Regional amalgamation: devil is in the details
Re: Residents favour amalgamation (News, Aug. 1).
I suspect the vision of amalgamation supported by residents consists of replacing (for example) 13 chiefs of police each paid roughly $200,000 per year with a single chief of police, paid the same $200,00 per year, yielding a 92 per cent cost savings.
In fact, amalgamation is more likely to mean that we’d end up with 13 assistant chiefs of police, still paid $200,000 per year, plus a new supreme chief of police, paid at least $300,000 per year, yielding a 12 per cent cost increase.
Amalgamation may enjoy widespread support but, as always, the devil is in the details.
Robert Smith, Victoria
