Retail superannuation funds pitch for privatisation FSC chief executive John Brogden. Retail super funds have added to calls for state governments to sell public infrastructure, increasing the debate over privatisation. The Financial Services Council, which represents some of the country's biggest for-profit superannuation funds, including AMP and Perpetual, said the sector was well placed to invest in "brownfield" infrastructure, particularly state-owned electricity networks. But economists have warned against privatisation, saying it would push up electricity costs, and governments would bear the risk should projects fail. In a submission to the Productivity Commission's inquiry into public infrastructure, the FSC urged the federal and state governments to make more assets available. "We believe that capital recycling is a solution to infrastructure funding for both the government and the super sector," FSC chief executive John Brogden told Fairfax Media. It is attractive to us because it means they are putting mature assets onto the market where both the patronage risk and construction risk have been covered. The FSC represents some of Australia's biggest investment bodies, with its 130 members responsible for $2.2 trillion in superannuation. Its comments follow other submissions by industry groups who have called for the government to relinquish control of existing, or "brownfield" assets. These assets are viewed as highly valuable to the private sector because the government has already borne the cost and risk of construction. David Richardson, an economist and senior research fellow at The Australia Institute, warned against the privatisation of state electricity networks, saying that it would lead to an increase in the cost of electricity. "We've seen that with the privatisation of electricity the result has been that costs have gone up, contrary to advocates of privatisation," he said. We've got this thing going on now where, for example, AGL and Origin compete for customers against each other, so there's all this wasteful competition. We've got people making all sorts of claims on ideological grounds, but the evidence doesn't stack up. Mr Brogden said NSW was a model for future privatisation plans. What we're looking for out of the government is a pipeline of assets that provide us [with] a clear indication of assets for sale. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims triggered a debate this month by saying consumers would pay lower electricity prices if state assets were in private hands. "There is no doubt in my mind that energy prices, particularly in NSW and Queensland, would now be lower had the private sector owned those network businesses rather than them staying in the pubic sector," he said.