This article is about the current Queensland branch of the federal Labor Party. For the defunct breakaway Labor party from 1957–1978, see Queensland Labor Party (1957–1978).
The Queensland Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party (State of Queensland)[9] and commonly referred to as Queensland Labor or simply Labor, is the branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the state of Queensland.[10] It has functioned in the state since the 1880s.[b] The Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party was the first Labour Party to win government in the world, when, in December of 1899, following the resignation of the Dickson ministry, Queensland Labour leader Anderson Dawson accepted an offer by Lieutenant-GovernorSamuel Griffith to form a government.[11]
Trade unionists in Queensland had begun attempting to secure parliamentary representation as early as the mid-1880s. William McNaughton Galloway, the president of the Seamen's Union, mounted an unsuccessful campaign as an independent in an 1886 by-election. A Workers' Political Reform Association was founded to nominate candidates for the 1888 election, at which the Brisbane Trades and Labor Council endorsed six candidates. Thomas Glassey won the seat of Bundamba at that election, becoming the first self-identified "labor" MP in Queensland. The Queensland Provincial Council of the Australian Labor Federation was formed in 1889 in an attempt to unite Labor campaign efforts. Tommy Ryan won the seat of Barcoo for the labour movement-run People's Parliamentary Association in 1892, and the Labor Party was formally established in Queensland following the first Labor-in-Politics Convention later that year.[12]
The Queensland branch subsequently formed the first Labor government in Australia, albeit briefly, when Anderson Dawson took office for a week in 1899 after a falling out between the non-Labor forces.[13]
Since 1989, when the party came back to power after thirty-two years in Opposition, all its leaders have become Premiers despite two spells in Opposition in 1996–98 and 2012–2015.
As of 2020, the Queensland branch has three factions: the right, headed by Annastacia Palaszczuk, the left, headed by Steven Miles, and the centralist faction, the Old Guard. Discounting Speaker Curtis Pitt, of the 47 Labor MPs, 24 belong to the Left, 16 to the Right, and 7 to the Old Guard.[14]
As of the 2020 state election, Queensland Labor's seat distribution was as follows:
2020 state election Queensland Labor seat distribution
Parts of this article (those related to category) need to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2024)
Historically (1910s–1960s) Queensland Labor's voter base and membership has been distributed fairly equitably across the metropolitan, urban, and rural areas of the state, although maintaining a demographic majority within the South East region.[15] Beginning in the 1970s, Queensland Labor's voter base in particular has swayed more heavily toward the metropolitan and urban areas of the state such as Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast, and Townsville, with the Country (later National) and Liberal parties competing with Labor in both regions as an electoral bloc.[15]
^Fitzgerald, Ross & Thornton, Harold. Labor in Queensland: From the 1880s to 1988. University of Queensland Press. pp. 1–11.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^"Labour in Politics. Call to Convention. Mr Glassey Appointed Leader". The Telegraph. 5 August 1892. A circular has been addressed to the various labour organisations in Queensland as follows: "Recognising the increasing importance of the Labour Party in Parliament, and in view of the approaching general elections, a meeting of the Labour members and their avowed supporters has been held, and the party formally established. Mr. Thomas Glassey was appointed to the responsible position of leader.
^Fitzgerald, Ross & Thornton, Harold. Labor in Queensland: From the 1880s to 1988. University of Queensland Press. p. 11.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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