Victorians Want Local Councils To Be Abolished, New Polling Reveals

New polling results commissioned by the Herald Sun has revealed most Victorians want local councils abolished or are unsure if they should exist.

Led by leading firm RedBridge, the results also found 57 per cent of Victorians are in support of councils merging – with the bigger local govern areas assisting in cutting costs and sharing resources.  

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The poll results, published by the Herald Sun on Tuesday surveyed 1,189 Victorians late last year found 45 per cent answered “yes” to abolishing council, while about 19 per cent were unsure.

When asked if councils had the right or wrong priorities in place, 40 per cent said “yes”, 33 per cent said “no”, while 27 were unsure.

In the final question, participants were asked if they supported or opposed the state government taking control of all services currently provided by local governments.

Mixed responses were received for the question with 25 per cent in strong support; 20 per cent in support, 11 per cent strongly oppose, 12 per cent oppose, 20 per neutral and 10 per cent unsure.

Ratepayers Victoria vice-president Dean Hurlston told the Herald Sun the damning results were no surprise.

“(They) demonstrate that all Victorians are growing ­increasingly tired of councils,” he said.

“What councils need to win community confidence is to do the basics better and more ­efficiently.

“We would agree that amalgamations would be a great thing for Victoria, providing those amalgamations resulted in more efficient councils.”

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