Candidates - About QLD

Queensland is also Australia's most decentralised state: The capital and largest city is Brisbane, but other regional centres include the Gold Coast (the state's second largest city, the seventh largest city in the country, and a major tourism destination), Townsville, Rockhampton, Mackay, Cairns, Toowoomba, and Mount Isa. Queensland is often nicknamed the Sunshine State, since it enjoys warm weather and a sizable portion of the state is in the tropics.

On Friday, December 9, 2005 the population of Queensland officially reached 4 million. Queensland is the fastest growing state in Australia, with nine hundred people moving to the state a week. Predictions have been made that by 2051 Queensland will become Australia's 2nd most populous state of 7.5 million behind New South Wales.

Queensland was originally a British Crown Colony that was separated from New South Wales in 1859. What is now Brisbane was originally the Moreton Bay penal colony, intended as a place to hold convicts who re-offended while serving out their sentences in New South Wales.

Demographics

Population
The population of Queensland officially reached 4 million in December, 2005. Queensland's population is less centralised in the capital city than the rest of the country. At 30 June 2004 the capital city represented 45.7% of the population; for the whole country, capital cities represented 63.8% of the total population.

Religion
Christian: 70.9% (Roman Catholic: 24.9%, Anglican: 22.3%, Uniting Church: 8.4%, Lutheran: 2.1%, Other: 13.2%), Non-Christian: 2.3% (Buddhism: 1.1%, Islam: 0.4, Hinduism: 0.3%, Judaism: 0.1%, Other: 0.4%), No Religion: 14.8%, Not Stated: 12.0%

In 2003 Brisbane city had the lowest cost of living of all Australia's capital cities. As of late 2005 Brisbane is the third most expensive capital for housing after Sydney and Canberra and just ahead of Melbourne by $15,000.

Primary industries include: bananas, pineapples, peanuts, a wide variety of other tropical and temperate fruit and vegetables, grain crops, wineries, cattle raising, cotton, sugar cane, wool and a mining industry including bauxite, coal and copper.

Secondary industries are mostly further processing of the above-mentioned primary produce: bauxite from Weipa is converted to alumina at Gladstone. There are also copper refining and the refining of sugar cane to sugar.

Major Tertiary industries are the retail trade and tourism.

Government

The Queensland State Parliament, known as the Queensland Parliament or the Legislative Assembly is unicameral. It is the only Australian state with a unicameral legislature. A bicameral system existed until 1922, when the Legislative Council was abolished by the Labor members' "suicide squad," so called because they took the unusual step of voting to abolish their own offices.

Constitution
In 2001 the state adopted a new codified constitution, repealing most of the assorted acts that had previously made up the constitution. The new constitution took effect on 6 June 2002, the anniversary of the formation of the independent colony of Queensland by the signing of Letters Patent by Queen Victoria in 1859.

Policing
Day-to-day law enforcement is the responsibility of the Queensland Police Service, and the Australian Federal Police also have jurisdiction in federal matters.

Queensland does not have separate Local Government district based Police forces, nor a metropolitan force.

Some (Quasi-)Police powers are exercised by Local Government Officers (especially Parking, Public Health & Safety) and by some Government and NGO officers such as those from the Department of Primary Industries (especially Fisheries) and the Queensland Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.