Change Agents: Stuart Morris and Leonie Hemingway on Australia’s most radical reform of local government

Stuart Morris QC (left) and Leonie Hemingway (formerly Leonie Burke) led the Labor and Liberal governments' attempts at reforming local government. Andrew Dodd, CC BY-ND

Victoria’s council reforms in 1994 remain Australia’s most radical restructuring of local government.

The changes under the Kennett government reduced the number of councils from 210 to 79 through amalgamations.

In this episode of Change Agents, Andrew Dodd brings together Stuart Morris QC and Leonie Hemingway (formerly Leonie Burke), the two people who respectively led the Labor and Liberal governments’ attempts at reform.

They speak for the first time publicly about their successes and failures on the road to this overhaul of local government.

---

Change Agents is a collaboration between The Conversation and the Swinburne Business School and Swinburne University’s Department of Media and Communication. It is presented by Andrew Dodd and produced by Samuel Wilson and Andrew Dodd, with production by Heather Jarvis.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.