An analysis of the criteria used by Australian local government amalgamation inquiries between 1960 and 1992

Between 1960 and 1992 Australian state governments held numerous formal Inquiries into the question of appropriate local government boundaries. The deliberations and subsequent reports produced by these Inquiries provides an instructive and informative historical background to contemporary debates surrounding the controversial issue of local government amalgamation. This paper outlines and examines the major criteria invoked by these Inquiries. It is argued that not only are many criteria intrinsically incoherent, but that they have also generally been inconsistently applied to the problem of local government amalgamation.