Economic development is a priority of all levels of government; irrespective of country, constitution or system of governance. This is particularly the case in Australia, where federal, state and local tiers of government are undertaking activities intended to support economic growth. However, roles and responsibilities are not always clear, which reflects inter-organisational, intergovernmental and intra-organisational...

Undertaking experiments in public policy is like any other innovation – it requires a mix of disruption, a committed and talented team, and, most importantly, the courage of leaders to let go of bad rules and explore new ways of doing things. This approach can be economically and politically risky, particularly when the communities being...

A review of the Regional Development Australia program recommends that the program cease operation and be replaced by a new Australian Regional Business Advisory Board, a network of Directors of Regional Development, a Regional Collaboration Fund and a Regional Investment Commissioner.

This article looks at constitutional and contractual resolutions to central-local relations, looking to see in what ways each approach could benefit the power and autonomy of local councils. Sir Geoffrey Palmer and Andrew Butler recently released their draft constitution for New Zealand, which joins a rich body of work on the subject of constitutional reform...

The decision to put the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill (No 2) on hold in September 2016 demonstrates clearly the strength that local government has as a unified political voice within New Zealand's democracy. In a smilar way to what occured uin 1989 the Bill promoted the Local Government Commission as the protagonist for...