Hired Guns: Local Government Mergers in New South Wales and the KPMG Modelling Report

Dollery, B; Drew, J

Hired Guns: Local Government Mergers in New South Wales and the KPMG Modelling Report

Dollery, B Drew, J

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Australian Accounting Review, 2017, 27 (3), pp. 263 - 272
Issue Date:: 2017-09-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Dollery, B	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Drew, J https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3579-5758	en_US
dc.date.available	2020-05-25T19:24:19Z
dc.date.issued	2017-09-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Australian Accounting Review, 2017, 27 (3), pp. 263 - 272	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1035-6908	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/51614
dc.description.abstract	© 2017 CPA Australia Across the developed world, including Australia, public policymaking now rests heavily on commissioned reports generated by for-profit consultants, contrasting starkly with the earlier customary reliance on the civil service to provide informed policy advice to political decision makers. Dependence on commercial consultants is problematic, especially given the moral hazards involved in ‘hired guns’ providing support for policy ‘solutions’ desired by their political paymasters. This paper provides a vivid illustration of some of the dangers flowing from the use of consultants by examining the methodology employed by KPMG in its empirical analysis of the pecuniary consequences of proposed municipal mergers as part of the New South Wales’ (NSW) Government's Fit for the Future local government reform program. We show that the KPMG (2016) modelling methodology is awash with errors which render its conclusions on the financial viability of the NSW merger proposals fatally flawed.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Australian Accounting Review	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1111/auar.12163	en_US
dc.title	Hired Guns: Local Government Mergers in New South Wales and the KPMG Modelling Report	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	3	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	27	en_US
utslib.for	1501 Accounting, Auditing and Accountability	en_US
utslib.for	1499 Other Economics	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)/lnstitute for Public Policy and Governance
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - IPPG - Institute for Public Policy and Governance
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	3	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	27	en_US

Abstract:

© 2017 CPA Australia Across the developed world, including Australia, public policymaking now rests heavily on commissioned reports generated by for-profit consultants, contrasting starkly with the earlier customary reliance on the civil service to provide informed policy advice to political decision makers. Dependence on commercial consultants is problematic, especially given the moral hazards involved in ‘hired guns’ providing support for policy ‘solutions’ desired by their political paymasters. This paper provides a vivid illustration of some of the dangers flowing from the use of consultants by examining the methodology employed by KPMG in its empirical analysis of the pecuniary consequences of proposed municipal mergers as part of the New South Wales’ (NSW) Government's Fit for the Future local government reform program. We show that the KPMG (2016) modelling methodology is awash with errors which render its conclusions on the financial viability of the NSW merger proposals fatally flawed.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/51614