Queensland Parliament Dissolved as Election is Announced

On the 29 October 2017 at 11.00 am the Queensland Premier called upon acting Governor, Chief Justice Catherine Holmes, seeking a Proclamation from her dissolving the 55th Parliament of Queensland. The state is now in election mode for an election which was open to be called anytime between now (late October 2017) and early 2018.

Two interesting aspects about the next election are that this will be the election that sees the commencement of four year fixed electoral terms in Queensland (bringing it into line with other states like NSW) (see also the 2016 Referendum for more on this matter). The other aspect is that the number of electorates in Queensland will increase from 89 to 93 following a redistribution of electoral boundaries in May 2017.

How Will Legislation Currently In The Assembly Be Affected?

Information obtained from the Queensland Parliament’s website indicates that the following rules apply for legislation currently before the Queensland Assembly at the time parliament is dissolved:

Bills: All Bills that have been introduced in the Assembly but are yet to be passed, will automatically lapse when the Assembly is dissolved. These Bills may later be reintroduced in the next parliament.

Bills Passed by the Assembly, but not yet Assented to: Where a Bill has already been passed by the Assembly it will be presented by the Clerk of the Parliament for Assent. The Clerk of the Parliament is required by s 2A(2) of the Constitution Act 1867 (the 1867 Act) and Standing Order 167(1) to present the Bills passed to the Governor for Royal Assent. Those provisions are as follows:

Bills that are now Lapsed: As a result of the election being called the following Bills have now lapsed:

• Child Protection and Education Legislation (Reporting of Abuse) Amendment Bill 2017;
• Civil Liability (Institutional Child Abuse) Amendment Bill 2017;
• Crime and Corruption and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017;
• Education (Overseas Students) Bill 2017;
• Electoral (Constitutional) Amendment Bill 2015;
• Electricity and Other Legislation (Batteries and Premium Feed-in Tariff) Amendment Bill 2017;
• Guardianship and Administration and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017;
• Healthy Futures Commission Queensland Bill 2017;
• Honourable Angelo Vasta (Reversal of Removal) Bill 2017;
• Hospital Foundations Bill 2017;
• Land, Explosives and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017;
• Liquor (Rural Hotels Concession) Amendment Bill 2017;
• Local Government (Councillor Complaints) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017;
• Local Government Electoral (Implementing Belcarra) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017;
• Mineral and Energy Resources (Financial Provisioning) Bill 2017;
• Mineral, Water and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017;
• Mines Legislation (Resources Safety) Amendment Bill 2017;
• Nature Conservation (Special Wildlife Reserves) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017;
• Plumbing and Drainage Bill 2017;
• Public Health (Medicinal Cannabis Affordability) Amendment Bill 2017;
• Safer Waterways Bill 2017;
• Stock Route Network Management Bill 2016;
• Tow Truck (Towing from Private Property) Amendment Bill 2017;
• Tow Truck and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017;
• Vegetation Management (Clearing for Relevant Purposes) Amendment Bill 2017; and
• Working with Children Legislation (Indigenous Communities) Amendment Bill 2017.

Subordinate Legislation: With respect to the fate of motions for disallowance of subordinate legislation when Parliament is dissolved, the power of the Assembly to pass a resolution disallowing subordinate legislation is not affected by the dissolution of the Assembly (see s 50 of the Statutory Instruments Act 1992).

The calculation of sitting days upon which the motion for disallowance must be moved continues on through the dissolution period.

TimeBase is an independent, privately owned Australian legal publisher specialising in the online delivery of accurate, comprehensive and innovative legislation research tools including LawOne and unique Point-in-Time Products. Nothing on this website should be construed as legal advice and does not substitute for the advice of competent legal counsel.

Queensland Parliament Notice Paper

Electoral Commission Queensland

Electoral Commission Queensland - Election Results

Palaszczuk calls election dogged by anti-coal protester, Nicholls questioned about One Nation - abc.net.au