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Local Government in Tasmania: Reforming and Restructuring

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-16, 12:19 authored by Marcus HawardMarcus Haward, Zwart, IC
Tasmania has a long history of failed attempts at restructuring local government boundaries yet managed a major reform process of 'modernisation' between 1990 and 1993 that incorporated major changes to council operations together with a restructuring of boundaries and a reduction from 46 to 29 councils. This process can be compared with a recent attempt to reduce further the number of local governments. In April 1997 the Liberal Premier announced reforms ('Directions for Tasmania') that led to a further reduction in the number of councils. This process collapsed following legal challenges and the proroguing of parliament prior to the 1998 state election. The defeat of the Liberal government saw the abandonment of the proposed amalgamations and etablishment of 'partnerships' between the new ALP state government and councils. This paper compares the 1990-93 and 1997-98 reform processes and evaluates the outcomes of the amalgamations in 1990-93. It argues that the success of amalgamation and reform in local government has been strongly influenced the degree of local government involvement and support in the reform process, lessons that have wider application.

History

Publication title

Australian Journal of Public Administration

Volume

59

Pagination

34-48

ISSN

0313-6647

Department/School

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies

Publisher

Blackwell

Place of publication

Oxford

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Political systems

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