Deserving stimulus

The largesse bestowed by the PM on local councils clearly serves as a stimulus for the economy.

Hopefully, it is the beginning of much more than that.

As Professor Percy Allan demonstrated at a recent federalism conference in Tenterfield, local government in Australia is in very dire straits indeed.

Its position is not that of the third tier in a unitary state.

It is a grossly neglected and often bullied subsidiary of state governments; truly the Cinderella and a casualty of the dysfunctional federal system.

Klaas Woldring, Pearl Beach