Politics of Queensland
[1] The only restriction is that state parliaments may not abolish or impermissably interfere with the institutional integrity of supreme (or other) courts under the Kable doctrine.
[3] These two bodies together form the Parliament of Queensland,[4] which uniquely for Australian states is unicameral, containing only one house, the Legislative Assembly.
Members of the Legislative Assembly represent 93 electoral districts under fixed four year terms, with elections utilising full preferential voting.
The Trial Division's jurisdiction covers serious criminal offences (including murder and manslaughter), and civil matters involving claims of more than $750,000.
Local councils derive their income from both rates and charges on resident ratepayers, and grants and subsidies from the state and federal governments.
The current partisan makeup of Queensland's House of Representatives delegation is 21 Liberal National, 5 Labor, 3 Greens and 1 Katter's Australian Party.
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 Nationals formed minority government after securing the support of independent Liz Cunningham, with Rob Borbidge becoming Premier.
However, controversies such as public service purges, disputes with the Criminal Justice Commission, and other scandals did do some damage to the government.
[21] 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.
Beattie immediately undertook a purge, taking the opportunity to dispatch several factional enemies, and promised a "cleanskin" approach.
It also saw the entrenched status of the Queensland ALP with its untouchable majority, despite allegations of bullying by senior Ministers, improper private use of public vehicles, the "Winegate" affair involving first-time Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Liddy Clark, and the government's repeated use of freedom of information laws to prevent the publication of potentially damaging information.
Some notable outcomes of the 2004 election were the unseating of Labor Minister, Merri Rose, with a two-party swing of 15 points following her involvement in the use of a government vehicle by her son for private purposes, and the victory in former National Party Premier Rob Borbidge's seat, Surfers Paradise, by the Liberal Candidate, John-Paul Langbroek.
Opposition parties and community groups protested that the terms of reference were narrow, avoiding investigation into broader allegations of maladministration of Queensland Health and bullying of departmental employees.
The resignations of deputy premier Terry Mackenroth and Speaker Ray Hollis triggered by-elections in the electorates of Chatsworth and Redcliffe on 20 August 2005.
Both of the formerly safe Labor seats were lost and Liberal candidates Michael Caltabiano and Terry Rogers were elected as the new members for Chatsworth and Redcliffe respectively.
This led to an unusual circumstance in Australian politics, as Newman was not a member of the Legislative Assembly and was, therefore, unable to become the Leader of the Opposition.
Campbell Newman was also successful in entering the Legislative Assembly by defeating Labor incumbent Kate Jones in the seat of Ashgrove.
[27] Despite its landslide win, the Liberal National Party did not last long in government; it suffered a swing of 14.0% against it at the 2015 state election, while Campbell Newman became the second premier in Queensland history to be defeated in his own seat, by previous incumbent Kate Jones.
Labor, led by Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk, won 44 seats and the backing of independent MP Peter Wellington and formed a minority government.
At the 2017 Queensland state election the LNP suffered a 7% swing against it with the Palaszczuk Labor government winning a second term.
