(Transcript from World News Australia Radio)
There are claims that the role of state governments could be undermined if voters approve a referendum proposal to recognise local government in the constitution.
The referendum will be held on the matter on 14 September, along with the federal election.
If passed, the federal government would be able to bypass state and territory governments and provide direct grants to local councils.
The plan has the backing of the federal opposition.
But two state Premiers, and some academics, believe it could weaken the role of state governments.
Local councils can currently receive federal government grants, but these grants are channelled through state and territory governments.
The federal government wants the constitution changed so it could bypass the states altogether and provide grants directly to local government.
New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell and the Queensland Premier Campbell Newman have reacted angrily, saying it would weaken the states.
Their concern is shared by Professor Cheryl Saunders from the University of Melbourne's Law School.
"I think it's clear that it undermines the position of the states. It enables them to be by-passed in relation to a whole range of state-type services that are provided across Australia. And one of my concerns about this current proposed referendum is that effectively it extends Commonwealth executive power without adequate parliamentary supervision and I think that's something we should all be concerned about".
However constitutional law expert, Professor Anne Twomey from the University of Sydney supports the current system of the federal government funding local government programs through state governments.
Professor Twomey believes this has worked well since the 1920s.
And she believes there could be a hidden agenda behind the referendum proposal to expand the Commonwealth's powers over the states.
"So if for example the Commonwealth says- 'we'll give funding to the local government through the states if local government introduces our industrial relations policies for their council staff- for example, and the state was opposed to that.The state could say 'No!' What's happening here though however under direct funding is that the Commonwealth could give the money to local government on the condition that the local government introduces WorkChoices or whatever industrial relations system it wants for its people in defiance of the state."
Professor Twomey says at present, local governments are essentially bound by state legislation.
She believes any changes to the constitution could therefore fundamentally change the relationship between local councils and state governments.
However the federal government has emphasised that state governments would retain the power to intervene in local councils and sack them if there was clear evidence of corruption or other serious problems.
The conservative research centre, the Institute of Public Affairs, believes the changes are purely politically-motivated and would not benefit local councils in any way.
A researcher at the centre, Chris Berg says it would allow federal governments of one political persuasion to by-pass a state government of another persuasion and take all the credit for funding local facilities.
"This has nothing to do with local government. It is a power play by the Commonwealth government to push out or marginalise or get a run-around the state governments. Canberra has been promising and trying to do this for nearly half a century and this is yet another attempt to par away power from the states and bring it all together."
Two previous attempts to recognise local government in the Australian constitution failed.
In both those cases, the referendum was put forward by Labor governments.
In 1974 the proposal was only backed by one state, New South Wales, and in 1988, no state supported the move.
For a referendum proposal to succeed, it must have the support of a majority of voters across Australia.
It must also have the support of a majority of voters in at least four of the six states.
Constitutional law expert, Professor Cheryl Saunders believes the current proposal is also likely to fail.
She believes the government has allowed too little time for effective public debate on the issue.
"Well there has been absolutely no public consultation about it at all. Of course this did come up in the context of some discussions that were held by the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government. But this was only one of the issues flagged in the expert panel's report. And it is an odd proposal because in a sense it is not constitutional recognition. Of course, it would mention local government in the constitution in passing. But it's not what local government was originally seeking which was recognition of itself as a tier of government."
