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State of North Queensland

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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.

History

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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]

Queensland with the 22nd parallel south running through it, indicating the proposed state of North Queensland.

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]

Various other lines dividing Queensland

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 state’s South East, particularly in the areas of investment, infrastructure and disaster relief.[14] The motion was ultimately resolved in the negative under standing order 106(10).[15]

Proposed flags

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  • Proposed flag designed by Edward Cattoni in 1980, and approved at a meeting of the North Queensland State Party on 16 October 1994.[16][17]
    Proposed flag designed by Edward Cattoni in 1980, and approved at a meeting of the North Queensland State Party on 16 October 1994.[16][17]
  • Proposed flag for Capricornia (which has been suggested as an alternate name for a separate North Queensland state), designed by Ian Johnston in 2004.[18]
    Proposed flag for Capricornia (which has been suggested as an alternate name for a separate North Queensland state), designed by Ian Johnston in 2004.[18]
  • Proposed flag designed by Bob Katter MP in 2020.[19]
    Proposed flag designed by Bob Katter MP in 2020.[19]

Cities and towns

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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

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North Queensland State Alliance
AbbreviationNQSA, NQSP
PresidentHenry Fracchia
FounderPeter Raffles
Founded2 June 2018
HeadquartersNorth Queensland
IdeologyNorth 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.[20]

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.[21]

In 2021, NQSA candidate Fran O'Callaghan was elected to Townsville City Council in a by-election for Division 10.[22][23] She did not contest the 2024 election, leaving NQSA without any elected representatives.

Other organisations in favour

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Politics

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North Queensland is home to a large number of electorates at both a state and federal level. North Queensland federal seats include, or partially include as of 2024

State seats include, or partially include as of 2024

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Australian Constitution (Cth) s 124
  2. ^ "Freedom and Independence for the Golden Lands of Australia". University of California, Santa Cruz. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  3. ^ "State Split: North Queensland Seeks Independence". Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  4. ^ "Office of Economic and Statistical Research, Queensland Government - Triumph in the Tropics, 1959, Part Three, Chapter XXX, Economic and Political Development: The First Fifty Years, p. 397" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 March 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  5. ^ "Push for separation as Queensland splits". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  6. ^ "The state of North Queensland?". Menzies House. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013.
  7. ^ Samantha Healy (11 July 2013). "New petition calls for North to become own state". Townsville Bulletin. Archived from the original on 20 August 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  8. ^ "Geoffrey Blainey calls for North Queensland to be separate state". The Courier Mail. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  9. ^ "Katter could be NQ premier, suggests Palmer". Townsville Bulletin. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  10. ^ "Bob Katter wants Nth Queensland to be its own state". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  11. ^ "Separate North Queensland State History & Flag". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  12. ^ a b c "Rob Katter pushes to split Queensland into two states". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  13. ^ GRAHAM, Ben (28 October 2020). "How an idea for a new North Queensland state could actually happen". news.com.au. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  14. ^ Barton, Fraser (30 May 2024). "North Queensland state is 'gonna happen': Katter vows". The North West Star. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  15. ^ Laurie, Neil (22 May 2024). "Record of Proceedings: First Session of the Fifty-Seventh Parliament" (PDF). Record of Proceedings (Hansard): 1768–1773 – via Queensland Parliament.
  16. ^ Edward Cattoni. "North Queensland State Flag". Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  17. ^ Edward Cattoni. "North Queensland State History". Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  18. ^ Jonathan Dixon (6 December 2005). "North Queensland State Flag proposals - Capricornia proposal". Flags of the World. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  19. ^ "Bob Katter reveals potential flag design for North Queensland". Facebook. 7News Gold Coast. 28 October 2020. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021.
  20. ^ "North Queensland separatists stoke fiery debate in call for new state". Cairns Post.
  21. ^ "Cairns election: Jen Sackley reveals North Queensland State Alliance contenders". Cairns Post.
  22. ^ "Townsville City Council yet to decide if by-election is called to replace Les Walker". ABC News. 3 December 2020.
  23. ^ "Fran O'Callaghan leading in Townsville City Council's Division 10 by-election". ABC News. 24 January 2021.
  24. ^ "North Queensland Separate State". Katter’s Australian Party. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  25. ^ Brennan, Claire (15 October 2020). "Meet North Queensland First, the party that wants to kill crocs and form a new state". The Conversation. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
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