Another Contradiction - But Pickard Gets It (Partly) Right For Once

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-29

At his meeting with Mayors, Presidents and CEOs on Wednesday, Tony Simpson said that there would be no more money for forced amalgamations (well, he didn't use the word forced - but we wouldn't expect that degree of honesty from him on this matter, would we) but that the loans would be made available over a longer period.

That evening, at a community forum in Mundaring, Shire President, Helen Dullard (who is also a member of the Local Government Advisory Board) said that the reason for Mundaring's low financial sustainability score was that it had chosen to take out loans for much-needed infrastructure and facilities over 30 years rather than the more usual 10 years, in order to make the repayments more affordable.

So what Simpson is now saying to Councils is that the pitiful funding available as loans will now be available on a basis that makes local governments less financially sustainable than they would otherwise be!

Foot in mouth, Minister!

And Troy Pickard is undoubtedly right when he says that "in the short term rates will need to rise to help fund the cost of amalgamations".

He is wrong, however, in his implication that rates will be lower in the longer term. There is no evidence to support this, especially where amalgamations have not been voluntary, and Simpson has either been unwilling or (more likely) unable to provide evidence of savings that will result from his forced amalgamations in Perth.