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86-652: Local government in Queensland , Australia, includes the institutions and processes by which towns and districts can manage their own affairs to the extent permitted by the Local Government Act 1993–2007 . Queensland is divided into 78 local government areas , which may be called Cities, Towns, Shires, or Regions. Each area has a council that is responsible for providing a range of public services and utilities and derives its income from both rates and charges on resident ratepayers and grants and subsidies from

172-538: A Deed of Grant in Trust to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities. Formally recognised management bodies known as Indigenous community councils (or DOGIT councils) were set up to administer the land covered in the deed on behalf of the community. These bodies had quite different responsibilities to traditional local governments due to the nature of land ownership involved and the different relationships of

258-406: A self-governing Crown colony with responsible government . Brisbane was selected as the capital city. On 10 December 1859, a proclamation was read by George Bowen , the first Governor of Queensland , formally establishing Queensland as a separate colony from New South Wales. On 22 May 1860 the first Queensland election was held and Robert Herbert , Bowen's private secretary, was appointed as

344-635: A ward was an administrative subdivision of a county , very similar to a hundred in other parts of England. In Australia , Canada , New Zealand , South Africa , Sri Lanka , the United Kingdom , and the United States , wards are an electoral district , within a district or municipality , used in local government elections. In the United States, wards are usually subdivided into precincts for polling purposes. In Wisconsin,

430-546: A 'ward' is what in most other states would be a precinct In some cities of India , such as Mumbai and Delhi , a ward is an administrative unit of the city region; a city area is divided into Zones, which in turn contain numerous wards. The smallest administrative unit of Gram Panchayats in India is also known as a ward. In Bangladesh wards are subdivisions of a city or town which administrates under City Corporations and municipalities ( pourashova ) In East Africa,

516-529: A defined area. If no counter-petition with more signatures was received, the Governor was able to declare a municipality in the region. Two types of municipalities were possible under the Act: boroughs , which had a minimum population of 1,000, a maximum area of 9 sq mi (23.3 km) and no two parts being more than 6 miles (9.66 km) apart; and municipal districts, with a minimum population of 500 and

602-597: A force of settlers and native police at Battle Mountain near modern Cloncurry . The subsequent battle of Battle Mountain ended in disaster for the Kalkadoon, who suffered heavy losses. Fighting continued in North Queensland , however, with First Nations raiders attacking sheep and cattle while Native Police mounted heavy retaliatory massacres. Tens of thousands of South Sea Islanders were kidnapped from islands nearby to Australia and sold as slaves to work on

688-569: A great rush to take up the surrounding land in the Darling Downs , Logan and Brisbane Valley and South Burnett onwards from 1840, in many cases leading to widespread fighting and heavy loss of life. The conflict later spread north to the Wide Bay and Burnett River and Hervey Bay region, and at one stage the settlement of Maryborough was virtually under siege. The largest reasonably well-documented massacres in southeast Queensland were

774-499: A maximum area of 50 sq mi (129.5 km). Once a municipality had been proclaimed, ratepayers could elect a council to represent them. The first to be declared was Brisbane, with a population of 5,000 and an area of 14.25 square kilometres (5.5 sq mi). Its first attempt in January 1859 was unsuccessful due to a counter-petition, but its second attempt with 420 signatories was gazetted on 25 May 1859 and proclaimed by

860-505: A number of independent bodies – such as the Queensland Auditor-General of Queensland , PricewaterhouseCoopers , and McGrath Nichol – found similar financial problems with the local government sector. To effect significant reform, the independent Local Government Reform Commission was established to recommend the most appropriate boundaries and structure for Queensland's local governments. The amalgamation program

946-711: A number of local governments in Brisbane were amalgamated into the City of Brisbane , covering what was then the entire metropolitan area. Its council, Brisbane City Council , effectively became a "super-council" with some powers normally reserved for the state. It has its own Act of Parliament, the City of Brisbane Act 1924 , and a population today of over 2.4 million. Due to population growth and suburban spread, however, almost half of metropolitan Brisbane's population actually lives in neighbouring areas such as Ipswich , Logan , Moreton Bay , and Redland , which are all managed under

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1032-593: A population of half a million people. Since then, Queensland has remained a federated state within Australia, and its population has significantly grown. In 1905 women voted in state elections for the first time. The state's first university, the University of Queensland , was established in Brisbane in 1909. In 1911, the first alternative treatments for polio were pioneered in Queensland and remain in use across

1118-598: A population of over 5.5 million, concentrated along the east coast, particularly in South East Queensland . The capital and largest city in the state is Brisbane , Australia's third-largest city . Ten of Australia's thirty largest cities are located in Queensland, the largest outside Brisbane being the Gold Coast , the Sunshine Coast , Townsville , Cairns , Ipswich , and Toowoomba . 24.2% of

1204-478: A process known as blackbirding or press-ganging, and their employment conditions constituted an allegedly exploitative form of indentured labour. Italian immigrants entered the sugar cane industry from the 1890s. During the 1890s, the six Australian colonies, including Queensland, held a series of referendums which culminated in the Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901. During this time, Queensland had

1290-684: A range of criteria such as economy of scale, the community of interest, and financial sustainability. Some changes happened in much larger areas as well – the Sunshine Coast was to come under one local authority instead of three, as was the Moreton Bay region to the north of Brisbane; Beaudesert was split into urban/planned urban and rural sections, with the former going to Logan , and the twin cities of Townsville and Thuringowa in North Queensland were merged. The Minister for Local Government wrote to all Mayors in March 2007, requesting they assess

1376-488: A result of Queensland and New South Wales local government amalgamations, Australia's three largest-by-population local government areas are all in Queensland: The first example of local government in the Queensland area came before the separation of Queensland from New South Wales . The Municipalities Act 1858 allowed for the creation of a municipality upon the petition of not less than 50 householders within

1462-487: Is home to the Torres Strait Islander peoples . Torres Strait Islanders are ethnically and culturally distinct from mainland Aboriginal peoples. They have a long history of interaction with both Aboriginal peoples of what is now Australia and the peoples of New Guinea . In February 1606, Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon landed near the site of what is now Weipa , on the western shore of Cape York . This

1548-447: Is the world's sixth-largest subnational entity ; it is larger than all but 16 countries . Due to its size, Queensland's geographical features and climates are diverse, and include tropical rainforests , rivers , coral reefs , mountain ranges and white sandy beaches in its tropical and sub-tropical coastal regions, as well as deserts and savanna in the semi-arid and desert climatic regions of its interior . Queensland has

1634-582: The 138th meridian east , and to the southwest by northeastern South Australia . The state's southern border with New South Wales is constituted in the east by the watershed from Point Danger to the Dumaresq River , and the Dumaresq, Macintyre and Barwon rivers. The west of the southern border is defined by the 29th parallel south (including some minor historical encroachments ) until it reaches South Australia. Like much of eastern Australia,

1720-618: The 2012 Queensland state election campaign, the Liberal National Party promised to reconsider the amalgamations. Having won government on 24 March 2012, they invited former shires wishing to de-amalgamate to make submissions which: Viable proposals would then be put to a referendum of citizens in the former shire for a majority vote on de-amalgamation. Submissions were received from 19 communities, but only four submissions were found to be viable proposals: Douglas, Livingstone, Mareeba, and Noosa. On 9 March 2013 , citizens of

1806-469: The Brisbane River . He returned in 1824 and established a penal settlement at what is now Redcliffe . The settlement, initially known as Edenglassie , was then transferred to the current location of the Brisbane city centre . Edmund Lockyer discovered outcrops of coal along the banks of the upper Brisbane River in 1825. In 1839 transportation of convicts was ceased, culminating in the closure of

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1892-630: The Gayiri Aboriginal people in response. Frontier violence peaked on the northern mining frontier during the 1870s, most notably in Cook district and on the Palmer and Hodgkinson River goldfields, with heavy loss of Aboriginal lives and several well-known massacres. Raids conducted by the Kalkadoon held settlers out of Western Queensland for ten years until September 1884 when they attacked

1978-591: The Governor of New South Wales on 7 September 1859. On 16 November, a petition containing 91 signatures was received seeking to have Ipswich , which had 3,000 people, granted municipal town status. On 29 November, the letters patent authorised by Queen Victoria , which were to make Queensland a separate colony, were published in New South Wales, and the petition was forwarded to the new Queensland governor , Sir George Ferguson Bowen . On 10 December 1859,

2064-672: The Great Dividing Range runs roughly parallel with, and inland from, the coast, and areas west of the range are more arid than the humid coastal regions. The Great Barrier Reef , which is the world's largest coral reef system, runs parallel to the state's Coral Sea coast between the Torres Strait and K'gari (Fraser Island) . Queensland's coastline includes the world's three largest sand islands: K'gari (Fraser Island) , Moreton , and North Stradbroke . The state contains six World Heritage -listed preservation areas:

2150-636: The Kilcoy and Whiteside poisonings, each of which was said to have taken up to 70 Aboriginal lives by use of a gift of flour laced with strychnine . At the Battle of One Tree Hill in September 1843, Multuggerah and his group of warriors ambushed one group of settlers, routing them and subsequently others in the skirmishes which followed, starting in retaliation for the Kilcoy poisoning. Central Queensland

2236-657: The Kingdom of Great Britain on 22 August 1770 at Possession Island , naming eastern Australia, including Queensland, New South Wales . The Aboriginal population declined significantly after a smallpox epidemic during the late 18th century and massacres by the European settlers. In 1823, John Oxley , a British explorer, sailed north from what is now Sydney to scout possible penal colony sites in Gladstone (then Port Curtis ) and Moreton Bay . At Moreton Bay, he found

2322-467: The Local Government (Reform Implementation) Act 2007 , with only a few name changes as alterations. "Local Transition Committees" (LTCs) were created for each new area, made up of councillors and staff from the original areas, and on 15 March 2008, the old entities formally ceased to exist, and elections were held to fill the new councils. The Commission was a panel of seven: On 27 July 2007,

2408-610: The Local Government Act followed on from the 1864 Act. The Act was modelled on the Victorian Local Government Act 1874 , but the legislation soon proved unsuitable to Queensland's requirements given its large, sparsely populated areas. The Government's response was the Divisional Boards Act 1879 , which intended to extend local government to those areas of Queensland which could not be included in municipalities. The Act divided all lands in

2494-524: The Local Government Act 1878 in August of that year. According to the Act, the function of municipal councils was to maintain "the good rule and government of the municipality" and to provide public services and amenities. Examples of such anticipated by the Act included parks and reserves, libraries, cemeteries, water and sanitation services, roads, bridges, wharves, street lighting, public health, fire prevention,

2580-632: The Northern Peninsula Area Region , which are Local Government Act bodies with special features, with lower-order community councils once again managing individual deeds and grants. The Local Government Reform Commission was an independent, purpose-specific authority established by the Beattie Labor Queensland Government on 1 May 2007 to recommend the most appropriate future structure and boundaries for local government in Queensland . This

2666-601: The Sunshine State for its tropical and sub-tropical climates, Great Barrier Reef , and numerous beaches, tourism is also important to the state's economy. Queensland was one of the largest regions of pre-colonial Aboriginal population in Australia. The Aboriginal occupation of Queensland is thought to predate 50,000 BC, and early migrants are believed to have arrived via boat or land bridge across Torres Strait . Through time, their descendants developed into more than 90 different language and cultural groups. During

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2752-532: The Torres Strait to the north, with Boigu Island off the coast of New Guinea representing the northern extreme of its territory. The triangular Cape York Peninsula , which points toward New Guinea, is the northernmost part of the state's mainland. West of the peninsula's tip, northern Queensland is bordered by the Gulf of Carpentaria . To the west, Queensland is bordered by the Northern Territory , at

2838-643: The White Australia policy came into effect, which saw most foreign workers in Australia deported under the Pacific Island Labourers Act 1901 , which saw the Pacific Islander population of the state decrease rapidly. A public meeting was held in 1851 to consider the proposed separation of Queensland from New South Wales. On 6 June 1859, Queen Victoria signed letters patent to form the separate colony of Queensland as

2924-482: The White Australia policy in 1973 saw the beginning of a wave of immigration from around the world, and most prominently from Asia, which continues to the present. In 1981 the Great Barrier Reef off Queensland's northeast coast, one of the world's largest coral reef systems, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site . In 2003 Queensland adopted maroon as the state's official colour. The announcement

3010-648: The Australian states. It is bordered by the Northern Territory , South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south, respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and the Pacific Ocean ; to the state's north is the Torres Strait , separating the Australian mainland from Papua New Guinea , and the Gulf of Carpentaria to the north-west. With an area of 1,723,030 square kilometres (665,270 sq mi), Queensland

3096-593: The Brisbane penal settlement. In 1842 free settlement, which had already commenced, was officially permitted. In 1847, the Port of Maryborough was opened as a wool port. While most early immigrants came from New South Wales, the first free immigrant ship to arrive in Moreton Bay from Europe was the Artemisia , in 1848. Earlier than this immigrant ship was the arrival of the Irish famine orphan girls to Queensland. Devised by

3182-748: The Colony not already included into municipalities into 74 divisions, each governed by a Board of between 3 and 9 members. Elections were to be conducted by postal ballot. With the passing of the Local Authorities Act 1902 , which repealed both previous acts and extended councils' authority over the areas they controlled, the municipalities became Towns (unless they had City status), and the divisions became Shires on 31 March 1903. In 1915–1917 and again in 1949, significant changes were made to local government in south-eastern Queensland and far northern Queensland. The Local Authorities Act Amendment Bill

3268-507: The Commission handed down recommendations that included the names, classes, boundaries, and electoral arrangements for Queensland's new local government areas. The Commission recommended Queensland's 156 councils be reduced to 72, 32 Aboriginal and island councils will be reduced to 14, and as a result, 724 fewer elected council representatives. The recommendations divided Queensland's mayors and sparked angry campaigns and protests against

3354-550: The Electoral and Administrative Reform Commission (1990–1993) and the Local Government Reform Commission (2007). Recent reforms, which took effect on 15 March 2008, resulted in over 70% of Queensland's local government areas being amalgamated into larger entities and generated a considerable degree of controversy, even attracting national interest in the context of a federal election campaign. As

3440-604: The Feisty Colleens, never set foot on Sydney soil, and instead sailed up to Brisbane (then Moreton Bay) on 21 October 1848 on board the Ann Mary . This scheme continued until 1852. In 1857, Queensland's first lighthouse was built at Cape Moreton . The frontier wars fought between European settlers and Aboriginal tribes in Queensland were the bloodiest and most brutal in colonial Australia. Many of these conflicts are now seen as acts of genocide. The wars featured

3526-1077: The Great Barrier Reef along the Coral Sea coast, K'gari (Fraser Island) on the Wide Bay–Burnett region's coastline, the wet tropics in Far North Queensland including the Daintree Rainforest , Lamington National Park in South East Queensland , the Riversleigh fossil sites in North West Queensland , and the Gondwana Rainforests in South East Queensland. The state is divided into several unofficial regions which are commonly used to refer to large areas of

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3612-613: The Local Government Act. In 1989, the Electoral and Administrative Review Commission was set up to investigate and report on a range of reforms to Queensland public administration, and one area of its purview was the Local Government Act 1936 and local council boundaries. As a result of its recommendations, the Goss Labor government then in charge amalgamated several councils, and a new Local Government Act 1993

3698-598: The Local Government Areas. The Opposition leader, Jeff Seeney , pledged to de-amalgamate councils with community support by way of a poll if they came to office. The Parliament of Queensland passed the Local Government (Reform Implementation) Act 2007 on 10 August 2007, following which Local Transition Committees were established to guide the reforms and appoint interim CEOs (Chief Executive Officers) to manage changes from October through to February 2008. In September 2007, Premier Beattie resigned from

3784-603: The Local Government Association of Queensland instigated reform of local government. Of the 156 councils, 118 agreed to investigate their long-term future through the Size, Shape, and Sustainability (SSS) program; however, it failed to deliver timely, meaningful reform. The Commission reported back on 27 July 2007, recommending massive amalgamations all over the state into "regions" administered by regional councils and centred on major towns or centres, based on

3870-666: The Native Police between 1859 and 1897. The military force of the Queensland Government in this war was the Native Police , who operated from 1849 to the 1920s. The Native Police was a body of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander troopers that operated under the command of white officers. The Native Police were often recruited forcefully from far-away communities. Conflict spread quickly with free settlement in 1838, with settlement rapidly expanding in

3956-495: The Queensland Parliament, and, under the new Premier, Anna Bligh , on 15 March 2008, local government elections were held successfully, and on this date, the Local Government Reform Commission's recommended local government areas came into being across the whole of Queensland. Despite the creation of the new local government authorities in 2008, many citizens continued to object to the council amalgamations. During

4042-417: The age of 21 who was a tenant, occupier, landlord, or proprietor within the municipality could vote, and they were entitled to between one and three votes depending on the level of rates they paid. Only qualified voters could stand for council elections, conducted annually, with one-third of the councillors retiring at each election. Once the council was elected, they selected a mayor from among their number. For

4128-408: The age of sixteen. In total, approximately 15,000 South Sea Islander slaves died while working in Queensland, a figure which does not include those who died in transit or who were killed in the recruitment process. This represents a mortality rate of at least 30%, which is high considering most were only on three year contracts. It is also similar to the estimated 33% death rate of enslaved Africans in

4214-463: The closure of the state borders. With a total area of 1,729,742 square kilometres (715,309 square miles), Queensland is an expansive state with a highly diverse range of climates and geographical features. If Queensland were an independent nation, it would be the world's 16th largest. Queensland's eastern coastline borders the Coral Sea , an arm of the Pacific Ocean. The state is bordered by

4300-660: The colony's agricultural plantations through a process known as blackbirding . This trade in what were then known as Kanakas was in operation from 1863 to 1908, a period of 45 years. Some 55,000 to 62,500 were brought to Australia, most being recruited or blackbirded from islands in Melanesia , such as the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu ), the Solomon Islands and the islands around New Guinea . The majority of those taken were male and around one quarter were under

4386-456: The council members elected the mayor/chairman from among themselves. Minimum standards of competency were required for town/shire clerks. By the time the Local Government Act 1936 came into effect, although the different categories of local government areas still existed, they were essentially a naming convention and had no practical meaning under the Act. A City had to be proclaimed by the Governor following certain criteria being met. In 1925,

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4472-628: The council to the community. In 2005–2007, as part of the Queensland Government's response to the Cape York Justice Study undertaken by Justice Fitzgerald QC in November 2001, these bodies became "Aboriginal Shire Councils" and "Island Councils" and obtained additional powers associated with local governments. A considerable number of them were amalgamated in 2008 into either the Torres Strait Island Region or

4558-481: The east coast of Australia for the Kingdom of Great Britain . In 1788, Arthur Phillip founded the colony of New South Wales, which included all of what is now Queensland. Queensland was explored in subsequent decades, and the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement was established at Brisbane in 1824 by John Oxley . During the Australian frontier wars of the 19th century, colonists killed tens of thousands of Aboriginal people in Queensland while consolidating their control over

4644-407: The first Premier of Queensland . In 1865, the first rail line in the state opened between Ipswich and Grandchester . Queensland's economy expanded rapidly in 1867 after James Nash discovered gold on the Mary River near the town of Gympie , sparking a gold rush and saving the State of Freddy-Mercury-land from near economic collapse. While still significant, they were on a much smaller scale than

4730-414: The first commercial production of oil in Queensland and Australia began at Moonie . During World War II Brisbane became central to the Allied campaign when the AMP Building (now called MacArthur Central ) was used as the South West Pacific headquarters for General Douglas MacArthur , chief of the Allied Pacific forces, until his headquarters were moved to Hollandia in August 1944. In 1942, during

4816-458: The first three years of being taken to America. The trade was legally sanctioned and regulated under Queensland law, and prominent men such as Robert Towns made massive fortunes off of exploitation of slave labour, helping to establish some of the major cities in Queensland today. Towns' agent claimed that blackbirded labourers were "savages who did not know the use of money" and therefore did not deserve cash wages. Following Federation in 1901,

4902-607: The first time, municipalities could be divided into wards upon their own request—from two wards for a population under 1,000 to four wards for a population over 5,000. During the 14 years that the Act was in force, the Drayton municipality was abolished in 1875, and nine new municipalities were created: Townsville (15 February 1866), Gayndah (28 November 1866), Clermont (21 January 1867), Roma (21 May 1867), Allora (21 July 1869), Mackay (22 September 1869), Copperfield (10 May 1872), Cooktown (3 April 1876) and Charters Towers (21 June 1877). The Queensland Government passed

4988-413: The former shires of Douglas, Livingstone, Mareeba and Noosa voted in de-amalgamation referendums . In all four cases, a majority voted in favour of de-amalgamation. As a result, the Queensland Government enacted the Local Government (De-amalgamation Implementation) Regulation 2013 on 11 April 2013 to implement the de-amalgamations, which will separate: based on the boundaries of the four former shires at

5074-422: The gold rushes of Victoria and New South Wales. Immigration to Australia and Queensland, in particular, began in the 1850s to support the state economy. During the period from the 1860s until the early 20th century, many labourers, known at the time as Kanakas , were brought to Queensland from neighbouring Pacific Island nations to work in the state's sugar cane fields. Some of these people had been kidnapped under

5160-424: The last ice age , Queensland's landscape became more arid and largely desolate, making food and other supplies scarce. The people developed the world's first seed-grinding technology. The end of the glacial period brought about a warming climate, making the land more hospitable. It brought high rainfall along the eastern coast, stimulating the growth of the state's tropical rainforests. The Torres Strait Islands

5246-490: The later decades of the 20th century, the humid subtropical climate —regulated by the availability of air conditioning—saw Queensland become a popular destination for migrants from interstate. Since that time, Queensland has continuously seen high levels of migration from the other states and territories of Australia. In 1966, Lyndon B. Johnson became the first U.S. president to visit Queensland. During his visit, he met with Australia prime minister Harold Holt . The end of

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5332-452: The most frequent massacres of First Nations people, the three deadliest massacres on white settlers, the most disreputable frontier police force, and the highest number of white victims to frontier violence on record in any Australian colony. Across at least 644 collisions at least 66,680 were killed — with Aboriginal fatalities alone comprising no less than 65,180. Of these deaths, around 24,000 Aboriginal men, women and children were killed by

5418-399: The only Australian state with a unicameral parliament . In 1935 cane toads were deliberately introduced to Queensland from Hawaii in an unsuccessful attempt to reduce the number of French's cane and greyback cane beetles that were destroying the roots of sugar cane plants, which are integral to Queensland's economy. The toads have remained an environmental pest since that time. In 1962,

5504-523: The progress of the SSS program, what they believed the SSS reform agenda could achieve, and in what time frame. The responses to the Minister showed that significant reform was not going to be achieved by the SSS program before the next local government elections, due in March 2008. The Queensland Treasury Corporation prepared financial sustainability reviews for 105 councils. The reviews found that some 40% were regarded as being in financially "weak", "very weak", or "distressed" conditions. Other studies by

5590-407: The reforms. Some affected councils proposed to hold referendums on amalgamations with threats of dismissal if they went ahead. Then Premier Peter Beattie vowed to implement the proposed boundary changes "lock, stock, and barrel" although, at the time, he said he'd be open to consensus suggestions from the Councils to be amalgamated as to the names of the new Councils and the electoral divisions within

5676-445: The regulation of building construction, and the regulation and issuing of a range of licences for uses of land. It made provision for the creation of additional municipalities to be known as Cities, Boroughs, or Shires, either upon or without petition. Any man or woman over the age of 21 who was liable to be rated on any property in the district was eligible to vote in elections, which were to be held every February. In most other respects,

5762-493: The same day that the letters patent were published in Queensland, the petition was regazetted. On 3 March 1860, the Town of Ipswich was proclaimed. Following this, eight other councils obtained municipality status under the Act: Toowoomba (19 November 1860), Rockhampton (13 December 1860), Maryborough (23 March 1861), Warwick (25 May 1861), Drayton (1862), Gladstone (20 February 1863), Bowen (7 August 1863) and Dalby (21 August 1863). By 1879, almost all of Queensland

5848-402: The state and Commonwealth governments. As bodies which obtain their legitimacy from an Act of the Queensland Parliament, local councils are subordinate rather than sovereign entities and can be created, amalgamated, abolished, or dismissed by the state at will. In modern practice, however, decisions on such matters are made in response to recommendations by independent Reform Commissions, such as

5934-418: The state's population were born overseas . The state has the highest inter-state net migration in Australia. Queensland was first inhabited by Aboriginal Australians , with the Torres Strait Islands inhabited by Torres Strait Islanders . Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon , the first European to land in Australia, explored the west coast of the Cape York Peninsula in 1606. In 1770, James Cook claimed

6020-430: The state's vast geography. These include: Ward (country subdivision) The word "ward", for an electoral subdivision, appears to have originated in the Wards of the City of London , where gatherings for each ward known as "wardmotes" have taken place since the 12th century. The word was much later applied to divisions of other cities and towns in England and Wales and Ireland . In parts of northern England ,

6106-406: The territory. On 6 June 1859 (now commemorated as Queensland Day ), Queen Victoria signed the letters patent to establish the colony of Queensland, separating it from New South Wales and thereby establishing Queensland as a self-governing Crown colony with responsible government . A large part of colonial Queensland's economy relied on blackbirded South Sea Islander slavery. Queensland

6192-556: The then British Secretary of State for the Colonies, The Earl Grey Scheme established a special emigration scheme which was designed to resettle destitute girls from the workhouses of Ireland during the Great Famine. The first ship, the "Earl Grey", departed Ireland for a 124-day sail to Sydney. After controversy developed upon their arrival in Australia, a small group of 37 young orphans, sometimes referred to as The Belfast Girls or

6278-402: The time of amalgamation in 2008. Elections for the four affected shires were held on 9 November 2013 , and the changes officially took effect from 1 January 2014, and Queensland Queensland ( locally / ˈ k w iː n z l æ n d / KWEENZ -land , commonly abbreviated as Qld ) is a state in northeastern Australia , and is the second-largest and third-most populous of

6364-428: The war, Brisbane was the site of a violent clash between visiting US military personnel and Australian servicemen and civilians, which resulted in one death and hundreds of injuries. This incident became known colloquially as the Battle of Brisbane . The end of World War II saw a wave of immigration from across Europe, with many more immigrants coming from southern and eastern Europe than in previous decades. In

6450-819: The word ward used in English is translated into Swahili/Kiswahili as Kata. In the case of a municipal amalgamation , the former cities and towns that make up the new metropolis may be referred to as wards. In Monaco , wards are informal divisions of the country, grouped into quartiers. In the Republic of Ireland , urban divisions were called wards and rural ones were called district electoral divisions . Both were renamed as electoral divisions in 1996. The electoral districts for Irish local authorities are local electoral areas . These are generally defined as combinations of electoral divisions, and in urban areas were formally described as combination of wards. In Japan ,

6536-603: The world today. World War I had a major impact on Queensland . Over 58,000 Queenslanders fought in World War I and over 10,000 of them died. Australia's first major airline, Qantas (originally standing for "Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services"), was founded in Winton in 1920 to serve outback Queensland. In 1922 Queensland abolished the Queensland Legislative Council , becoming

6622-587: Was among the six colonies which became the founding states of Australia with Federation on 1 January 1901. Since the Bjelke-Petersen era of the late 20th century, Queensland has received a high level of internal migration from the other states and territories of Australia and remains a popular destination for interstate migration. Queensland has the third-largest economy among Australian states, with strengths in mining, agriculture, transportation, international education , insurance, and banking. Nicknamed

6708-409: Was in part due to the number of financially weak councils with small populations in rural areas, dating from an earlier time when industry and population had justified their creation. Every local government was reviewed, except Brisbane City Council , already having the largest population of any local government area in Australia. With concern about the sustainability of Queensland local governments,

6794-660: Was introduced. In the mid-1980s, with the passage of the Community Services (Torres Strait) Act 1984 and Community Services (Aborigines) Act 1984 , many former Aboriginal reserves (created under the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 and its successors) and missions (particularly in the Cape York region) and several Torres Strait islands were granted by way of

6880-575: Was made as a result of an informal tradition to use maroon to represent the state in association with sporting events. After three decades of record population growth, Queensland was impacted by major floods between late 2010 and early 2011 , causing extensive damage and disruption across the state. In 2020 Queensland was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic . Despite a low number and abrupt decline in cases from April 2020 onward, social distancing requirements were implemented from March 2020 including

6966-533: Was not without considerable controversy in many of the affected areas and even a threat of Federal intervention from the Howard government , who funded plebiscites on the change in December 2007 in many affected areas, which recorded a strong "No" vote in most cases but with fairly low turnout by Australian referendum standards. On 10 August 2007, the Commission's amalgamation recommendations were passed into law as

7052-565: Was particularly hard hit during the 1860s and 1870s, several contemporary writers mention the Skull Hole, Bladensburg, or Mistake Creek massacre on Bladensburg Station near Winton , which in 1901 was said to have taken up to 200 Aboriginal lives. First Nations warriors killed 19 settlers during the Cullin-La-Ringo massacre on 17 October 1861. In the weeks afterwards, police, native police and civilians killed up to 370 members of

7138-431: Was passed in late 1920. It introduced adult franchise into local government elections, bringing them into line with the state and federal parliament (previously, the voters were restricted to ratepayers). From July 1921, local councils were elected every three years instead of annually. Mayors and shire chairmen were elected directly by the electorate and did not represent any ward within the local government area; previously,

7224-402: Was redesigned. Firstly, a signed petition had to be presented to the Governor from a minimum of 100 householders to create a new district or divide an existing one, or a minimum of 50 householders to extend an existing district to cover a neighbouring rural area. Once this had been done, the Governor could proclaim the change, and residents could then elect a council to represent them. Any man over

7310-556: Was the first recorded landing of a European in Australia , and it also marked the first reported contact between Europeans and the Aboriginal people of Australia . The region was also explored by French and Spanish explorers (commanded by Louis Antoine de Bougainville and Luís Vaez de Torres , respectively) before the arrival of Lieutenant James Cook in 1770. Cook claimed the east coast under instruction from King George III of

7396-649: Was under some form of local administration, either as a municipality under the Local Government Act 1878 or as a division under the Divisional Boards Act 1879 . In September 1864, the first comprehensive Queensland local government legislation, the Municipal Institutions Act 1864 , was enacted, repealing the previous Act. The Act allowed municipalities to charge rates, borrow money, enact bylaws , control or regulate public infrastructure and utilities, and provide public amenities such as gardens and hospitals. The system for creating new municipalities

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