Divided we Fall: An Insider’s Perspective on Local Government Amalgamations

Download or read book Divided we Fall: An Insider’s Perspective on Local Government Amalgamations written by Dr Ian Tiley and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2012-12-11 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent Australian local government structural reform has manifested as council amalgamations and predominantly as imposed merger processes. This book examines council amalgamations across Australia over the past two decades and uncovers the case of council amalgamation in the NSW Clarence Valley Council (CVC) since 2004. The case of forced amalgamation of four general-purpose and two county councils could have been a recipe for chaos; instead this book describes the gains and the challenges. Writing from deep seated knowledge of local government this book details the net positive economic outcomes and financial benefits against measurable indicators and describes the impacts on local democracy. Based on detailed research, this long term local government ‘insider’ perspective will be of value to all those interested in driving change through local government reform.