Binning the local government referendum was a good idea

The announcement of a September 7 federal election means the referendum on local government financing cannot proceed on the same day. I argue (along with most federalism and constitutional scholars) that this is a good thing.

The proposed constitutional change was dressed up as a harmless update and feel-good recognition of local government. But it was completely unnecessary and posed a hornet’s nest of accountability problems with potentially deleterious affects on local governance, services and infrastructure.

Read more here, in my article published on The University of Melbourne's Election Watch website.