The Parliament of Queensland is the

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

legislative body A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers o ...

of the

Australian state The states and territories are the national subdivisions and second level of government of Australia. The states are partially sovereignty, sovereign, administrative divisions that are autonomous administrative division, self-governing polity, ...

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 ...

. As provided under the

Constitution of Queensland The Constitution of Queensland sets out and regulates the powers of the major state institutions of the Australian state of Queensland. It is a written constitution, with most provisions contained within the ''Constitution of Queensland 2001'' ...

, the Parliament consists of the King, represented by the

Governor of Queensland The governor of Queensland is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in the state of Queensland. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, governor-general at the national level, the governor Governors of ...

, and the Legislative Assembly. It has been the only unicameral state legislature in the country since the upper chamber, the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

, was abolished in 1922. The Legislative Assembly sits in

Parliament House Parliament House may refer to: Meeting places of parliament Australia * Parliament House, Canberra, Parliament of Australia * Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament of South Australia * Parliament House, Brisbane, Parliament of Queensland * P ...

in the state capital,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. The Queensland Parliament retains

plenary Plenary is an adjective related to the noun plenum carrying a general connotation of fullness. Plenary may also refer to: *Plenary session or meeting, the part of a conference when all members of all parties are in attendance **Plenary speaker, ...

legislative power over Queensland, however Commonwealth laws apply to the extent of any inconsistency. Some laws from the colonial era passed by the

New South Wales parliament The Parliament of New South Wales, formally the Legislature of New South Wales, (definition of "The Legislature") is the bicameral legislative body of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). It consists of the Monarch, the New South Wale ...

and the Imperial Parliament also remain in force. Following the outcome of the

2015 election Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015 * 2015-16 Central African g ...

, four additional seats were added to the Legislative Assembly (to a total of 93), the voting system changed from

optional preferential voting One of the ways in which ranked voting systems vary is whether an individual vote must express a minimum number of preferences to avoid being considered invalid ("spoiled" or "informal" or "rejected"). Possibilities are: * Full preferential vot ...

full-preferential voting One of the ways in which ranked voting systems vary is whether an individual vote must express a minimum number of preferences to avoid being considered invalid ("spoiled" or "informal" or "rejected"). Possibilities are: * Full preferential vot ...

, and unfixed three-year terms were replaced with fixed four-year terms.

History

The Parliament was founded 22 May 1860, less than a year after the

Colony of Queensland The Colony of Queensland was a colony of the British Empire from 1859 to 1901, when it became a State in the federal Australia, Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. At its greatest extent, the colony included the present-day Queensland, ...

was created in June 1859. It was convened at military and convict barracks converted for the purpose located on

Queen Street, Brisbane Queen Street is the main street of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. It is named after Queen Victoria. The western part of the street is covered by a new plaza at the base of Brisbane Square and underneath part of the western hal ...

. Immigration was an important issue for the early Parliament. Population growth was encouraged with new settlers enticed by

land ownership In common law systems, land tenure, from the French verb "" means "to hold", is the legal regime in which land "owned" by an individual is possessed by someone else who is said to "hold" the land, based on an agreement between both individuals ...

. In 1915, Queensland became the first state to make voting compulsory at state elections. Since 1 April 2003, live audio broadcasts have streamed through the internet from the Parliament while it is in session. In June 2007, the Parliament started broadcasting video of parliamentary proceedings. Nine in-house television cameras are used to record sessions. The first female

Speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

Fiona Simpson Fiona Stuart Simpson (born 18 April 1965 in Sea Lake, Victoria) is an Australian politician serving as Liberal National Party (LNP) member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, representing Maroochydore since 1992. Simpson served as Speak ...

was elected on 15 May 2012.

Membership

The Assembly has 93 members of Parliament (MPs). These are intended to represent approximately the same population in each electorate. Voting is by the

full preferential voting One of the ways in which ranked voting systems vary is whether an individual vote must express a minimum number of preferences to avoid being considered invalid ("spoiled" or "informal" or "rejected"). Possibilities are: * Full preferential voti ...

system, with elections held every four years. In April 2016, legislation was passed to increase the number of seats in the parliament by four to a total of 93. An amendment was also passed to abolish optional preferential voting. A referendum held the previous month was passed, supporting a bill to establish fixed four-year terms.

Royal assent

The role of the monarch in Parliament is to give

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

to legislation. This function is in practice exercised by the

governor of Queensland The governor of Queensland is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in the state of Queensland. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, governor-general at the national level, the governor Governors of ...

, who conventionally will never refuse assent to a bill that has passed the Legislative Assembly. The party or coalition with the most seats in the house is invited by the governor to form a

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

. The leader of that party subsequently becomes the

premier of Queensland 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 ...

, leading a

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

of ministers. In the Liberal National Party, the premier selects members of their party to act as ministers. In the Labor Party, the ministers are elected by party room ballot, with the leader then assigning ministerial portfolios to each one.

Operations

Once all winning candidates have been declared, the

proclaims a date for the start of the new Parliament. It is the role of the Clerk of the Parliament to call members to attendance. According to the

, members of Parliament must swear an oath or affirmation to the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

as well as an

oath of office An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before assuming the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. Suc ...

before signing a Roll of Members. This oath or affirmation must be made to the governor or someone authorised by him or her—typically the clerk of the Parliament. Sworn-in representatives are required to elect a Speaker to preside over the House's business. Before this occurs, the longest serving member who is not a minister presides over the procedings. Once elected the Speaker is dragged to the chair and presented to the Governor at

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and British Overseas Territories. The name is also used in some other countries. Government Houses in th ...

. The symbol of the authority of the Parliament and its Speaker is the

ceremonial mace A ceremonial mace is a highly ornamented staff of metal or wood, carried before a Head of state, sovereign or other high officials in civic ceremonies by a mace-bearer, intended to represent the official's authority. The mace, as used today, der ...

. The

sergeant-at-arms A serjeant-at-arms or sergeant-at-arms is an officer appointed by a deliberative body, usually a legislature, to keep order during its meetings. The word "serjeant" is derived from the Latin , which means "servant". Historically, serjeants-at-a ...

carries the mace into the chamber of parliament when the speaker enters at the start of each sitting day and removes it again when the speaker leaves at the end of the sitting day. During the sitting day, the mace rests on two raised brackets on the centre table with the head of the mace lying pointed towards the government's side. The current mace was designed and made in 1978 and is

sterling silver Sterling silver is an alloy composed mass fraction (chemistry), by weight of 92.5% silver and 7.5% other metals, usually copper. The sterling silver silver standards, standard has a minimum millesimal fineness of 925. ''Fineness, Fine silver'' ...

with

gold plating Gold plating is a method of depositing a thin layer of gold onto the surface of another metal, most often copper or silver (to make silver-gilt), by a chemical or electrochemical (electroplating) process. Plating refers to modern coating met ...

and is encrusted with 32 Queensland gemstones. Despite being the symbol of Parliament, it is engraved with the words "Government of Queensland". The ceremonial opening of the new Parliament is marked by a speech by the governor. Traditionally the speech is written by the new government and it may outline current activities, budget details, statistics and proposed lists of legislation which are intended to be introduced. Speakers Chair

A day in Parliament usually begins with housekeeping matters, including prayers, notifications and the tabling of any documents. An opportunity is then given to Ministers to make statements. During a period of no more than an hour, known as question time, any member may pose a question to a Minister.

Regional sittings

Starting in 2002, the Queensland Parliament has held

regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

sittings of parliament across the state. Originally being held every three years, the occurrence has become more sporadic. The most recent was in 2023 in

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

, the first regional sitting since the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Distribution of seats

As of 13 September 2024, the composition of Parliament is: * 47 votes as a majority are required to pass legislation.

References

External links

* {{Authority control

1860 establishments in Australia