Local Government News Roundup · Chris Eddy

Suspended mayor, failed merger plan, and market failure - ft. Robert Hicks #555

·40 min·2 clips

Hicks says WA councils spent $9.5 million on health services in 2024-25, up from $6.8 million in 2021-22.

1. Local Government News Roundup #555 focuses on council discipline, failed mergers, infrastructure problems, and regional health funding across Australia. 2. Chris Eddy hosts the episode and introduces Robert Hicks, Curtin University’s Program Manager for Curtin Medical School’s Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training Program, because Hicks is the Roundup Extra guest on rural health funding. 3. The episode asks why WA councils are now funding doctors and other medical services, and whether that pressure reflects a market failure by state and federal governments. 4. Wyndham City Council mayor Josh Gilligan is suspended for one month after an independent arbiter found he breached the councillor code of conduct over a Facebook post calling former mayor Kim McElhinney a "raging lunatic." 5. The arbiter, Simon Heath, says the comments were belittling and abusive, and Gilligan is ordered to publish a written apology within 72 hours. 6. Wangaratta appoints Matt Nelson as chief executive officer from 13 April, with Mayor Irene Grant citing his 25 years of government experience. 7. City of Greater Geelong councillor Ron Nelson resigns as deputy mayor, and a special meeting on 3 March is set to elect a replacement. 8. Upper Hunter Shire Council votes 8-1 against exploring a merger with Muswellbrook Shire Council, despite Councillor Troy Stoltz proposing a so-called super council. 9. A leading economist, Professor Joseph Drew, says up to half of New South Wales councils could face intervention within 12 months, while the NSW Auditor-General has flagged 11 councils including Cobar and Walgett. 10. Newcastle says last year’s Lambton landslip is the largest residential landslip in Australian history, with 16 homes evacuated and repair costs estimated at more than $130 million. 11. Hicks says WALGA surveyed 69 local governments in 2021-22 and found $6.8 million net was contributed to health services, then says that figure has risen to $9.5 million across 41 councils in 2024-25. 12. He describes a council budgeting more than $700,000 for one GP in one town, and says he knows of cases closer to $1 million. 13. Hicks argues that local government is not responsible for funding health care, and that urban-regional inequity has pushed bush councils into paying for services their ratepayers expect. 14. He says Noongarup’s new pharmacist appointment depends on scripts from a GP, showing how one service in a small town relies on another. 15. Hicks says the problem is worse in Western Australia because of distance, workforce shortages, and the cost of getting GPs and allied health workers to regional towns. 16. He says the paper is being peer-reviewed and is designed to highlight the burden rather than prescribe a single fix for every town. 17. The interview style is conversational and detailed, with Eddy pressing Hicks on cost-shifting, workforce development, and what councils can realistically do. 18. The tone is practical and policy-focused, with specific references to WALGA figures, Coolgardie, Noongarup, and Curtin University research. 19. Listeners interested in local government finance and rural health policy. 20. Listeners wanting light news without detailed policy discussion.

As heard by us

A brisk council roundup that widens into the push for GP funding.

This episode keeps moving, but it does not feel loose. It opens with a country-spanning sweep through local government news, from a Victorian mayor suspended for one month to the failed New South Wales merger push, then through council governance, a cat curfew debate, plans for…

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For when you want a local-government roundup with governance drama, council reshuffles, and the question of why councils are funding GPs.

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