Legislative Assembly of Queensland
Legislative Assembly | ||
---|---|---|
57th Parliament | ||
Type | ||
Type |
Manager of Opposition Business | |
Structure | ||
Seats | 93 | |
Political groups | Government (51)
Opposition (35)
| |
Length of term | 4 years | |
Elections | ||
Instant-runoff voting | ||
First election | 27 April – 11 May 1860 | |
Last election | 31 October 2020 | |
Next election | 26 October 2024 | |
Meeting place | ||
Legislative Assembly Chamber, Parliament House, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | ||
Website | ||
parliament |
The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the
There is approximately the same population in each
Following the outcome of the
History
1860–1948
Initially, the Legislative Assembly was the lower house of a
In April 1864, Australia's first Hansard was produced. That year also saw member numbers increased to 32, and by 1868—as more redistributions occurred—the number grew to 42. Members were not paid until 1886, effectively excluding the working class from state politics.[2]
The Assembly was elected under the
In 1942 the plurality system was reintroduced. The Labor government then in power had seen its vote decline in the 1940s and sought to divide the opposition. In 1962, it was replaced with full preferential voting, as the governing conservatives wanted to take advantage of a split in Labor. In 1992, this was changed to the optional preferential system which was used until full preferential voting was reinstated in 2016.[3]
After 1912, electorates elected only a single member to the Assembly.
Queensland's gerrymander 1948–1989
This section includes a improve this section by introducing more precise citations. (October 2021) ) |
From 1948 until the reforms following the end of the
The Queensland "gerrymander", first introduced by the
Initially Queensland was divided into three zones—the metropolitan zone (Brisbane), the provincial cities zone (which also included rural areas around provincial cities) and the rural zone. While the number of electors in each seat in a zone was roughly equal, there was considerable variation in the number of electors between zones. Thus an electorate in the remote zone might have as few as 5,000 electors, while a seat in the metropolitan zone might have as many as 25,000. Using this system the Labor government was able to maximise its vote, particularly in its power base of the provincial city zone.
With the split in the party in the late 1950s the ALP lost office and a conservative
As the divisions in the ALP abated in the early 1970s, and tensions in the conservative coalition grew, (thus reducing the advantage to be gained by the use of preferential voting), the conservative government, now led by Joh Bjelke-Petersen, modified the zoning system to add a fourth zone—a remote zone, comprising seats with even fewer electors. Thus the conservative government was able to isolate Labor support in provincial cities and maximise its own rural power base. On average, the Country Party needed only 7,000 votes to win a seat, compared with 12,800 for a typical Labor seat.
The entrenchment of a Coalition government was also caused by
By the late 1980s the decline in the political fortunes of the National Party, together with rapid growth in south east Queensland meant that the zonal system was no longer able to guarantee a conservative victory.
In addition, in 1988 the Federal Labor Government held
Despite the malapportionment, Labor was rarely able to garner a higher percentage of the vote than the Coalition for most of this period.
1989–present
In 1989 Labor won government, promising to implement the recommendations of the Fitzgerald Inquiry into police corruption, including the establishment of an Electoral and Administrative Reform Commission (EARC). EARC recommended the abolition of the zonal system in favour of a "modified one vote, one value" system. Under this proposal, subsequently adopted, most electorates consisted of approximately the same number of electors, but with a greater tolerance for fewer electors allowed in a limited number of remote electorates. This plan is still in use today. Presently, 42 seats are contested in Greater Brisbane and 47 in the rest of the state.
The youngest person ever elected to Queensland's Legislative Assembly was Lawrence Springborg, former Minister for Natural Resources and Leader of the Opposition.[4] In 1989, he entered parliament aged 21.
Parliament House
The Queensland Legislative Assembly sits in Parliament House in the Brisbane central business district. The building was completed in 1891. The lower house chamber is decorated dark green in the traditional Westminster style. The chamber once featured central tables which divided two rows of elevated benches on each side. The room is now configured in a U-shape away from the Speaker's chair with three rows of benches that have their own desks and microphones.[5]
Distribution of seats
As of 17 March 2024, the composition of Parliament is:
Party | Seats | ||
---|---|---|---|
Current Assembly (Total 93 Seats) | |||
Labor |
51 | ||
Liberal National | 35 | ||
Katter's Australian | 3 | ||
Greens | 2 | ||
One Nation | 1 | ||
Independent | 1 |
- 47 votes as a majority are required to pass legislation.
See also
- 2020 Queensland state election
- Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly by date
- Category:Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly by name
- Parliaments of the Australian states and territories
- Politics of Queensland
Notes
References
- ^ "Electoral Law Ructions in the Queensland Parliament". Antony Green's Election Blog. 21 April 2016. Archived from the original on 1 March 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
- ^ ISBN 0-9586469-1-0
- ^ ISBN 0-521-82507-5. Archivedfrom the original on 2 January 2016.
- ^ "Bligh calls early Queensland election". The Courier-Mail. News Limited. 22 February 2009. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
- ISBN 978-1-921666-30-8. Archivedfrom the original on 21 March 2018.
External links
- Queensland Parliament official website