Josephus, there is some truth in what you say <<small local Councils are most preferable as they see local needs.>>, but don't forget local councils are very much constrained by the Local Government Act and the Minister has a great deal of authority. I also find local councils too often are under party political influence, particularly on contentious issues of development. Amalgamation of councils in Sydney is not new, from small local suburban councils, who in the past were concerned only with the three R's, roads, rates and rubbish to larger ones with a community expectation that they will provide far more services than they once did.

step one
any other party loyalty..is treason[parties cannot be held accountable/yet hold all the power..huh?]party loyalty is treason

colluding to decieve
colluding for personal gain
[Party loyalists are loyal to THE DEAD..IDEAL..THAT IS MUCH LIKE HELL
WITH THEM POORING OUT THEIR WARATH..UPON US THEIR SLAVES...NEUTERD AND SERF..domesticated zombies./docile\.able to follow command.[the ideal soviat-party loyalist]..the 'team player'..taking one for the giffTer..griffeN...WHO OWNS THESE REALMS..IN THE UPper hell.

http://whatreallyhappened.com/podcasts/hourtitle1.m3u
http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=16376&page=1

Local needs spot on.
Less waste from duplication has my vote.
National government looks after, police, defence, age pensions, communications, foreign affairs, immigration, infrastucture, the courts, environment, sure there will be more.

The local government will control, waste, water, employment, education (at national standards), health, welfare coupons, work for welfare campaigns, I'm sure there is heaps more.

Do we really need an everlasting shadow government and over paid state governments with the thousands of public servent hanger-oners squeezing every last dollar they can out of our, 'in there eyes' evergreen money tree that is beginning to show signs of root rot on the lawns of our states and national capital.

Yes rawlo, there is a great deal that needs streamlining between State & Commonwealth, which could save us a fortune. However while unions have so much, [far too much] say, it will never be.

I can't agree with expanding council rolls, it sounds too much like the mostly dysfunctional UK model. Councils are the most corrupt, dysfunctional, incompetent level of government. They need reducing not expanding.

It is far too easy for a clique to get control, & do a lot of damage, before being dismissed. Hell just a quick look at the stupidity & corruption with Clover Moore, & the Sydney council, or the Marrickville council, should stop that idea damn quickly.

The same with the Tasmanian, & ATC governments. Just a large council size really. With minor parties with the balance of power you have total catastrophe.

If you want to drop one level, make it commonwealth. Then WA & Queensland could stop paying for South Oz & Tasmania fiascos, & Canberra could fade to a ghost town, full of 4 legged sheep, as it should always have been.

Firstly we need to drop the methods and procedure either good or bad from the past, as the system we creat will drop the middle governance, spread the load across the local and national governments.
As from our past experiences a referendum is not the way to go and the states grovling politians only the small cream of the crop will probably be voted into the local or national governments.
The difference between the state government sorting through the nations regional council issues or either the national or local government is quite frankly irrellevent, I'm sure once in place as usual a tweek now and then will be required.
Thereafter once settled the haggling of which portfolios go to which government, the rest is a matter of the members just doing what there paid for.
Yeah I know it sounds ridiculous but anything worth doing won't always be easy and not all believe it or not government employees are self scented lying thieveing mongrels :-)

Do we need three levels of government?

The web addresses below highlight the issue.
Who is to blame for the over staffing of our state and federal governments, possibly to late to make them accountable, to late to change the past but the future is something we can write, to correct the mistakes of the passed.
How long do we accept the mass waste of taxpayer funds, before we redirect and rebuild our levels of government.
Using the numbers from both levels of government (from the web addresses below), lets say to be fair as far back as 2010;

62000 employees made redundant, conservetively earning $75 000 pa (guess-tamation)

62000 x $75000 = $4,650,000,000.00
OK lets just say, I've got it wrong what figure would be acceptable, $4 billion - $3 billion, how about $2 billion, again unacceptable waste of tax payer dollars
It would appear at this moment we have select the very best PUBLIC SERVENTS, to take our country into the future, after all these recent job cuts, now would be the best time to look seriously at this prospect, with possibly more savings to come after the duplication is no more.

Who needs THREE (3) levels of government, not Australia.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/queensland-health-takes-brunt-of-redundancies-20120911-25pom.html

http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/07/10/public-service-cuts-where-the-axe-has-fallen/