Divided We Fall: An Insider's Perspective on Local Government Amalgamations

Abstract

Australian state and territory governments have frequently used the 'blunt instrument' of forced municipal mergers as a preferred method of local government structural reform. However, virtually no case study analysis has been made of the benefits and disadvantages of amalgamation in the Australian context. This book commences with consideration of local government structural reform in selected Anglosphere and OECD countries. Structural reform, specifically in the form of council amalgamation, is then addressed in the Australian context with a focus on the 1999-2000 voluntary and 2003-04 forced amalgamations in New South Wales. The New South Wales voluntary and imposed amalgamation process is considered for the case study, Clarence Valley Council (CVC) New South Wales. CVC is the result, in 2004, of the forced amalgamation of four general-purpose and two county councils. Such a detailed case study has not previously been undertaken in Australian municipal mergers. The case study establishes that there can be positive economic outcomes from amalgamation, and finds that there are benefits from economic rationalisation by assessing the available CVC financial data against 12 measurable indicators which have been used by advocates of amalgamation. The economic disadvantages of the amalgamation are considered and investigated.