One of the six founding states of Australia, Queensland has been a federated state subject to the Australian Constitution since 1 January 1901. It is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The constitution of Queensland sets out the operation of the state's government. The state's constitution contains several entrenched provisions which cannot be changed in the absence of a referendum. There is also a statutory bill of rights, the Queensland Human Rights Act 2019. Queensland's system of government is influenced by the Westminster system and Australia's federal system of government.
The powers of the state can be classified into three types: Legislature: the unicameral Parliament of Queensland, comprising the Legislative Assembly and the Monarch (represented by the Governor); Executive: the Queensland Government, consisting of the Executive Council of Queensland, which formalises decisions of the Cabinet of Queensland, which is composed of the Premier and other ministers of state appointed by the Governor on the advice of the premier; Judiciary: the Supreme Court and other state courts, whose judges are appointed by the Governor on advice of the attorney-general.
However, unlike the Commonwealth level of government or the United States, there is no legally enforceable separation of powers. The only restriction is that state parliaments may not abolish or impermissibly interfere with the institutional integrity of supreme (or other) courts under the Kable doctrine.
Legislature
Legislative authority is formally held by the monarch acting with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly (i.e. King-in-parliament). These two bodies together form the Parliament of Queensland, which uniquely for Australian states is unicameral, containing only one house, the Legislative Assembly. The Parliament was bicameral until 1922, when the Legislative Council was abolished by the Labor suicide squad, so called because they were appointed for the purpose of voting to abolish their own offices. Bills receive royal assent from the governor before being passed into law. The Parliament's normally sits at the Parliament House at Gardens Point in Brisbane's CBD, however regional sittings also take place. Members of the Legislative Assembly represent 93 electoral districts under fixed four year terms, with elections utilising full preferential voting.
Executive
Executive authority is formally exercised by the Governor of Queensland (currently Jeannette Young) as the representative of the monarch (currently ). However, except for certain reserve powers, the governor only acts in accordance with the advice of the Premier of Queensland. The premier (who is the state's head of government) along with the Cabinet of Queensland (whose decisions are given legal force by the Executive Council), exercise executive authority in practice. The premier is appointed by the governor and must have support of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is in practice a leading member of the Legislative Assembly and parliamentary leader of his or her political party, or coalition of parties, and members of Cabinet will be drawn from the same party or coalition. The current Premier and Deputy Premier are David Crisafulli and Jarrod Bleijie of the Liberal National Party of Queensland respectively. Government House at Paddington in Brisbane is the residence of the Governor, having replaced Old Government House at Gardens Point in Brisbane's CBD in the early 20th century.
Judiciary
The state's judiciary consists of the Supreme Court of Queensland and the District Court of Queensland, established by the Queensland Constitution, as well as the Magistrates Court of Queensland and other courts and tribunals established by legislation. Cases may be appealed to the High Court of Australia. As with all Australian states and territories, Queensland has a common law legal system. The supreme and district courts are headquartered at the Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law in Brisbane's CBD.
The Supreme Court of Queensland, Trial Division, is the highest original jurisdiction, and the Court of Appeal is the highest appellate jurisdiction within Queensland. The current chief justice is Catherine Holmes. The High Court of Australia hears appeals from the court of appeal.
Magistrates Court
The Magistrates Court is a lower court of the judicial hierarchy of Queensland. The court's criminal jurisdiction covers summary offences, and indictable offences which may be heard summarily, but all criminal proceedings in Queensland begin in the Magistrates Court, even if they are not within this jurisdiction. For charges beyond its jurisdiction, the court conducts committal hearings in which the presiding magistrate decides, based on the strength of the evidence, whether to refer the matter to a higher court or dismiss it. The court's civil jurisdiction covers matters in which the amount in dispute is less than or equal to $150,000. Appeals against decisions by the Magistrates Court are heard by the District Court.
District Court
The District Court is the middle tier of the judicial hierarchy of Queensland. The court has jurisdiction to hear all appeals from decisions made in the Magistrates Court. Its criminal jurisdiction covers serious indictable offences (such as armed robbery, rape, and dangerous driving). The court's civil jurisdiction covers matters in which the amount in dispute is more than $150,000 but less than or equal to $750,000. Appeals against decisions by the District Court are heard by the Court of Appeal, a division of the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is the highest tier of the judicial hierarchy in Queensland. The court has two divisions; the Trial Division and the Court of Appeal. The Trial Division's jurisdiction covers serious criminal offences (including murder and manslaughter), and civil matters involving claims of more than $750,000. The Court of Appeal's jurisdiction allows it to hear cases on appeal from the Trial Division, the District Court, and a number of other judicial tribunals in Queensland. Appeals against decisions by the Court of Appeal are heard by the High Court of Australia.
Local government
Local government is the mechanism by which local government areas can manage their own affairs to the extent permitted by the Local Government Act 2009. Queensland is divided into 77 local government areas, which are created by the state government under legislation.Local Government Act 1993 , s.34. (Reprint 11E, as in force at 22 November 2007.) Each local government area has a council responsible for providing a range of local services and utilities. Local councils derive their income from both rates and charges on resident ratepayers, and grants and subsidies from the state and federal governments.
Federal representation + Queensland – Federal parliamentary delegations Election House of Representatives Senate Coalition Labor Other Coalition Labor Other 200119 7 15 4 3 200421 5 17 4 1 2007 1315 17 5 0 201021 8 16 5 1 201322 6 26 4 2 201621 8 15 4 3 201923 6 16 3 3 202221 5 45 3 4 202516 12 24 4 4
In the federal Parliament of Australia, Queensland accounts for 30 of the 151 electoral divisions in the House of Representatives (on the basis of population size) and 12 of the 76 seats in the Senate (on the basis of equality between the states).
The current partisan makeup of Queensland's House of Representatives delegation is 16 Liberal National, 12 Labor, 1 Greens and 1 Katter's Australian Party.
The current partisan makeup of Queensland's Senate delegation is 5 Liberal National, 3 Labor, 2 One Nation and 2 Green.
Idiosyncrasies The state's politics are traditionally regarded as being conservative relative to other states.George Megalogenis, "The Green and the Grey", Quarterly Essay, Vol. 40, 2010, p. 69. Historically, a gerrymander favouring rural electoral districts and the lack of an upper house has meant that Queensland had a long tradition of domination by strong-willed, populist premiers, often accused of authoritarian tendencies, holding office for long periods. This tendency was exemplified by the government of the state's longest-serving Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen.
While most Australian states have over 60% of their populations concentrated in the capital cities, Brisbane accounts for about half of Queensland's population. This relative decentralisation of the population made the state a stronghold for the National Party. Before the merger of the Queensland branches of the Liberals and Nationals as the Liberal National Party, the National Party had been the senior partner in the non-Labor Coalition since 1924. In other states and federally, the long-standing coalition between the Nationals and Liberals typically has the National Party as the junior partner.
Referendum results in Queensland Results of referendums +Handbook of the 44th Parliament (2014) . Year No. Name National Voters States QLD 1906 1 1910 2 3 1911 4 5 1913 6 7 8 9 10 11 1919 12 13 1926 14 15 1928 16 1937 17 18 1944 19 1946 20 21 22 1948 23 1951 24 1967 25 26 1973 27 28 1974 29 30 31 32 1977 33 34 35 36 1984 37 38 1988 39 40 41 42 1999 43 44 2023 45
Recent history
In the 1989 state election environmental issues like rainforest protection were prominent, especially in Far North Queensland, contributing to the success of the ALP at the time. The dramatic collapse in support for the Goss government resulted in its returning from the 1995 general election with a majority of only one seat. This in turn was subsequently lost after the controversial and closely fought Mundingburra by-election. The Nationals formed minority government after securing the support of independent Liz Cunningham, with Rob Borbidge becoming Premier.
In stark contrast to some of his predecessors, Borbidge's government was not markedly domineering. However, controversies such as public service purges, disputes with the Criminal Justice Commission, and other scandals did do some damage to the government.
Events were superseded by the meteoric rise of controversial federal politician Pauline Hanson. Especially popular in her native Queensland, Hanson's decision to form her own political party (Pauline Hanson's One Nation) was greeted with apprehension by all the other parties, in particular the Nationals striving to maintain their rural conservative heartland. In 1998, a bitter dispute broke out within and between the Liberal and National parties over whether One Nation candidates should be ranked lower on how-to-vote cards than Labor candidates. Eventually, the Nationals decided to place Labor behind One Nation. This move backfired spectacularly in the election, with the urban Liberal vote deserting to Labor and an unexpectedly high One Nation primary vote of just under 23%, giving the party 11 seats in parliament. Labor attained 44 seats, one short of a majority, and achieved government with the support of Cunningham and new independent Peter Wellington.
The new minority government managed to secure itself a majority in a by-election and was dominated overwhelmingly by the self-confessed "media tart" Peter Beattie. A major controversy broke in 2001 on the eve of the election, when a number of very prominent Labor Party figures were implicated in rorting internal preselection and party ballots. The subsequent Shepardson Commission of Inquiry was widely expected to destroy the government. Beattie immediately undertook a purge, taking the opportunity to dispatch several factional enemies, and promised a "cleanskin" approach.
To the surprise of many, Beattie's public contrition was overwhelmingly popular, and in contrast to its previous tenuous hold on power, the government won a massive majority of 66 seats, with the Liberal Party reduced to only three seats.