Australia's angry mayors: how population growth frustrates local councils

• Oliver Marc Hartwich, Adam Creighton
• The Centre for Independent Studies

Read the full text

Image: jonmartin () / flickr

18 July 2011To understand the effects of a growing population on Australia’s councils, CIS surveyed local authorities from all over the country. The results are alarming. The level of frustration with inadequate finance for required infrastructure upgrades is high, and population growth is the reason behind rate hikes. Local government finance reform is overdue.

Debate about population routinely dominates politics in Australia, including the (in)adequacy of Australia’s infrastructure and the potential impact on our environment.

Much of the debate revolves around national statistics and aggregates. What will Australia’s population be in 2050? What will Australia’s ‘carbon footprint’ be in 2030? What is the appropriate annual level of immigration? Although important, these questions often obscure the impact of population growth on local communities, and the impediments and incentives they face in accommodating more people.

Local councils are at the coalface of population growth. Their ability to adequately provide basic infrastructure for more people will affect how Australians perceive the costs and benefits of population growth.

Population growth affects a council’s budget. It usually results in extra revenue from charges and rates, but it also requires extra investment in infrastructure and increased spending on services. If we want to find out how local government is predisposed to dealing with population increases, we need to understand how extra revenue and extra costs play out in practice.

Image: jonmartin () / flickr