The Legislative Council of Queensland was the upper house of the parliament in the Australian state of Queensland. It was a fully nominated body which first took office on 1 May 1860. It was abolished by the Constitution Amendment Act 1921, which took effect on 23 March 1922.
Consequently, the Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the only unicameral state Parliament in Australia. Two territories, the Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory, also maintain unicameral parliaments.
Most of the early members of the Council came from wealthy families, were well educated and were born in England. Absenteeism was a problem in the early years, with some members returning to England, being absent for several years. the members who voted for the abolition were known as the "suicide squad". The Council rose for the last time at 8:37 p.m. the next evening.
The non-Labor parties petitioned the British Government, but the Colonial Secretary, Winston Churchill, concluded that the matter was "essentially one for determination locally", and the Governor felt "unable to say that there is evidence of any strong or widespread feeling in the country against this assent being given." Royal Assent was given on 3 March 1922, and the Act was proclaimed in the Government Gazette 20 days later, abolishing the Council.
Labor's view was summed up in 1980 by Labor politician and historian Dr Denis Murphy, who claimed the "dominance of wealth and property over the Queensland parliament" was broken. However, some scholars and political commentators have argued that the abuses of the Bjelke-Petersen regime (1968–1987) in Queensland were only possible because of the absence of an upper house, and that the problem was not the Council itself but its existence as a nominated rather than elected body (Legislative Councils in all other states were fully elective by 1900, except in New South Wales where some nominative features lasted until the 1970s.)
Support for reintroduction
Since 2012, there has been support from some politicians for the reintroduction of the Legislative Council in the Queensland Parliament. Several independents have at various times supported the reintroduction of an upper house. The Queensland Greens support the reintroduction of an upper house elected by proportional representation.
Federal Greens senator Larissa Waters, independent MPs Peter Wellington and Liz Cunningham, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and One Nation MP Stephen Andrew have all publicly supported the return of the upper house, believing that both constituents and political parties would benefit with fairer representation.
However, when in office LNP premier Campbell Newman and Labor premier Annastacia Palaszczuk both publicly rejected the calls for the upper house to be reestablished.
On 11 May 2021, a petition was tabled in parliament which was submitted by Kallangur resident Daniel Boniface and sponsored by Member for Mirani Stephen Andrew requesting a referendum be held on the issue of reinstating the Legislative Council. The petition was signed by 940 people. In a letter addressed to the Clerk of Parliament on 11 June 2021, premier Annastacia Palaszczuk responded that the issue was not one she had taken to the people, nor was it an issue her government intended to pursue.
Neither major party currently supports the reintroduction of an upper house.
List of presidents of the Legislative Council
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Member
! colspan=2| Party
! Term in office
|-
|| Charles Nicholson
| style="background-color: white; border-top:solid 0 gray; border-bottom:solid 0 gray; align=center" |
| Unaligned || 22 May 1860 – 26 August 1860
|-
|| Maurice Charles O'Connell
| style="background-color: white; border-top:solid 0 gray; border-bottom:solid 0 gray; align=center" |
| Unaligned || 27 August 1860 – 23 March 1879
|-
|| Joshua Peter Bell
| style="background-color: white; border-top:solid 0 gray; border-bottom:solid 0 gray; align=center" |
| Unaligned || 3 April 1879 – 20 December 1881
|-
|| Arthur Hunter Palmer
| style="background-color: white; border-top:solid 0 gray; border-bottom:solid 0 gray; align=center" |
| Unaligned || 24 December 1881 – 20 March 1898
|-
|| Hugh Nelson
| style="background-color: #6495ED; border-top:solid 0 gray; border-bottom:solid 0 gray; align=center" |
| Ministerialist || 13 April 1898 – 1 January 1906
|-
|| Arthur Morgan
| style="background-color: #6495ED; border-top:solid 0 gray; border-bottom:solid 0 gray; align=center" |
| Ministerialist || 19 January 1906 – 19 December 1916
|-
|| William Hamilton
| style="background-color: ; border-top:solid 0 gray; border-bottom:solid 0 gray; align=center" |
| Labor || 15 February 1917 – 17 August 1920
|-
|| William Lennon
| style="background-color: ; border-top:solid 0 gray; border-bottom:solid 0 gray; align=center" |
| Labor || 18 August 1920 – 23 March 1922
|}
See also
- Members of the Queensland Legislative Council by year
- :Category:Members of the Queensland Legislative Council by name
Notes
References
Further reading
External links
- Constitution Act Amendment Act of 1921
- Factsheet - Abolition of the Legislative Council (Queensland Parliament)
- Abolition of the Upper House - Information on Parliament and Government in Queensland