AMALGAMATION METHODOLGIES ARE APPARENTLY IN PLACE

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"The NSW government has approached at least two top bureaucrats to sound them out on the possibility of replacing NSW mayors and councillors if councils are sacked and amalgamations rammed through, according to the president of the state’s peak body for local councils. ........... President of Local Government NSW, Keith Rhoades, said he personally knew two high-level candidates who had been asked for their CVs. ........... Mr Rhoades said speculation was intensifying about the possible existence of a secret list of gun administrators lurking in the wings, should Premier Mike Baird move to dismiss some of the state’s 152 councils and force them to amalgamate. ........... “We’ve been hearing for about four or five months that they [NSW government] have got a bank of about 36 administrators ready to roll. Whether it’s true or not, who knows?” Mr Rhoades said. ........... “I happen to know a couple of the people who were approached but I’ve been told from many sources that there are mid-30’s on the list. ........... “We don’t have any idea how many [councils] will be forced to amalgamate.” ........... Government News contacted Mr Toole’s office to ask if rumours of a clandestine list of top bureaucrats were true and was told: “The Minister has committed to responding to the IPART report and council submissions. The Government will not be speculating prior to this.” ..... Click here to read on  

COMMENT: The notion that this kind of thing should be happening in Tasmania is being discussed. As time passes and as councils flounder in one way or another community debate will begin to get traction. Government's reluctance to force amalgamation is causing frustration in many quarters and its getting accolades from councillors, council bureaucrats and contractors, most of whom have vested interests in the status quo pertaining.

New Zealand's local governance model is gaining the interest of  some ratepayers albeit that Tasmania's and New Zealand's circumstances are quite different. Local government in New Zealand has only the powers conferred upon it by Parliament. Typically these powers are fewer than in some other countries. For example, many councils used to control gas and electricity supply, but nearly all of that was privatised or centralised in the 1990s.

If Tasmania's local governance system is not broken it badly cracked. Recent tinkerings around the edges has failed to impress. For instance as four year councils settle in and fail to deliver a further three years looks like eons away with the prospect of more of the same being too horrible to contemplate.