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

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. He was a

Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly This is a list of members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the state parliament of Queensland, sorted by parliament. See also * Queensland Legislative Assembly electoral districts This is a list of current and former Electoral dis ...

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 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 City of Moreton Bay in Queensland, Australia. LearnIT LearnIT was Excellence Program available to hig ...

Local politics

Beanland was elected as an Alderman of the

Brisbane City Council Brisbane City Council (BCC, also known as Council) is the local government of the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. The largest local government in Australia by population, BCC's jurisdiction includes 2 ...

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 The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly ...

, in 1986, as the member for

Toowong Toowong ( ) is a riverside Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Toowong had a population of 12,556 people with a median weekly household income of $1,927. Geography Toowong is ...

. He represented Toowong until 1992, at which time it was renamed

Indooroopilly Indooroopilly ( , colloquially Indro ) is a riverside suburb south-west of the Brisbane CBD, Queensland, Australia. In the , Indooroopilly had a population of 13,622 people. Geography Indooroopilly is bounded to the south and south-east by ...

. Beanland was leader of the Liberal Party in the Queensland Parliament from May 1990 until November 1991, when he was ousted by Joan Sheldon. Although he did not return to the Liberal leadership, he became deputy leader in 1995. Denver Beanland served as

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

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 The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

, completing a Bachelor of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy in history in 2007. The topic of his PhD thesis was former

Queensland Premier The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland. By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is appointed ...

Thomas McIlwraith Sir Thomas McIlwraith (17 May 1835 – 17 July 1900) was for many years the dominant figure of colonial politics in Queensland. He was Premier of Queensland from 1879 to 1883, again in 1888, and for a third time in 1893. In common with most po ...

. Denver Beanland has been the President of the

Royal Historical Society of Queensland The Royal Historical Society of Queensland (RHSQ) is a historical society founded in Brisbane, Australia in 1913. It promotes the study of Australian history especially that of Queensland and adjacent Pacific islands. It maintains an important c ...

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 The Abbott government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 28th Prime Minister Tony Abbott. The government was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition. The Leader of The Nationals, Warren Truss, served ...

to chair the

National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beanland, Denver 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 Politicians from Brisbane Delegates to the Australian Constitutional Convention 1998 20th-century Australian politicians Attorneys-general of Queensland 21st-century Australian politicians University of Queensland alumni