- Proposed flag for Capricornia (which has been suggested as an alternate name for a separate North Queensland state), designed by Ian Johnston in 2004. [17]
- Proposed flag designed by Bob Katter MP in 2020. [18]
The State of North Queensland is a proposed state of Australia, to be formed out of the current state of Queensland. The proposal does not have the support of the two major political parties that dominate politics in Queensland.
Under the section 124 of the Constitution of Australia, new states may be created from an existing state with the consent of that state's parliament. [1]
In 1852, John Dunmore Lang proposed – in his book Freedom and Independence for the Golden Lands of Australia – the division of the future colony of Queensland into three subdivisions. [2]
A committee of businessmen in Townsville first pushed for a separate state in July 1882. [3]
The separatist movement in North Queensland was fostered by the sugar planters, who saw the existence of the sugar industry threatened by the "abolitionist" movement in South Queensland for the suppression of Kanaka labour. [4] One proposal is that Queensland should be divided by the 22nd parallel south with the boundary running just south of Sarina on the coast to the Northern Territory border between Boulia and Mount Isa [5]
According to The Courier-Mail in 2010, the majority of North Queensland mayors were in favour of the separation from Queensland proper. Only two of the 100 delegates at the NQ Local Government Association meeting were against the proposal – the two being Mayor Val Schier (Cairns) and Mayor Ben Callcott (Charters Towers). [6]
In 2013, social demographer Bernard Salt said that Townsville would go from regional powerhouse to metropolitan city by 2026, and that there are fewer people living in the state of Tasmania than in North Queensland. [7]
Supporters of the North Queensland state include Geoffrey Blainey, [8] and Member of Parliament Bob Katter and former member Clive Palmer. [9] [10] [11]
One of many proposals stated that North Queensland would contain 785,890 people, ranking slightly above that of Tasmania, although lower than that of South Australia. In area, it would be 735,300 square kilometres, ranking between New South Wales and Victoria, and bringing Queensland down to the third largest state/territory in Australia.
In the election periods of September 2016 and also October 2020 Katter's Australian Party sought to split Queensland into two states. [12] [13] It was also in 2016 the Liberal National Party state convention voted down a motion to hold a referendum at a state convention. [12]
MP Bill Byrne believes that a North Queensland state would not be economically viable, as mining royalties are only a modest portion of the entire Queensland state budget (only $2-3 billion of $50 billion state budget), while costs for delivering power would be much higher without money from South-East Queensland consumers. [12]
On May 22, 2024, Robbie Katter introduced a motion in the Queensland Parliament that would separate North Queensland from the rest of the state, and called for a referendum to be held in the North to allow residents to have their say on the matter. Katter claimed that the region was being neglected by the South East, particularly in the areas of investment, infrastructure and disaster relief. [14]
No. | City | Population | LGA |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Townsville | 192,768 | City of Townsville |
2 | Cairns | 169,312 | Cairns Region |
3 | Mackay | 80,148 | Mackay Region |
4 | Mount Isa | 18,588 | City of Mount Isa |
5 | Mareeba | 11,079 | Shire of Mareeba |
6 | Bowen | 10,377 | Whitsunday Region |
7 | Airlie Beach | 9,334 | Whitsunday Region |
8 | Moranbah | 8,735 | Isaac Region |
9 | Charters Towers | 8,120 | Charters Towers Region |
10 | Atherton | 7,331 | Tablelands Region |
North Queensland State Alliance | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | NQSA, NQSP |
President | Henry Fracchia |
Founder | Peter Raffles |
Founded | 2 June 2018 |
Headquarters | North Queensland |
Ideology | North Queensland statehood |
The North Queensland State Alliance (NQSA), also known as the North Queensland State Party (NQSP), is an Australian political party founded in support of the creation of a State of North Queensland.
The party was founded in June 2018 by Peter Raffles, who announced that the party planned to contest the October 2020 Queensland state election, although this did not eventuate. [19]
At the March 2020 local government elections, the NQSA ran two separate party tickets − Cairns N.Q.S.A. Team (5,775 votes) and TSV Team NQ State Alliance (6,694 votes). No candidates from either ticket were elected. [20]
In 2021, NQSA candidate Fran O'Callaghan was elected to Townsville City Council in a by-election for Division 10. [21] [22] She did not contest the 2024 election, leaving NQSA without any elected representatives.
Robert Bellarmine Carl Katter is an Australian politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives since 1993. He was previously active in Queensland state politics from 1974 to 1992. Katter was a member of the National Party until 2001, when he left to sit as an independent. He formed his own party, Katter's Australian Party, in 2011.
The Division of Kennedy is an Australian electoral division in the state of Queensland.
Paul Marek is an Australian politician. He was National Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1996 until 1998, representing the regional Queensland-based seat of Capricornia.
Since the 19th century, there have been proposals for the creation or incorporation of new states of Australia. Chapter VI of the Constitution of Australia provides for the admission of new states to the federation. Proposals have included admitting territories to statehood, admitting independent countries, and forming new states from parts of existing states. However, no new states have been added since the federation of six former British self-governing colonies in 1901, as states of the new Commonwealth of Australia.
The Northern Division of the Queensland Rugby League is responsible for administering the game of rugby league in North Queensland, specifically in the area from Sarina in the south to Cape York and the Torres Strait Islands in the north and west to Mount Isa as well as into the Gulf Communities. There are over 8000 registered players across 36 senior clubs and 39 junior clubs in this division. The Northern Division is responsible for the historic Foley Shield competition that is held each year. Mid West and Mount Isa play in the Toyota Outback Carnival.
Barron River is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland.
Townsville is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. The seat is one of four within the Townsville urban area in North Queensland, and covers the Eastern and Northern suburbs of the City of Townsville as well as Magnetic Island and Palm Island.
Mundingburra is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. It is currently held by Labor Party MP Les Walker.
Thuringowa is an electorate in the Legislative Assembly of the state of Queensland, Australia.
Hinchinbrook is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. It is currently represented by Nick Dametto, of Katter's Australian Party.
The 2012 Queensland state election was held on 24 March 2012 to elect all 89 members of the Legislative Assembly, a unicameral parliament.
Dalrymple was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland from 2009 to 2017.
Aidan Patrick McLindon is an Australian politician. He was first elected for the seat of Beaudesert to the Queensland State Parliament for the Liberal National Party at the 2009 state election. He resigned from that party to become an independent in May 2010, and in June 2010 he established The Queensland Party, which he merged with Katter's Australian Party in August 2011. He lost his seat to the LNP at the 2012 election. Bob Katter appointed McLindon as National Director for the newly created Katter's Australian Party. 18 months later McLindon resigned to spend more time with his family. McLindon established an independent political consultancy, AMac Consultants Pty Ltd, following the 2013 federal election.
The Young Liberal National Party, also known simply as Young LNP and abbreviated as YLNP, is the youth division of the Liberal National Party of Queensland, and membership is open to those between 16 and 30 years of age. It exists only in Queensland, and is affiliated both with the federal Young Liberal Movement and the federal Young Nationals.
Katter's Australian Party (KAP) is an agrarian populist political party in Australia that advocates for a synthesis of agrarian socialist economic policies and conservative social policies. It was founded by Bob Katter, an independent and former Nationals MP for the seat of Kennedy, with a registration application lodged to the Australian Electoral Commission in 2011.
Robert Carl Ignatius Katter is an Australian politician. He serves as the member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland for Traeger, having previously represented Mount Isa from 2012 to 2017. He is the leader of Katter's Australian Party, having taken over from his father Bob Katter in February 2020.
Jeremiah Nanai is an Australia international rugby league footballer who plays as a second-row forward for the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL).
The 2020 Queensland local elections were held on 28 March 2020 to elect the mayors and councils of the 77 local government areas in Queensland, Australia.
The candidates of the 2024 Queensland state election vary and cover all ninety-three electorates in all of the state's regions.
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