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Citizens taking back the city
1 November 2017
2017 Henry Halloran Trust Annual Lecture
Last night Dr Marcus Spiller delivered a lecture that called for the establishment of a metropolitan government run by citizens to address our national 'metropolitan challenge'.
The great concentration of fiscal power in the Commonwealth makes Australia unusual in the developed world.
We tend to look to Canberra for quick fixes to our transport, housing and other urban problems, whereas most of our peer countries are pursuing devolution of responsibilities and tax raising to local constituencies.
Does Australia's centralised approach to urban policy stifle innovation, stoke inequality and impede our capacity to mitigate and adapt to climate change? This talk makes the case for a metropolitan sphere of governance in Australia and proposes a reform pathway to this end.
About the speaker
Dr Marcus Spiller is an urban economist and planner with extensive experience in public policy analysis. He is a founding partner of SGS Economics and Planning.
Over his career, he has taken up a range of secondments and in-house consultancies including lecturer in urban economics at Melbourne University, adviser to the Minister for Planning and Housing in Victoria and senior executive in the Queensland Department of Housing, Local Government and Planning.
