Opinion pieces
- Cheryl Saunders, ‘Recognising local government needs rethink’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 22 May 2013.
- Anne Twomey, ‘Referendum chaos – do ministers really know what they are proposing?’, The Conversation, 21 May 2013.
. - Shipra Chordia, ‘Explainer: why are we having a referendum on local government?’, The Conversation, 13 May 2013.
- Nicola McGarrity and Lyndon Goddard, ‘Council Recognition a Referendum Challenge’, The Drum Opinion, 10 May 2013.
- George Williams, ‘Constitutional change makes sense’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 May 2013.
- David Mitchell, ‘Why Local Government Should Not be Recognized in the Constitution’, Quadrant 55(4), April 2012.
- George Williams, ‘Eleventh hour for action to change federal funding to local councils’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 January 2013.
- Andrew Lynch, ‘All politics isn’t necessarily local’, Inside Story, 10 January 2012.
Journal articles
- Anne Twomey, ‘Always the Bridesmaid – Constitutional Recognition of Local Government’(2012) 38(2) Monash Law Review 142. Accessible here:
- Nicola McGarrity and George Williams, ‘Recognition of Local Government in the Commonwealth Constitution’ (2010) 21 Public Law Review 164.
- Stephen Jones, ‘A New Deal for Local Government?’ (2009) 2 Australian Review of Public Affairs Digest.
Reports, submissions, papers and other information sources
- Lenny Roth, Constitutional Recognition of Local Government
- Media Release: Prime Minister, Minister for Local Government, Attorney-General; ‘Referendum on Local Government Recognition’, 9 May.
- Media Release: Minister for Local Government, Attorney-General, ‘Release of draft constitutional amendment to recognise local government’, 16 May.
- [Note that this media release does not display the correct wording of the proposal, which can instead be viewed here].
- Explanatory Memorandum on the referendum proposal, as introduced into Parliament.
- Joint Standing Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government, Final Report (March 2013).
- Shipra Chordia, Paul Kildea, Andrew Lynch, Nicola McGarrity and George Williams, Submission to Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government, 14 December 2012.
- Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government, Final Report .
A Selection of submissions:
- Paul Kildea, Andrew Lynch, Nicola McGarrity and George Williams, Submission to the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government, 1 November 2011.
- Australian Local Government Association, Submission to the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Local Fovernment, October 2011.
- Randwick City Council, Submission on Discussion Paper issued by the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government, October 2011.
- Anne Twomey, Submission to the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government, 3 November 2011.
- Premier of NSW, Barry O’Farrell, Submission to the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government, 25 November 2011.
- Constitutional Reform Unit, University of Sydney, Alternative Yes/No Case.
- Constitutional Reform Unit, University of Sydney, FAQs on the Local Government Referendum.
- James Spigelman, ‘Constitutional Recognition of Local Government’, speech at the Local Government Association of Queensland 116th Annual Conference, 24 October 2012.
- Anne Twomey, ‘Local Government Funding and Constitutional Recognition’, University of Sydney Constitutional Reform Unit, Report No 3, January 2013. Available here:
- Lyndon Megarrity, ‘Local government and the Commonwealth: an evolving relationship’, Parliamentary Library Research Paper No 10, 3020-11, 31 January 2011.
- Australian Local Government Association, The Case for Change: why local government needs to be in the Australian Constitution, November 2012.
Newspaper articles
- Phillip Coorey, ‘Poll: referendum on local government likely to pass’, The Australian Financial Review, 20 May.
- John Ferguson, ‘Council vote won’t be easy’, The Australian, 18 May.
- Daniel Hurst, ‘Labor tries to allay state fears of power grab’, The Canberra Times, 16 May.
- Adam Creighton and Christian Kerr, ‘Vote to bypass states doomed’, The Australian, May 15.
- Judith Ireland, ‘Abbott not ready to back local councils referendum’, The Sydney Morning Herald, May 14.
- Judith Ireland, ‘Councils referendum to be put to voters at poll’, The Sydney Morning Herald, May 9.
- Emma Griffiths, ‘Gillard confirms local government referendum’, ABC News Online, May 9.
Other media
- ‘Local government and the Constitution’, RN Sunday Extra, 19 May – featuring George Williams, Greg Craven and Stephen Mayne.
Information on referenda generally
- Australian Electoral Commission, Constitutional Referendums, Fact Sheet, November 2010.
- Scott Bennett, ‘The Politics of Constitutional Amendment’, Parliament of Australia Research Paper No 11, 23 June 2003.
- George Williams and David Hume, People Power: The History and Future of the Referendum in Australia (UNSW Press, 2010).