WA Minister Calls for Perth Council Merger Amid Governance Concerns

The "diabolical" City of Perth should be merged with its neighbouring council, a WA government minister has claimed, describing the "pettiness, infighting, immaturity" by elected members as "galling."

It comes as the Local Government minister flags an extraordinary wider shake-up of the entire sector, amid growing concerns over the performance of individual councils.

The City of Perth was formally put on notice by the Local Government Inspector on Tuesday evening, with the council marred by allegations of a toxic work culture and a lack of communication between councillors and staff.

Inspector Tony Brown urged the council to improve its work culture and governance, flagging further action could be taken if necessary.

But government minister and member for Perth John Carey was even more blunt speaking to reporters on Wednesday morning, urging the City of Perth to "do better" and suggesting it should merge with the neighbouring City of Vincent.

"No wonder ratepayers are tearing out their hair — I'm over it," he said.

"The pettiness, the infighting, the immaturity by the council is galling.

Local Government Minister Hannah Beazley also flagged the need for a drastic shake-up, warning it was "now evident that local government needs a reset…."

"As our capital city local government, my expectation is that they provide a leading example of good governance and display exemplary conduct," she said.

"Unfortunately, this has not been the case."

In January, the ABC revealed an external review of the council found it had rapidly descended into a workplace of psychological harm.