better at running businesses than the state. The Bolger and Shipley National governments of the 1990s shared this view and privatised many state-owned enterprises, including Air New Zealand, New Zealand Rail and Contact Energy. The ideology was tested in the 2000s when the Labour-led government felt obliged to buy back a near-bankrupt Air New Zealand and a severely rundown TranzRail in the national interest. John Key's National-led government said it would not sell state assets in its first term (2008–11), but would partially privatise some state assets if re-elected for a second term. This 2010 cartoon highlights a popular belief that such a measure would eventually lead to full privatisation, in this instance the sale of the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC).

Courtesy of Malcolm Evans.