This page has been adapted from a Micro$oft Word document located on the www.localdemocracy.com.au web site.
When Hanlon introduced the Queensland Local Government Act in 1936 he spoke proudly of the ability his Labor government would give small local governments in Queensland - to legislate in their own right. This was revolutionary, he noted, and the way forward. Democratic representation and effective powers in relevant areas were localised and embedded in responsible, independent local governments.
Interestingly, the 1936 legislation did not amalgamate towns or reduce the number of shires from 124 to 74 as had been recommended by the 1928 Royal Commission. Nor did it build upon the Greater Brisbane model of 1924 which saw an amalgamation of two cities, six towns and ten shires. Why in only twelve years had the model been reversed?
The history of this troubled amalgamation and of the "greaterisation" push in the Labor party are fascinating. Whatever the earlier dream, by 1936 the Labor state government had to deal with serious problems in amalgamated Brisbane, as had the earlier Moore government.
Disturbed by the "inefficiency, extravagance and malpractice of the Labor council", the State legislated to control budgeting and financial reporting in Brisbane. Politically committed to providing public works, or infrastructure in today's terms, without increasing rates the amalgamated council had resorted to cooking the books.
A "true deficit of sixty six thousand pounds" was "converted to a surplus of one hundred and twenty thousand pounds by not charging depreciation and renewals against the city fund". Today that would be a multimillion dollar fraud. These men, it seems, did not start off with evil intent. Rather they appear caught between an inappropriate structure and the impossible task they set themselves.
The push for sewerage and city roads in a low tax amalgamated city cost Brisbane dearly. While other Australian cities were progressively sewered, Brisbane had to wait for three decades, Clem Jones' Labor and sufficient financial capacity.
Ever since, the Auditor General has kept close watch on local government finances. Local governments have generally acted responsibly, with state interventions when they have not. As demonstrated in Perspectives on July 24, local governments today are in generally reasonable financial shape, and are not playing the accounting tricks of the earlier amalgamated Brisbane.
In an era when Queenslanders and their new nation were struggling through the long Great Depression they looked with pride to Melba, Phar Lap, Bradman and other Australian inspirations that helped them hope beyond their immediate troubles. The Depression and War eventually passed - but the costs of amalgamation lingered in poor Brisbane.
The current state government push to ridicule this period by perversely using its inspirations aroused my curiosity. Laverty's chapter on "Greater Brisbane and Local Government" in "Labor in Power" edited by Murphy and others sheds much light, the quotes being drawn from it. Those with a greater knowledge of history would be aware of such things, but the rest of us may need to do a little catching up and reflect on the lessons of history.
It took less than a decade for Labor's earlier experiment with grand amalgamation to fail. Might we not learn from our own history and save our selves needless expense and pain incurred from obsessively following a grand but fundamentally flawed idea?
Written on 1 August 07 by Dr Mark McGovern. Dr McGovern is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Economics and Finance at Queensland University of Technology.
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