Queensland

Queensland, officially the Federation of Queensland, is a country consisting of ten states, two autonomous territories, and a land area of 1,730,368 square kilometers. Queensland, along with Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and 13 other nations, is a Commonwealth realm, and is therefore ruled by Queen Elizabeth II. As of 2006, the population is approximately 3.9 million, however the population is rapidly growing, and the current estimates are close to 4.6 million. The capital, and the largest city of Queensland, is Brisbane. Since the Pacific War, Queensland has practiced neutrality in most conflicts in its region, and conflicts outside Oceania. Therefore, with the exception of one unit in the Afghanistan War, Queensland is not part of any military coalition in current global conflicts. Although, the nation is an active member of numerous organizations, such as the Commonwealth of Nations, the APEC, the Pacific Islands Forum, the East Asia Summit, the World Trade Organization, the United Nations, and the Alliance of Independent Nations.

Queensland, in early 20th century, was the only colony on the island of Australia to not join the new Federation. Industrialists and workers in Queensland created a strong opposition, against joining a new nation with rival colonies such as New South Wales and Victoria. In 1901, Queensland was excluded from the creation of Australia, and in 1903, the nation of Queensland became a reality. Since then, the government has adopted the Statute of Westminster and the Queensland Act.

Aboriginal people
For over one hundred thousand years, from as far back as 120,000 BCE, modern humans have lived on the Australian continent. Aborigine evidence dates back to 40,000 BCE.

Current archeological evidence shows that in 120,000 BCE, humans near current-day Australian Capital Territory intentionally started a conflagration to clear land to settle in. Around 56,000 BCE, humans living in rock shelters, in current-day Northern Territory state of Australia, decorated themselves and painted rocks with stone tools and the red ochre pigment.

In 30,000 BCE, Aborigines living near current-day Melbourne had primitive fireplaces and underground oven. There is evidence of bread-making in the same period in New South Wales, and bone-beads and other artefacts in Western Australia.

And around 10,000 BCE, there is evidence of boomerangs, used by the Aborigines to hunt waterfowl in South Australia.

In around 8,000 BCE, the land bridge between modern-day Papua New Guinea and Australia was submerged by the rising sea levels, forming the Torres Strait Islands.

European explorations
The first European contact with the Aboriginal peoples in Queensland happened in 1606, on the western coast of Cape York. The captain, Willem Jansz, and the crew of the ship Duyfken from the Netherlands, had sailed into the Gulf of Carpentaria. Here, they explored the coastal area of northern & northwestern Queensland, being the first non-Aboriginal people to do so.

Then, more than a century and a half later, in 1770, Captain James Cook mapped the eastern coastline of Queensland on the Endeavour. Cook also established the colony of New South Wales in eastern Australia under King George III.

Establishment of the colony
After the beginning of the New South Wales colony, the First Fleet was sent from Portsmouth, in Britain, to current-day Sydney. The fleet began its journey in May 1787, and landed in January 1788, establishing the first European settlement (convict settlement) in Australia, with Admiral Arthur Phillip as the first governor of the colony.

During Phillip's term, attempts at an agricultural sector failed, and most of the convicts coming to the colony were sick and/or emaciated. As a result, the colony was in a starvation crisis. Although the colony eventually got through the crisis, Governor Phillip, due to illness, left the colony to return to Britain in 1792. John Hunter became the second governor of the colony in 1795.

Thirteen years later, the Rum Rebellion took place in Sydney against Governor William Bligh. Bligh's government was overthrown in an armed coup, replaced by Governor Lachlan Macquarie two years later. During Macquarie's term, New South Wales became less like a penal colony, and more like a free settlement. Under Macquarie, the New South Wales government became more liberal, and people in the colony had more civil rights and freedoms.

In 1821, Governor Macquarie was replaced by Sir Thomas Brisbane. In 1823, Governor Brisbane dispatched John Oxley, explorer, to find new areas on the continent to establish a penal colony. Only two years later, after Oxley's journey north, the Moreton Bay convict settlement was relocated to the shores of current-day Brisbane River. Between 1828 and 1830, the Old Windmill and the Commissariat Store were constructed in Brisbane with convict labor. Today, they are the only remaining buildings in the nation constructed using convicts.

The Moreton Bay district was inaugurated as a free settlement in 1842, becoming the first free settlement in Queensland. Following Moreton Bay, in 1847, the Port Curtis settlement (today Gladstone) was inaugurated. Moreton Bay and Port Curtis soon thrived from trade with Britain. The Moreton Bay Courier, the local newspaper of the Moreton Bay district, began in 1846 as the first newspaper in Queensland. Twenty years later, it would publish a new edition, the Queenslander.

In 1859, with the signing of the Letters Patent by Queen Victoria, Queensland became an independent colony with its own government. Sir George Ferguson Bowen, the first governor of Queensland, read the proclamation of the Colony of Queensland to the public in Brisbane on 10 December 1859. The Municipality of Brisbane was established the same year; John Petrie became the first mayor of the city.

The first general elections in the colony were held the next year, with the first premier, Robert George Herbert, elected in 1860.

Growth of the colony & annexation of New Guinea
From 1860 to 1900, the colonial government focused on healthcare, education, sports, trade, and transportation.

In 1864, Queensland played New South Wales in a cricket game for the first time. The first women's hospital in the colony also opened this year. In 1866, Queensland currency was printed. The government began free primary education in 1870. The flag of Queensland, which is still the official national flag today, was approved and adopted in 1876. And, in intercity transportation, the Brisbane-Wallangarra railroad was opened in 1887.

In 1883, Premier Thomas McIlwraith hastily annexed southern New Guinea without approval from the British government, to prevent the German Empire from controlling the territory. New Guinea became a British protectorate a year later in 1884, and was annexed in 1888, becoming British New Guinea.

A major dispute between union workers in the town of Barcaldine led to the Great Shearers' Strike in 1891. The Queensland Labor Party (QLP) was formed the same year as a result of the incident. The Social Democratic Workers' Party of Queensland, another socialist party with a similar platform, was formed in 1894.

In 1899, the QLP, led by Anderson Dawson, was elected in the 1899 general elections, becoming the first democratically-elected socialist government in any colony or nation in the world. Though, Dawson's government was only in power for six days, before it was defeated in parliament the very next week.

1898-1900 Federation referendums
In 1898, the colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia held referendums. Citizens in these colonies voted, whether to join the Australian federation, or to remain independent of the union. The majority of the citizens in all four colonies voted to join the federation. However, due to New South Wales failing to reach its quota of 80,000 "yes" votes, the referendum was held once again in all four colonies the next year, and also in Queensland.

The colonial government of Queensland passed the Federation Enabling Act in 1899, which would allow Queensland to hold referendums, like any other colony. But the debate between the Billites, those who supported a united commonwealth, and anti-Billites, those who were opposed to it, was only growing. Billites argued that trade barriers would be gone, and a united colony would be able to defend itself better, while anti-Billites argued that colonies would not be equally represented, Queensland would lose power and advantages as an independent colony, and competition from Victoria and New South Wales would hurt businesses in Queensland and/or establish a monopoly in the new commonwealth.

In the second referendum in 1899, the vast majority in most colonies voted in favor. In Queensland, while the majority voted in favor, the numbers were very close. 38,488 out of 69,484 voters voted "yes", a 55 percent-majority. However, business owners and other anti-Billites contested the results, and demanded a second referendum in Queensland.

Entrepreneur and anti-Billite, Mackenzie August Kelley, gave his famous speech, The Struggles of Our Dear Colony, on 6 September 1899 in front of the Government House in Brisbane. Even the location was planned, as this was the place where Governor Bowen had announced the proclamation of the Queensland colony in 1860. In his speech, Kelley stated that the mere idea of a federation was an "insult" and an "attack" on the workers and business owners of Queensland. Kelley appealed to the voting-eligible citizens, and asked them to vote with "labour and liberty in mind" in the next referendum. Kelley's new movement, with the ideology of Queenslander conservative nationalism, attracted many supporters, who organized protests and petitions to gain attention and support for their goals.

While the British Parliament had already enacted the Commonwealth Constitution Bill, the last referendum, the 1900 referendum, was held in the colonies of Queensland and Western Australia. This would be Western Australia's only chance, and Queensland's last chance, in joining the commonwealth or remaining independent. Western Australia voted in favor, with 70 percent majority. Queensland, by slight majority of 52 percent, voted against commonwealth.

After further protests and petitions, and the clear results of the 1900 referendum, the responsible government in Queensland was pressured into exclusion. Queensland was thus excluded from the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act.

With the creation of a constitution, the offices of prime minister and governor-general, and the establishment of the new national government and its structure and powers, the colony became the Federation of Queensland, an independent British dominion, which commenced on 1 October 1903 following royal assent.

Parliament
The Queensland Parliament consists of the Queen of Queensland & the Commonwealth Realm, the House of Representatives, and the Senate. The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament, and has a total of 89 Parliament members. The House is dominated by the right-wing Liberal Party of Queensland (member of the International Democrat Union), and the left-wing Queensland Labor Party (member of Socialist International). Unlike Australian legislature, but similar to New Zealand legislature, the Liberal Party, the largest centre-right party in Queensland, is the ruling party of the nation. 78 seats, or the vast majority of the Queensland House of Representatives, is currently controlled by the Liberal Party. The presiding officer is the Speaker. The current Speaker of the House is a member of the Liberal Party. The number of representatives in each state depends on the population of the said state.

The Senate is the upper house of the Parliament, and has 96 Senators. Each state, with the two autonomous territories in addition, has eight senators, regardless of population. The Queensland Senate is also currently dominated by the Liberal Party and the Labor Party, with the vast majority of seats controlled by Liberal Party. The presiding officer is the President. The Senate President is also a member of the Liberal Party. Unlike House representatives who serve three years, senators serve six years.

The Queensland Parliament is headquartered in the Parliament House in the capital, Brisbane.

Since 1912, eight foreign leaders have addressed the Queensland Parliament. These leaders have all addressed the Parliament during joint sessions. The list of leaders includes, President of Brazil Eurico Gaspar Dutra (1950), President of Turkey Celal Bayar (1959), President of West Germany Richard von Weizsacker (1992), and President of the United States Barack Obama (2009).

Electoral System
Throughout its history as part of the British Empire, and most of its history as a Commonwealth nation, Her Majesty's Government in Queensland had practiced a very popular voting method, first-past-the-post, also known as FPP. In 1994, the government changed the voting method to mixed-member proportional, or MMP.

Until the late 1990s, FPP was the dominant electoral system in Queensland. For decades, the party with the highest amount of votes won the general elections, and represented all of the citizens. The major parties, as a result, had much more representation in the Parliament and the legislature system than the smaller political parties. Leaders of smaller parties, along with university professors and experts on the topic, argued that the mathematics of first-past-the-post naturally rigged the elections in favor of the ruling parties. The system was also exposed to gerrymandering of geographical election districts, and the spoiler effect theoretically could allow smaller, minority movements to dominate the legislature, even though the majority of the population would disagree.

The majority of the Queensland population, unsatisfied with their parties being under-represented (or not represented) in the Parliament, or wanting prevent that from happening, voted to change the electoral system in the 1998 referendums. Near 85 percent of voters, when asked about the current system during the referendums, voted against retaining FPP for parliamentary elections. When asked to choose a new system, out of MMP, PV, SM, and STV, 63 percent chose the MMP system by majority. The Parliament officially changed the voting method in early 1999, five years after New Zealand, another Commonwealth nation in Oceania, had switched.

The MMP has been called by its supporters in Queensland as “the most democratic voting system” in the world. This is because, unlike the FPP, which led to only few parties dominating the government, the MMP encourages political diversity and allows much smaller parties to be represented along with larger parties.

In general elections, voters cast two votes. The first vote is for a candidate to become a Parliament member. Like first-past-the-post, the candidate that receives the most votes wins the electoral district where he/she ran. However, the second vote is for a political party. The party may be the same as the candidate’s affiliation, or another party. Based on the votes, the political parties are represented in the government as proportional to the results as possible.

Similar to New Zealand, the MMP system in Queensland also has a set of thresholds. These thresholds ensure that the parties represented are all still necessary, and in support by the public.

To be granted Parliament seats, a party must:

1. Receive at least five percent of the national vote in the latest general election, or receive at least ten percent of the national vote in the previous general election.

and/or

2. ''Receive at least one electoral seat in the latest election, or receive at least three electoral seats in the previous general election.

A party that fails to reach either threshold will not be granted seats.''

Foreign Affairs
Her Majesty's Government in Queensland has diplomatic missions in Shisaido, Shihaisha and The Eso, Atarashima. The nations of Shihaisha and Atarashima also have missions in the city of Brisbane.

As a member of several intergovernmental organizations and international trading unions, Queensland trades with many nations in Asia and nations bordering the Pacific Rim.

The QANZUS defense treaty (Queensland, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States), is currently the only military alliance that the Queensland Federation is an active member of, and the only alliance in which Queensland forces frequently exercise with American, Australian, and New Zealander forces. Of the four nations, Queensland committed the least amount of troops for Operations Enduring Freedom. Queensland sent 25 troops, compared to 200 New Zealand troops and 1500 Australian troops.

Following the embassy attacks in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula in September 2012, Queensland removed its ambassador from Libya, and closed its embassy in Tripoli. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Queensland Federation will not "maintain diplomatic missions in nations that fail to meet the security guidelines, or that fail to protect the life and welfare of ambassadors during emergencies."

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is responsible for all international relations, and policies of the Federation abroad.

Military
The Queensland Army has 3,900 regular troops, 1,300 active reserves, and 750 standby reserve troops. The Royal Navy has 2,200 permanent personnel, 380 active reserve personnel, and five commissioned ships. The Royal Air Force has 1,800 personnel and 35 aircraft. The Queensland Royal Defence Force (QRDF) is responsible for protecting the Queensland Federation in the event of an actual threat to the nation.

With the exception of one unit of the Queensland Army currently engaged in Jowzjan province in northern Afghanistan, the armed forces are not involved in any armed conflicts right now, and have not been involved in most major conflicts since 1945, due to the Federation practicing strict neutrality in most cases.