Gamechanger - New State Northern Qld: More Local Decision Making and More Representation in Canberra
- ifi374
- Apr 19
- 3 min read
Leichhardt Independent candidate Norman Miller said today, “The idea of a state in northern Qld has been on the backburner for a while and I want to reignite the conversation about it.
“It’s not some weird idea as the framers of our constitution made room for new states. Chapter VI of the Constitution foresaw the need for new states.
“The aim of a Northern Qld state is to improve the quality of life for citizens in regional Australia by greater representation. At the moment, the highly populated state capital, Brisbane, is overrepresented.
“It would also give greater representation to Indigenous communities who make up at least 16% of the electorate of Leichhardt for example with many Indigenous local government areas in Cape York and the Torres Strait Islands.
“In April 2019, during a Future Cairns seminar, Bernard Salt, Australia’s leading demographer was asked about a north Qld state and said, while it was desirable, it would need about 1 million people to be viable.
“If we were to make the border of a northern state from Gladstone north to the tip of Cape York, that would give us 1 million people and it would be viable as there is a lot of industry in that region of central and northern Queensland. It would have enough land and resources so it can provide services to its residents.
“Regional Australia Party maintains that defining the southern border of a new Northern Qld State would not be difficult as the definition of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Act 2016, which draws a line across northern Australia, puts Gladstone in northern Queensland.[1] This would provide for a population of more than 1 million people in 49 local government areas which is sufficient to get 5 seats in the House of Representatives and is about 450,000 more people than Tasmania.
“It would be reasonable to argue that a new Northern Qld state should have the same representation as Tasmania which is:
a Bicameral parliament (2 houses, Queensland only has 1 house)
a 25-member Legislative Assembly,
a 15-member Legislative Council,
5 Federal House of Representatives members and
12 Federal Senators.
“Tasmanian state generated revenue to treasury 2019/2020 year was $2.6 bn. A Northern Qld state could generate more than that with its mining, fishing, tourism and other industries.
“Citizens could decide by referendum if they want to separate and form a new state, and sufficient and equal funding should be provided to the yes and no cases.
“Residents within the proposed new state would be the ones to vote and boundaries should not cut through an existing community.
“Other regions in Australia that could make viable new states would be - North West Australia, New England, Darling/Riverina/Murray, Eden/Monaro/Alpine. The 1967 New State Referendum was held for a new state in NE NSW and was narrowly defeated partly because the NSW government only funded the no case.
“As I said, I am only reigniting the conversation, but I think it would be an interesting one and the time is right with an electoral redistribution coming up in Queensland after the federal elections. It would certainly result in more local decision making and allocate funds generated locally into local projects of community concern. Greater representation in Canberra would be a big drawcard.”
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