❓ The Minister for Local Government clarifies the government's position against forced amalgamations of local councils, while encouraging resource sharing and voluntary amalgamations, particularly in the wheatbelt region due to financial constraints.
AnsweredQoN 34Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS - AMALGAMATIONS
Will the minister inform the house whether she intends to carry out the recommendations of the report of the Local Government Advisory Board, such as the amalgamation of local government councils that it described as financially unviable? Hon LJILJANNA RAVLICH
Will the minister inform the house whether she intends to carry out the recommendations of the report of the Local Government Advisory Board, such as the amalgamation of local government councils that it described as financially unviable? Hon LJILJANNA RAVLICH
AnswerView source ↗
The government’s position on forced amalgamation is fairly clear: there will be no forced amalgamation. However, it is recognised that a number of local government authorities are fairly small. Many of those smaller authorities are in the wheatbelt area. The capacity of those local government authorities to raise revenue is limited because farms have been bought out over time, which has resulted in greater holdings and therefore a diminishing number of people who can be rated. That is a bit of an issue. However, our policy position is very clear; that is, we will not force amalgamations. However, if those local government authorities do not want to go down a full amalgamation model, we want to encourage them to try to achieve some efficiencies through resource sharing. For example, we are looking at the amalgamation of the Town of Northam and the Shire of Northam for exactly that reason. A referendum will take place for both the town and the shire. People have obviously recognised the benefits of those authorities coming together. That is fine. They did it with some support from the department. I hope that support will be there for others who want to go down that path, but the policy levers have not changed.
Hon LJILJANNA RAVLICH replied: The government’s position on forced amalgamation is fairly clear: there will be no forced amalgamation. However, it is recognised that a number of local government authorities are fairly small. Many of those smaller authorities are in the wheatbelt area. The capacity of those local government authorities to raise revenue is limited because farms have been bought out over time, which has resulted in greater holdings and therefore a diminishing number of people who can be rated. That is a bit of an issue. However, our policy position is very clear; that is, we will not force amalgamations. However, if those local government authorities do not want to go down a full amalgamation model, we want to encourage them to try to achieve some efficiencies through resource sharing. For example, we are looking at the amalgamation of the Town of Northam and the Shire of Northam for exactly that reason. A referendum will take place for both the town and the shire. People have obviously recognised the benefits of those authorities coming together. That is fine. They did it with some support from the department. I hope that support will be there for others who want to go down that path, but the policy levers have not changed.
The government’s position on forced amalgamation is fairly clear: there will be no forced amalgamation. However, it is recognised that a number of local government authorities are fairly small. Many of those smaller authorities are in the wheatbelt area. The capacity of those local government authorities to raise revenue is limited because farms have been bought out over time, which has resulted in greater holdings and therefore a diminishing number of people who can be rated. That is a bit of an issue. However, our policy position is very clear; that is, we will not force amalgamations. However, if those local government authorities do not want to go down a full amalgamation model, we want to encourage them to try to achieve some efficiencies through resource sharing. For example, we are looking at the amalgamation of the Town of Northam and the Shire of Northam for exactly that reason. A referendum will take place for both the town and the shire. People have obviously recognised the benefits of those authorities coming together. That is fine. They did it with some support from the department. I hope that support will be there for others who want to go down that path, but the policy levers have not changed.
Hon LJILJANNA RAVLICH replied: The government’s position on forced amalgamation is fairly clear: there will be no forced amalgamation. However, it is recognised that a number of local government authorities are fairly small. Many of those smaller authorities are in the wheatbelt area. The capacity of those local government authorities to raise revenue is limited because farms have been bought out over time, which has resulted in greater holdings and therefore a diminishing number of people who can be rated. That is a bit of an issue. However, our policy position is very clear; that is, we will not force amalgamations. However, if those local government authorities do not want to go down a full amalgamation model, we want to encourage them to try to achieve some efficiencies through resource sharing. For example, we are looking at the amalgamation of the Town of Northam and the Shire of Northam for exactly that reason. A referendum will take place for both the town and the shire. People have obviously recognised the benefits of those authorities coming together. That is fine. They did it with some support from the department. I hope that support will be there for others who want to go down that path, but the policy levers have not changed.
The government’s position on forced amalgamation is fairly clear: there will be no forced amalgamation. However, it is recognised that a number of local government authorities are fairly small. Many of those smaller authorities are in the wheatbelt area. The capacity of those local government authorities to raise revenue is limited because farms have been bought out over time, which has resulted in greater holdings and therefore a diminishing number of people who can be rated. That is a bit of an issue. However, our policy position is very clear; that is, we will not force amalgamations. However, if those local government authorities do not want to go down a full amalgamation model, we want to encourage them to try to achieve some efficiencies through resource sharing. For example, we are looking at the amalgamation of the Town of Northam and the Shire of Northam for exactly that reason. A referendum will take place for both the town and the shire. People have obviously recognised the benefits of those authorities coming together. That is fine. They did it with some support from the department. I hope that support will be there for others who want to go down that path, but the policy levers have not changed.
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