ABSTRACT
Reorganising the territorial networks of governments into which the state is divided is invariably a sensitive issue, what Wood (1974) called a political ‘hot potato’. Usually encountering the opposition of the localities themselves, political influences at the centre may also militate against reorganisation. National politicians with a local constituency vote to cultivate will be mindful of local interests. This chapter examines the problems of implementing reorganisation in Australia as they have arisen within the federation and, more particularly, as they arose following the attempts at recasting the map by the short-lived Labor Government of 1972–5. Two related propositions are examined. First, that attempts to alter the structure nationally within a federation are problematic precisely because of the federal make-up of the state and, second, that any such attempts will need to find some compromise between the different levels of government party to the change. Failing such compromise, any new structure will probably be short-lived.
