Ethical Issues in Australian Local Government

Abstract

In turning to examine Australian local government from an ethical perspective, we discuss three salient issues. First, the casual observer of Australian politics might conclude that local government is beset by problems of governance, probity and corruption. Following a survey of recent episodes of this type, we concede that while evidence suggests that this might be correct, approaches to addressing these issues have to be carefully considered. Second, we argue that a far more positive narrative for Australian local government can be constructed from the theory of public value creation . We argue that this theory provides an ethos for Australian local government writ large, at the same time recognising that public value creation involves risks and, consequently, the possibility of failure. Third, examining state-local government relations from an ethical perspective, we observe that public policy debates concerned with reforms to local government, particularly programs of amalgamation, are often characterised by utilitarian-based claims set against rights-based claims. We suggest that the Principle of Double Effect (PDE) is useful in moving beyond these approaches, in particular in directing our attention to the issues of proportionality and intent on the part of policy-makers.