Neoliberal and post-political urban governance: local government amalgamations in New South Wales, Australia

Abstract

The state of New South Wales (NSW) in Australia experienced council amalgamations from 2014 to 2017, amidst widespread disagreement from residents, community groups, councils, and politicians concerning the strategies and policy goals of the state government. In response, this article explores the experience in terms of a neoliberal and post-political framework, which offers a compelling lens to investigate the amalgamation aims and activity. A qualitative mixed methods approach is used to present a case study of three urban councils. The research reveals the critical underlying neoliberal/politico-economic benefits of amalgamation, and elucidates the techno-managerial, post-political processes employed by the state government in pursuit of its goals.

Keywords:

• neoliberal
• post-political
• urban governance
• local government amalgamations
• New South Wales
• Australia

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Macquarie University, Australia, for supporting the research for this article through an international Research Training Pathway (iRTP) scholarship.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.