Creating and co-creating value in public service delivery: The evolving role of local authority chief executives in Australia and New Zealand

This paper examines the way in which the role of the local government chief executive officer (CEO) has been transformed in both Australia and New Zealand over the last 50 years. Principally the paper argues that there has... [ view full abstract ]

This paper examines the way in which the role of the local government chief executive officer (CEO) has been transformed in both Australia and New Zealand over the last 50 years. Principally the paper argues that there has been an on-going evolution and transformation from a traditional Weberian bureaucratic town clerk role to a role in 2017 which draws upon a managerial and leadership skillset of growing complexity.

Whilst the local government structures within NZ and Australia are distinct – both share a foundation of a Westminster style system of democratic government. NZ enjoys a uniform local government structure nationwide created by legislation within a unitary state framework. Within Australia each state and the Northern Territory defines its own particular structure and system of local government. Despite these differences, however, there are discernible factors which enable a common framework of analysis vis a vis the role of the local government CEO to be analysed. This paper will address four principle key themes:

• The traditional town clerk role. This role is synonymous with the administrative guise associated with the Weberian model of bureaucracy, stability and transactional leadership.
• The era of the New Public Management revolution (Hood, 1991) was unleashed within local government in NZ in 1989 and in Australia soon after.
• From 2002 in NZ and 2007 with Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister in Australia both national governments began embracing the so-called ‘Third Way’ popularised in the academic literature as New Public Governance (Osborne, 2006).
• A post NPG era driven by both post GFC discontent and the view that governments at all levels have to differing degrees abdicated the role of governing underpinned this shift. .

Internationally there is a body of literature relating to the evolving role of local government CEOs – most notably the UDITE Leadership Study in the late 1990s led by a team from what is now the University of Southern Denmark (cf. Klausen and Magnier, 1998; Svara and Mouritzen, 2002; Dahler-Larsen, 2002). Very little academic work has been done around this area, with Asquith (2008; 2012; 2016) in relation to NZ and Jorgensen, Martin and Nursey-Bray (2017) in relation to Australia being notable exceptions. Hence this paper seeks to contribute towards closing a significant gap in the literature.