AMALGAMATING councils in the Wagga electorate would cost taxpayers $17.8 million, costings sought by Labor have revealed.
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The costings from the Parliamentary Budget Office were based on mergers recommended by the Independent Local Government Review Panel – Lockhart and Wagga ($7 million) and Gundagai, Tumut and Tumbarumba ($10.8 million).
“Almost half of these costs will be changes to IT and communications – money which could be better spent improving local roads and sporting grounds,” Labor candidate Dan Hayes said.
Member for Wagga Daryl Maguire said the government had no policy to force councils to amalgamate.
“There are no proposals that have been put forward and there are no forced amalgamations on the government’s agenda,” he said.
When asked by the Advertiser on Thursday if he could rule out that position changing in the next term, Mr Maguire said: “(Amalgamations) are not our policy and never have been.”
