Federalism and urban primacy: political dimensions that influence the city–country divide in Australia

Wilkinson, George; McKenzie, Fiona Haslam; Bolleter, Julian

doi:10.1080/12265934.2021.1997631

Cited by 7 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…Similarly Eversole and Walo (2020) contend that colonial centralization was a catalyst for Australia's deep city-country divide; the idea that non-capital regions are non-metropolitan, collectively referred to as regional Australia. Most recently, Wilkinson et al (2022) found that Australia's configuration of intergovernmental power (e.g. strong federal and state tiers juxtaposed with weak substate government) to be consistent with the international experience of primacy -primate cities are political capitals of centralized governments which dominate their members politically, administratively, and fiscally.…”

Section: Explanations Of Primacy In Australiamentioning

confidence: 82%

“…The state capital city coefficient was strong in every period suggesting myopic state agendas by comparison. Importantly, states controlled large scale expenditure responsibilities which, due to their 'entrenched legal powers and constitutional safeguards,' they wield with absolute control over local governments (Burton et al 2002: 41), a top-down dynamic with a long history, more extreme than the federal-state imbalance (Wilkinson et al 2022). Local weakness is illustrated by the proclivity of states to intervene, abolish, redraw and reorganize local governments, a heavy-handed power Australian states exercise frequently, resulting in 'balkanized' capital city regions, urban areas comprised of many small local governments, and states' monopolistic metropolitan control (Sansom 2009b).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…That is, Australian states can empower local governments with relative ease. However widespread skepticism of local capabilities and state paternalism result in weak local government, particularly in legislative and fiscal terms (Wilkinson et al 2022).…”

Section: Australian Federalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Political Centralization, Federalism, and Urbanization: Evidence from Australia

et al. 2023

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The dominance of capital cities (urban primacy) is an enduring characteristic of Australian states. There has been limited empirical research examining the drivers of primacy in states despite some being extreme examples of the phenomenon, both in magnitude and scale. In light of institutional theories of settlement patterns, we developed a profile of Australian urbanization using a century of time-series data, descriptive statistics, and an empirical model of city populations. In Australian states high measures of primacy have endured with little evidence of disruption despite the enormous size of these states, their wealth, and population growth – factors associated with declining and low primacy. Statistically, state capital city status has a significant effect on city population size variation, with results suggesting primacy in states is in part a product of Australian federalism. This contrasts with views that suggest Australia’s scarcity of large non-capital cities is due to isolation, low population, and environmental determinism. The findings in this paper have major implications relative to national and/or state strategies that aim to decentralize population away from the primate cities.

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Section: Explanations Of Primacy In Australiamentioning

confidence: 82%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Political Centralization, Federalism, and Urbanization: Evidence from Australia

et al. 2023

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“…Australia’s local tier is weak with fiscal powers concentrated in the federal and state governments. Consequently, this unique legislative framework impinges municipalities from undertaking entrepreneurial activities, and they are restricted in their ability to build capacity and manage risk (Van Staden & Haslam McKenzie, 2020; Wilkinson et al, 2022).…”

Section: Planning For a Post‐mine Futurementioning

confidence: 99%

Future‐proofing a local government authority for a post‐mining future

Haslam McKenzie,

Eyles

2024

Geographical Research

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The inevitable mine lifecycle sequences of the mining industry and the eventual closure of mines has dramatic impacts on mining communities. The complexities of mine closure and planning for a different future beyond mining demand prescient preparation, preferably long before mines close, to optimise community participation in planning and enhance change management opportunities. Convincing others of the usefulness of imagining a future that is so different from the status quo is challenging, and it is especially difficult bringing an entire community on a long‐term planning journey. The Shire of Coolgardie, a small Western Australian local government authority, has embarked on a long‐term mission to build economic and social resilience, shoring up funds that will assist the Shire to ride out the inevitable mine lifecycle sequences of and diversify its income bases. This article builds an evidence‐based approximation of the economic and social benefits of the initiatives accrued across the Shire, outlining the calculated risks taken by the Shire in its quest to ultimately reorient the local economy to one less dependent on mining income and employment. The article concludes with lessons learned and a discussion regarding the replicability of the successful initiatives for other local government authorities elsewhere, particularly in Australia where the legislative restrictions to generate own‐source revenues are so severely limiting.

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“…The other, related, reason for local government's lesser status is the demographic dominance of capital cities in Australiawhat geographers call urban primacy (Wilkinson et al 2022). Two thirds of Australians live in a capital city region.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Perspectives on local government’s place in federal systems and central–local relations

Phillimore

Fenna

Pandey

et al. 2022

CJLG

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To expand on the themes identified by Tomas Hachard’s paper 'Capacity, voice and opportunity: advancing municipal engagement in Canadian federal relations', the Journal commissioned six personal ‘perspectives’ from a diverse group of other Commonwealth countries – Australia, India, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa and the United Kingdom (UK). This replicated the model adopted in Issue 26 for Zack Taylor’s paper on 'Regionalism from above: intergovernmental relations in Canadian metropolitan governance'. Similarly, the purpose was to establish a broader picture of issues and trends across the Commonwealth, rather than ‘review’ Hachard’s work.

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Federalism and urban primacy: political dimensions that influence the city–country divide in Australia

Cited by 7 publications

References 79 publications

Political Centralization, Federalism, and Urbanization: Evidence from Australia

Political Centralization, Federalism, and Urbanization: Evidence from Australia

Future‐proofing a local government authority for a post‐mining future

Perspectives on local government’s place in federal systems and central–local relations

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