NSW Local Government Minister Paul Toole’s has recently put forward claims that newly merged councils have already saved millions since merging on May 12.

Prof Brian Dollery has joined Dr Joseph Drew from UTS in questioning the claims made by Toole, quoted in Government News:

“It’s highly imprudent of the Minister to make these claims so early in the 2016/17 financial year,” Prof Dollery said. “We’ve got to wait for the financial statements at the end of the year and that will only give us a preliminary feeling for the financial costs and benefits.

“The big costs are only going to come once staff reductions kick in and you have to factor in redundancy costs. There are also obviously IT systems, service harmonization and the like: all come with massive costs.”

The full article can be found via Government News.