2013
Visiting Professorship Position
In December 2012 and January 2013, Brian was Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Economics, Yokohama National University (YNU). During the period in Japan, Brian visited Professor Ishida at Tokushima University in Tokushima City. He delivered a paper entitled ‘Financing Local Infrastructure through a National Finance Authority’ to Economics Faculty, Tokushima University, on17 December, 2012. At YNU, Brian presented an address entitled ‘Financing Local Government Infrastructure Using a National Finance Authority’, as Special Lecture in the Master's Program in English, on 17 January 2013.
Simone Valle de Souza took over from Dr Bligh Grant as Research Lecturer in the UNE Centre for Local Government on 1 February 2013. Bligh has taken up a permanent lecturing appointment in the UNE School of Business Simone has completed a PhD in Economics and submitted it for examination. She awaits the results. Simone will work closely with Professor Dollery and Dr Kortt on structural change in NSW local government.
Dr Mike Kortt from Southern Cross University spent the period 24 to 28 February, as well as 14/15 March, at the Centre for Local Government working with Simone de Souza and Brian Dollery on preparing data and econometric models for assessing various aspects of NSW local government performance. In particular, Mike has produced a panel dataset which contains inter alia performance indicators. This will be used to investigate the comparative performance of different types of NSW councils, as well as explore the performance of forcibly amalgamated councils relative to their unmerged counterparts. During his time in Armidale Dr Kortt was especially impressed by New England wine and tried more than 50 brands. On 23 February Dr Kortt and Professor Dollery attended the Local Government Reform Forum in Stanthorpe, which concentrated on de-amalgamation in Queensland. The conference was attended by numerous delegates, including the Queensland Local Government Minister and Senator Barnaby Joyce. Brian delivered an address entitled ‘Is Bigger Better in Local Government’. Brian and Mike held fruitful discussions with numerous Queensland local government officers and representatives.
In March 2013 Professor Yukio Kinoshita of Iwate University in Morioka City in the Tohoku Region of Northern Japan visited the UNE Centre for Local Government. Yukio has been a member of the UNE Centre for Local Government since 2006. In January 2012, he and Professor Brian Dollery held discussions with the mayor and officials in the Oshu City, a couple of hours from Morioka City. Oshu City had not only been recently amalgamated, but had also been badly affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011. Yukio’s research fields lie primarily in the management of water resources. He first came to Armidale in 1997 to undertake research in the (then) UNE Centre for Water Policy Research.
Yukio’s visit to the UNE Centre for Local Government in 2013 was supported by a 2012 Endeavour Award from the Australian Government as part of its education assistance package in response to the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. He is working on a joint paper with Brian on local infrastructure reconstruction finance following natural disasters; this will involve a comparative study of local infrastructure reconstruction finance following the Queensland floods and the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. Professor Kinoshita has observed that ‘the strong links forged between the UNE Centre for Local Government and Iwate University have contributed significantly developing of a knowledge base and skills for community reconstruction after natural disasters’. Professor Kinoshita also expressed his gratitude to members of the UNE Business School, and especially Kylie Flack, for accommodating his visit and making him feel welcome.
Professor Kinoshita enjoying eco-cruising on the Murray River