Denver Edward Beanland (born 26 January 1945) is a former politician in Queensland,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly and leader of the

Queensland Liberal Party The Queensland Liberal Party, officially known as the Liberal Party of Australia (Queensland Division), was the Queensland division of the Liberal Party of Australia until 2008. It was initially formed in October 1943 as the Queensland People ...

Early life

Denver Edward Beanland was born on 26 January 1945 at St Margaret's Private Hospital, Kilcoy, Queensland, the only son of Norman Edward Beanland and his wife Gwendoline (née Runge). The family lived a dairy farm called ''Avondale'' (originally owned by Beanland's grandfather Herbert Beanland) located at Mary Smokes Creek, between Kilcoy and Woodford. Beanland attended the

Kalangara State School Stony Creek (formerly Stoney Creek) is a rural locality in the Moreton Bay Region of Queensland, Australia. In the Stony Creek had a population of 262 people. Geography The locality is north of Brisbane. The locality is bounded to the south ...

at Stoney Creek, four miles from his home. He continued his secondary education at

Caboolture State High School Caboolture State High School is a coeducational independent public secondary school located in Caboolture in the local government area of the Moreton Bay Region in Queensland, Australia. Since October 2018, Caboolture State High School's role ...

Local politics

Beanland was elected as an Alderman of the Brisbane City Council in 1976 and served on that Council, including a period as Deputy Lord Mayor of Brisbane until 1986.

State politics

In 1986, Beanland was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, in 1986, as the member for Toowong. He represented Toowong until 1992, at which time it was renamed Indooroopilly. Beanland was leader of the Liberal Party in the Queensland Parliament from May 1990 until November 1991, when he was ousted by

Joan Sheldon Joan Mary Sheldon (born 29 April 1943) is an Australian politician. She was a Liberal Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 1990 to 2004, representing the electorates of Landsborough (1990–1992) and then Caloundra (1 ...

. Although he did not return to the Liberal leadership, he became deputy leader in 1995. Denver Beanland served as Attorney-General in the Borbidge government from February 1996 to 20 June 1998. He also served as Opposition Spokesperson, prior to 1996, for a number of portfolios including Justice, Transport and Land Management. In 1997 a vote of no-confidence was passed against him as Attorney-General over his role in the Carruthers and Connolly-Ryan Inquiries. In an unprecedented decision he refused to resign in the wake of the no-confidence vote, citing his lack of personal responsibility for the scandal. He was supported by Premier Rob Borbidge who says he decides who is in his Cabinet not Parliament. He lost his seat of Indooroopilly at the 2001 state election.

Later life

After leaving politics, Beanland studied at the University of Queensland, completing a Bachelor of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy in history in 2007. The topic of his PhD thesis was former Queensland Premier Thomas McIlwraith. Denver Beanland has been the President of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland since 2020 after having previously been its President from 2007 to 2009. In 2019 he was elected a Fellow of the Society. In 2015 Beanland was appointed by the Abbott Government to chair the National Archives Advisory Council. On 7 June 2020, Beanland was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to the people and Parliament of Queensland, and to archival and historical organisations.

Publications

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References

1945 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Queensland Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Members of the Order of Australia People from Brisbane Delegates to the Australian Constitutional Convention 1998 20th-century Australian politicians Attorneys-General of Queensland 21st-century Australian politicians {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub