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State of North Queensland

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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.

History

Under the Constitution of Australia, Chapter VI, Section 124:[1]

A new State may be formed by separation of territory from a State, but only with the consent of the Parliament thereof, and a new State may be formed by the union of two or more States or parts of States, but only with the consent of the Parliaments of the States affected.

— Chapter VI, Section 124, Australian Constitution

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]

Proposed flags

  • Proposed flag designed by Edward Cattoni in 1980, and approved at a meeting of the North Queensland State Party on 16 October 1994.[14][15]
    Proposed flag designed by Edward Cattoni in 1980, and approved at a meeting of the North Queensland State Party on 16 October 1994.[14][15]
  • Proposed flag for Capricornia (which has been suggested as an alternate name for a separate North Queensland state), designed by Ian Johnston in 2004.[16]
    Proposed flag for Capricornia (which has been suggested as an alternate name for a separate North Queensland state), designed by Ian Johnston in 2004.[16]
  • Proposed flag designed by Bob Katter MP in 2020.[17]
    Proposed flag designed by Bob Katter MP in 2020.[17]

Cities and towns

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

Organisations in favour

See also

References

  1. ^ "Chapter VI. New States". aph.gov.au. Parliament of Australia. Archived from the original on 23 August 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  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. ^ Edward Cattoni. "North Queensland State Flag". Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  15. ^ Edward Cattoni. "North Queensland State History". Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  16. ^ Jonathan Dixon (6 December 2005). "North Queensland State Flag proposals - Capricornia proposal". Flags of the World. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  17. ^ "Bob Katter reveals potential flag design for North Queensland". Facebook. 7News Gold Coast. 28 October 2020. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021.
  18. ^ "North Queensland Separate State". Katter’s Australian Party. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  19. ^ Brennan, Claire. "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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