Amendments to electoral laws increased the number of seats by four from 89 to 93 and changed the optional preferential voting system to compulsory full-preferential voting.[5] A 2016 referendum also replaced the state's unfixed maximum three-year terms with fixed four-year terms, but these would not apply until the 2020 election.[6][7] The day after the election, ABC election analyst Antony Green predicted that Labor would win up to 48 seats and was likely to form government in its own right.[8] By 6 December, several news agencies reported that Labor had won a majority of seats in the Parliament.[9][10][11] With the redistribution increasing the size of parliament from 89 seats to 93 seats, Labor increased its representation by a net seven seats to a total of 48 seats, an increase of four since the last election and a notional increase of one since the redistribution, allowing it to form government in its own right by two seats. The Liberal National opposition decreased their representation by a net three seats to a total of 39 seats, a decrease of two seats since the last election and a notional decrease of five since the redistribution. On the crossbench, Katter's Australian Party won three seats, an increase of one since the last election and a notional increase of two since the redistribution, one new independent candidate won a seat while all the incumbent independents lost their seats. One Nation won its first seat since 2009 and the Greens won a seat at a state election for the first time.[12]
Despite a small two-party swing to Labor statewide and Labor increasing its seat total, a number of regional seats notably swung to the Coalition. The LNP regained the seat of Bundaberg from Labor as well as Burdekin which was held by the LNP prior to the election but made notionally Labor due to redistribution.
On 8 December 2017, Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls conceded defeat and announced he would step down as leader of the party.[13] Later that day, Palaszczuk visited Government House and was invited to form a majority government by the Governor.[14] The Second Palaszczuk Ministry was subsequently sworn in by the Governor on 12 December 2017.[15] This marked the tenth time in the last eleven elections that Queensland Labor has won government; it won eight consecutive election victories from 1989 to 2009, and was only out of government from 1996 to 1998 when Labor lost its parliamentary majority as well as from 2012 to 2015 following the Liberal National Party's 2012 landslide win.
Wellington gave confidence and supply support to Labor to form government, giving it the majority of 45 out of 89 seats in parliament, and consequently the previous Liberal National government under the leadership of Campbell Newman, who lost his seat of Ashgrove, lost office after one term.
Calling of election
After Labor's retraction of endorsement for MP Rick Williams on 27 October 2017, the party's seat count dropped to 41, equalling that of the LNP. Several media sources reported that Premier Palaszczuk would call a snap election.[17][18] On 29 October Palaszczuk asked the Acting Governor Catherine Holmes to dissolve parliament and a writ was issued for a 25 November state election.[19][20]
The Legislative Assembly was expanded from 89 to 93 members. Indooroopilly was abolished west of Brisbane, while Bancroft was created in the corridor north of Brisbane, Bonney created on the Gold Coast, Jordan created in the corridor west of Brisbane, Macalister created in the corridor south of Brisbane, and Ninderry created on the Sunshine Coast. Albert was renamed Theodore, Ashgrove was renamed Cooper, Beaudesert was renamed Scenic Rim, Brisbane Central was renamed McConnel, Cleveland was renamed Oodgeroo, Dalrymple was renamed Hill, Kallangur was renamed Kurwongbah, Mount Coot-tha was renamed Maiwar, Mount Isa was renamed Traeger, Sunnybank was renamed Toohey, and Yeerongpilly was renamed Miller. Burdekin, Mansfield, and Mount Ommaney became notionally Labor-held, while Pumicestone became notionally Liberal National-held.
The changes resulted in 48 notionally Labor seats, 2 notionally Katter's Australian seats, 42 notionally Liberal National seats, and 1 notionally Independent seat.
The Labor Party also retained the electorate of Cairns, where the sitting Labor member had resigned and contested the election as an Independent.
The Labor Party also retained the electorate of Cook, where the sitting Labor member was expelled and sat as an Independent.
The Liberal National Party also retained the electorate of Buderim, where the sitting Liberal National member had resigned and contested the election as a member of the One Nation Party.
the election of the first Queensland Greens MP, Michael Berkman (the first ever Queensland MP Ronan Lee was elected under the Australian Labor Party, and lost his re-election bid after defecting to the Greens).[27]
Following the successful 2016 referendum to introduce four-year fixed-term elections, this was the last Queensland election where the date of the election could be chosen at the serving Premier's discretion.[30]
Section 84 of the Electoral Act 1992 stated that an election must be held on a Saturday, and that the election campaign must run for a minimum of 26 or a maximum of 56 days following the issue of the writs including the day the writ drops and polling day. Five to seven days following the issue of the writs, the electoral roll is to be closed, which gives voters a final opportunity to enrol or to notify the Electoral Commission of Queensland of any changes in their place of residence.[31]
The Constitution (Fixed Term Parliament) Amendment Act 2015,[32] which amended the Constitution of Queensland to provide for state elections on the fourth Saturday in October every four years, did not come into effect until the 2020 election. Therefore, this was the last election to which section 2 of the Constitution Act Amendment Act 1890 applied before its repeal.[33] It provided that the Legislative Assembly continues for no more than three years from the day set for the return of writs for the previous election, after which time the Legislative Assembly expires.[34]
The day set for the return of writs for the 2015 election was 16 February 2015, but the deadline appointed in the writ for its return was Wednesday 11 March 2015.[6][35] The Electoral Act requires the Governor to issue writs for a general election no more than four days after the Legislative Assembly is dissolved or expires.[31]:§78(2) The last possible day for the next election was therefore a Saturday not more than 56 days beyond four days after the expiry of the Legislative Assembly on 11 March 2018, namely 5 May 2018.[6][30]
Palaszczuk faced constant media questions during 2017 about whether she would call an early election.[30][36] She stated that it was her intention to hold it in 2018, and that it would take something "extraordinary" for it to be held in 2017. Following Agriculture Minister Bill Byrne's resignation on health grounds and the disendorsement of Pumicestone MP Rick Williams,[37] on Sunday 29 October 2017, she announced the election would be held on 25 November 2017.[38]Pauline Hanson described this as a "cowardly" move, given that she was overseas on a federal parliamentary trip and would be delayed in starting her One Nation party's campaign.[38]
As the election was held in 2017, this meant that the fixed date for the next state election was on 31 October 2020.[6] Had the election instead been held in 2018, the next fixed election date would have been 30 October 2021.[6]
In January 2017, One Nation disendorsed its Bundamba candidate Shan Ju Lin after her anti-gay social media post. Lin accused James Ashby of deciding on Hanson's behalf that Lin should be disendorsed.[42] In December 2016, Andy Semple withdrew as a candidate for Currumbin, after the party told him to delete an LGBT joke on Twitter.[43]
The ALP and The Greens pledged to place One Nation candidates last on their respective party How-To-Vote cards. Both parties also placed each other ahead of the LNP on their cards. Katter's Australia Party exchanged preferences with One Nation in the seats they both contested. The LNP placed Greens candidates below ALP candidates, and placed One Nation candidates ahead of the ALP in 52 of the 61 seats One Nation was contesting, the exceptions being in Buderim, Logan, Mudgeeraba, Nicklin, Coomera, Scenic Rim, Stretton, Toohey and Thuringowa. One Nation, with a few notable exceptions, placed all ALP and LNP sitting MPs last. One Nation also made an agreement with Katter's Australia Party, not to challenge the two sitting KAP MPs in their respective seats.
Retiring MPs
The following Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly have announced their intention to not contest the 2017 state election:
Several research, media and polling firms conduct opinion polls during the parliamentary term and prior to the state election in relation to voting. Most firms use the flow of preferences at the previous election to determine the two-party-preferred vote; others ask respondents to nominate preferences.
Primary vote opinion polling graph
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Two-party preferred opinion polling graph
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
One of the six founding states of Australia, Queensland has been a federated state subject to the Australian Constitution since 1 January 1901. It is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The constitution of Queensland sets out the operation of the state's government. The state's constitution contains several entrenched provisions which cannot be changed in the absence of a referendum. There is also a statutory bill of rights, the Queensland Human Rights Act 2019. Queensland's system of government is influenced by the Westminster system and Australia's federal system of government.
The Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) is a major political party in Queensland, Australia. It was formed in 2008 by a merger of the Queensland divisions of the Liberal Party and the National Party. At a federal level and in most other states, the two parties remain distinct and often operate as a Coalition. The LNP is a division of the Liberal Party of Australia, and an affiliate of the National Party of Australia.
Annastacia Palaszczuk is an Australian politician who served as the 39th premier of Queensland from 2015 to 2023. She held office as the leader of the Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 2012 until her resignation, and has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland (MLA) for the division of Inala since 2006. Palaszczuk is the fifth-most tenured premier in Queensland state history and the first woman to win the premiership from opposition, she also presided over the first majority female cabinet in Australian state and federal history.
Jo-Ann Roslyn Miller is an Australian politician. She was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland between February 2000 and February 2020, representing the electorate of Bundamba.
The electoral district of Inala is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in south-west Brisbane. It includes the suburbs of Inala, Ellen Grove, Forest Lake, Doolandella, Durack, Wacol, Richlands and parts of Oxley. It borders the electoral districts of Mount Ommaney, Miller, Algester, Jordan, Bundamba and Moggill.
Steven Lance Dickson is an Australian politician. He was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly beginning in 2006, representing the electorates of Kawana (2006–2009) and Buderim (2009–2017). First elected for the Liberal Party, he joined the Liberal National Party in the 2008 merger, but switched to Pauline Hanson's One Nation in January 2017. He subsequently lost his seat to the LNP candidate at the 2017 election. Dickson served as Minister for National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing in the Campbell Newman government from 2012 to 2015.
Peter William Wellington is an Australian politician. He was the independent member for Nicklin in the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 1998 to 2017, and served as Speaker from 2015 to 2017. Wellington has held the balance of power in the legislature twice in his career, and both times saw him give support to Labor-led minority governments.
Ferny Grove is one of the 89 electoral districts for the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in Australia. Located in northwest Brisbane, it is named for the suburb of Ferny Grove. It was first created in 1992, and was represented by Labor from its creation until the 2012 election, in which the LNP won with a 59.5 percent two-party vote.
The 2009 Queensland state election was held on 21 March 2009 to elect all 89 members of the Legislative Assembly, a unicameral parliament.
The 2012 Queensland state election was held on 24 March 2012 to elect all 89 members of the Legislative Assembly, a unicameral parliament.
The 2015 Queensland state election was held on 31 January 2015 to elect all 89 members of the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland.
Ian Bradley Walker is an Australian politician. He was a Liberal National member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 2012 to 2017, representing the electorate of Mansfield. He was Minister for Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts from 2013 to 2015 under Campbell Newman.
Jacklyn Anne Trad is an Australian former politician. She was Deputy Premier of Queensland from 2015 to 2020, Treasurer of Queensland from 2017 to 2020 and represented the Electoral district of South Brisbane for the Labor Party from April 2012 to October 2020.
Glenn James Butcher is an Australian politician currently serving as the Queensland Minister for Regional Development and Manufacturing and Minister for Water. He previously served as the Assistant Minister for Local Government and Infrastructure and Assistant Minister for Transport and Infrastructure respectively. He has been the Labor member for Gladstone in the Queensland Legislative Assembly since 2015.
Steven John Miles is an Australian politician who is the 40th and current premier of Queensland, in office since 2023. He is the state leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and previously served as deputy premier from 2020 to 2023.
Barry Leonard O'Rourke is an Australian politician. He has been the Labor member for Rockhampton in the Queensland Legislative Assembly since 2017.
The 2020 Queensland state election was held on 31 October to elect all 93 members to the 57th Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The Labor Party was returned to government for a third-term, led by incumbent premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. With 47 seats needed to form a majority government, Labor won 52 seats, including all but five in Brisbane, while the Liberal National Party won 34 seats and formed opposition. On the crossbench, Katter's Australian Party retained its 3 seats, the Queensland Greens picked up South Brisbane for a total of 2, Pauline Hanson's One Nation retained Mirani and independent Sandy Bolton retained her seat of Noosa.
The 2024 Queensland state election is scheduled to be held on 26 October 2024 to elect all members to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland pursuant to the Constitution Amendment Act 2015. As a result of the 2016 Queensland term length referendum, the term of the parliament will run for four years.
In the lead-up to the 2024 Queensland state election, a number of polling companies will conduct regular opinion polls for various news organisations. These polls will collect data on parties' primary vote, and will contain an estimation of the two-party-preferred vote. They will also ask questions about the electorates' views on major party leaders.
A by-election for the electoral district of Inala in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland was held on 16 March 2024 following the resignation of former Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk from parliament, which was announced on 10 December 2023 and took effect on 31 December 2023. The by-election was held on the same day as the Ipswich West by-election and the statewide local government elections.
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