The local government system in Western Australia has two unique characteristics. It is the only state in Australia where there has not been significant reform of the sector. In addition, it is the only state where legislation contains binding provisions for a poll of electors on local government amalgamations. It would be reasonable to conclude...

Editorial note: Local government in New Zealand exists within a fairly well-defined narrative. New Zealand is the most centralised nation within the OECD. Central government is by far the dominant partner in the central-local relationship and recent innovations in local government have tended towards further centralisation, such as the amalgamation into Auckland’s Super-City. While there...

There is a crisis in the funding of infrastructure backlogs across urban Australia, and nowhere is this more marked than perhaps in the outer metropolitan growth councils of our large cities. This paper looks at the infrastructure challenges facing Perth’s outer metropolitan growth councils.