Despite the controversial nature of municipal mergers, Australian local government policymakers have implemented merger programs based on the assumption that ‘bigger is better’ in local government.   Researchers from the UNE Centre for Local Government dispute this assertion and have provided high quality empirical research on local government, including council amalgamation.

In the most recent issue of the Australian Journal of Public Administration four papers have appeared by these researchers which all shed light on municipal mergers.  Professor Brian Dollery from the UNE Business School, together with Dr Joe Drew (UTS), Dr Mike Kortt (UTS) and Dr Elizabeth Sinnewe (QUT), demonstrate that the ‘biggest is best’ presumption has no empirical support.

For example, in one paper it is shown that the Brisbane City Council – the biggest in Australia – does not perform better financially than a sample of smaller councils. Similarly, in another they show that in Victorian local government, citizen satisfaction is not contingent on council size.

As such, Dr Drew and Prof Dollery demonstrate that the current NSW Fit for the Future reform program, which prescribes mergers, is awash with errors.