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...

This is the final report in a New Zealand Initiative series on local government. It aims to restore accountability, transparency and community responsibility to local government. We propose doing this by setting clear roles for each tier of government, with limits on the ability of either party to act beyond these limits, except where agreed...

In December 2013 the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to a more streamlined council system that focused on its immediate priorities and reduced bureaucracy and unnecessary red tape. The council system aligns with the Commonwealth’s commitment to respect state sovereignty and allow them to get on with policy development and service delivery in areas...

This document is an eight point programme of action designed to address a range of important issues with New Zealand's resource management system with the aim of furthering discussion about what would best suit the country's needs in the coming decade. Local Government New Zealand is advocating for the following key proposals: Integrate resource management...

This paper has been commissioned by Local Government Professionals Australia as a contribution to debate on the future of the Australian federation and as a response to the National Innovation and Science agenda. Australian local government is far from perfect and Local Government Professionals accepts the need for improvement. Nevertheless, it is disappointing that current...