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37-689: Richard Mathews Hyne was a politician in Queensland, Australia. He was a Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly . He was the founder of the Hyne & Son timber milling company. In 1879 he was appointed one of the founding trustees of Maryborough Boys Grammar School . This article about an Australian politician is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Queensland Legislative Assembly Opposition (36) Crossbench (5) The Legislative Assembly of Queensland

74-503: A semi-presidential system (1981–1986) form of government. The ongoing process of amending or revising the current Constitution and form of government is popularly known as Charter Change . A shift to a unicameral parliament was included in the proposals of the constitutional commission created by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo . Unlike in the United States, senators in the Senate of

111-508: A "modified one vote, one value" system. Under this proposal, subsequently adopted, most electorates consisted of approximately the same number of electors, but with a greater tolerance for fewer electors allowed in a limited number of remote electorates. This plan is still in use today. Presently, 42 seats are contested in Greater Brisbane and 47 in the rest of the state. The youngest person ever elected to Queensland's Legislative Assembly

148-530: A drift of working class population from rural and remote electorates to the cities. By the late 1980s the decline in the political fortunes of the National Party, together with rapid growth in south east Queensland meant that the zonal system was no longer able to guarantee a conservative victory. In addition, in 1988 the Federal Labor Government held four constitutional referendums — one of which

185-547: A fourth zone—a remote zone, comprising seats with even fewer electors. Thus the conservative government was able to isolate Labor support in provincial cities and maximise its own rural power base. On average, the Country Party needed only 7,000 votes to win a seat, compared with 12,800 for a typical Labor seat. The entrenchment of a Coalition government was also caused by socio-economic and demographic changes associated with mechanisation of farms and urbanisation which led to

222-504: A robust constitution. Approximately half of the world's sovereign states are currently unicameral. The People's Republic of China is somewhat in-between, with a legislature and a formal advisory body. China has a Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference which meets alongside the National People's Congress , in many respects an advisory "upper house". Many subnational entities have unicameral legislatures. These include

259-616: A unicameral legislature, but the measure did not pass the Senate. Because of legislative gridlock in 2009, former Congressman Rick Lazio , a prospective candidate for governor, has proposed that New York adopt unicameralism. The United States as a whole was subject to a unicameral Congress during the years 1781–1788, when the Articles of Confederation were in effect. The Confederate States of America , pursuant to its Provisional Constitution, in effect from February 8, 1861, to February 22, 1862,

296-533: Is also the smallest legislature of any US state. A 2018 study found that efforts to adopt unicameralism in Ohio and Missouri failed due to rural opposition. There was a fear in rural communities that unicameralism would diminish their influence in state government. Local government legislatures of counties, cities, or other political subdivisions within states are usually unicameral and have limited lawmaking powers compared to their state and federal counterparts. Some of

333-649: Is bicameral, all local legislatures are unicameral: the Bangsamoro Parliament , the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Provincial Boards), Sangguniang Panlungsod (City Councils), Sangguniang Bayan (Municipal Councils), Sangguniang Barangay ( Barangay Councils), and the Sangguniang Kabataan (Youth Councils). The Nebraska Legislature (also called the Unicameral) is the supreme legislative body of

370-781: Is now configured in a U-shape away from the Speaker's chair with three rows of benches that have their own desks and microphones. As of October 2024, the LNP (Liberal National Party) has 52/93 seats and formed majority government within the unicameral chamber. As of October 2024, the composition of Parliament is: Senate House of Rep. Council Assembly Council Assembly Council Assembly Council Assembly Council Assembly Council Assembly Assembly Assembly Unicameral Sometimes, as in New Zealand and Denmark , unicameralism comes about through

407-482: Is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland . Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting . The Assembly has 93 members , who have used the letters MP after their names since 2000 (previously they were styled MLAs ). There is approximately the same population in each electorate ; however, that has not always been

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444-700: The Liberal National Party (LNP) has 51 of 93 seats and formed majority government within the unicameral chamber. Initially, the Legislative Assembly was the lower house of a bicameral parliament influenced by the Westminster system . The upper house was the Legislative Council , its members appointed for life by the governor , on advice of the government of the day. The first sitting, in May 1860,

481-481: The Minnesota Legislature into a single chamber. Although debated, the idea was never adopted. The US territory of Puerto Rico held a non-binding referendum in 2005 . Voters approved changing its Legislative Assembly to a unicameral body by 456,267 votes in favor (83.7%) versus 88,720 against (16.3%). If both the territory's House of Representatives and Senate had approved by a 2 ⁄ 3 vote

518-697: The provinces of Nepal , all of the Spanish autonomous communities , both of the autonomous regions of Portugal , most of the states and union territories of India , and all of the states of Brazil and Germany . In the United Kingdom , the devolved Scottish Parliament , the Welsh Senedd , the Northern Ireland Assembly , and the London Assembly are also unicameral. Though the current Congress of

555-469: The 13 colonies which became independent, such as Pennsylvania , New Jersey and New Hampshire had initially introduced strong unicameral legislature and (relatively) less powerful governors with no veto power. Pennsylvania's constitution lasted only 14 years. In 1790, conservatives gained power in the state legislature, called a new constitutional convention, and rewrote the constitution. The new constitution substantially reduced universal male suffrage, gave

592-579: The 1940s and sought to divide the opposition. In 1962, it was replaced with full preferential voting, as the governing conservatives wanted to take advantage of a split in Labor. In 1992, this was changed to the optional preferential system which was used until full preferential voting was reinstated in 2016. After 1912, electorates elected only a single member to the Assembly. In 1922, the Legislative Council

629-507: The Labor government was able to maximise its vote, particularly in its power base of the provincial city zone. With the split in the party in the late 1950s the ALP lost office and a conservative Coalition government led by the Country Party (later National Party ) under Frank Nicklin came to power, which, as discussed above, initially modified the voting system to introduce preferential voting, to take advantage of Labor's split. It also separated

666-533: The Philippines are elected not per district and state but nationally; the Philippines is a unitary state . The Philippine government's decision-making process, relative to the United States, is more rigid, highly centralised, much slower and susceptible to political gridlock . As a result, the trend for unicameralism as well as other political system reforms are more contentious in the Philippines. While Congress

703-576: The Philippines is bicameral, the country experienced unicameralism in 1898 and 1899 (during the First Philippine Republic ), from 1935 to 1941 (the Commonwealth era) and from 1943 to 1944 (during the Japanese occupation ). Under the 1973 Constitution, the legislative body was called Batasang Pambansa , which functioned also a unicameral legislature within a parliamentary system (1973–1981) and

740-500: The abolition of one of two bicameral chambers, or, as in Sweden , through the merger of the two chambers into a single one, while in others a second chamber has never existed from the beginning. The principal advantage of a unicameral system is more efficient lawmaking, as the legislative process is simpler and there is no possibility of deadlock between two chambers. Proponents of unicameralism have also argued that it reduces costs, even if

777-429: The bulk of Kansas City ) narrowly voted against, and all other counties voted against the change to unicameralism. In 1970, North Dakota voters voted to call a constitutional convention. In 1972, a change to a unicameral legislature was approved by 69.36-30.64, however, since the voters rejected the new constitution at the same referendum, it never took effect. In 1999, Governor Jesse Ventura proposed converting

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814-698: The case (in particular, a malapportionment system - not, strictly speaking, a gerrymander - dubbed the Bjelkemander was in effect during the 1970s and 1980s). The Assembly first sat in May 1860 and produced Australia's first Hansard in April 1864. Following the outcome of the 2015 election , successful amendments to the electoral act in early 2016 include: adding an additional four parliamentary seats from 89 to 93, changing from optional preferential voting to full-preferential voting , and moving from unfixed three-year terms to fixed four-year terms. As of October 2024,

851-419: The day to maximise its own voter support at the expense of the opposition. It has been called a form of gerrymander , dubbed the " Bjelkemander " however it is more accurately referred to as an electoral malapportionment . In a classic gerrymander, electoral boundaries are drawn to take advantage of known pockets of supporters and to isolate areas of opposition voters so as to maximise the number of seats for

888-478: The government for a given number of votes and to cause opposition support to be "wasted" by concentrating their supporters in relatively fewer electorates. The Queensland "gerrymander", first introduced by the Labor Party (ALP) government of Ned Hanlon in 1949 used a series of electoral zones based on their distance from Brisbane. Initially Queensland was divided into three zones—the metropolitan zone (Brisbane),

925-572: The governor veto power and patronage appointment authority, and added an upper house with substantial wealth qualifications to the unicameral legislature. Thomas Paine called it a constitution unworthy of America. In 1944, Missouri held a vote on changing the General Assembly to a unicameral one, which was narrowly rejected by the voters 52.42-47.58. Only the city of St. Louis and the St. Louis County voted in favor, whilst Jackson County (containing

962-522: The malapportionment, Labor was rarely able to garner a higher percentage of the vote than the Coalition for most of this period. In 1989 Labor won government, promising to implement the recommendations of the Fitzgerald Inquiry into police corruption, including the establishment of an Electoral and Administrative Reform Commission (EARC). EARC recommended the abolition of the zonal system in favour of

999-503: The number of legislators stays the same, since there are fewer institutions to maintain and support financially. More popular among modern-day democratic countries, unicameral, proportional legislatures are widely seen as both more democratic and effective. Proponents of bicameral legislatures say that having two legislative chambers offers an additional restraint on the majority , though critics note that there are other ways to restrain majorities, such as through non-partisan courts and

1036-417: The provincial cities from their hinterlands. The hinterlands were added to the rural zone, where new Country Party seats were created. As the divisions in the ALP abated in the early 1970s, and tensions in the conservative coalition grew, (thus reducing the advantage to be gained by the use of preferential voting), the conservative government, now led by Joh Bjelke-Petersen , modified the zoning system to add

1073-414: The provincial cities zone (which also included rural areas around provincial cities) and the rural zone. While the number of electors in each seat in a zone was roughly equal, there was considerable variation in the number of electors between zones. Thus an electorate in the remote zone might have as few as 5,000 electors, while a seat in the metropolitan zone might have as many as 25,000. Using this system

1110-522: The specific amendments to the Puerto Rico Constitution that are required for the change to a unicameral legislature, another referendum would have been held in the territory to approve such amendments. If those constitutional changes had been approved, Puerto Rico could have switched to a unicameral legislature as early as 2015. On June 9, 2009, the Maine House of Representatives voted to form

1147-811: The state of Nebraska and territories of Guam and the Virgin Islands in the United States , the Chinese special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao , the Australian state of Queensland as well as the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory , a majority of the provinces of Argentina , all of the provinces and territories in Canada , all of the regions of Italy , all of

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1184-467: The state of Nebraska and the only unicameral state legislature in the United States. Its members are called "senators", as it was originally the upper house of a bicameral legislature before the Nebraska House of Representatives dissolved in 1937. The legislature is also notable for being nonpartisan and officially recognizes no party affiliation, making Nebraska unique among US states. With 49 members, it

1221-472: The working class from state politics. The Assembly was elected under the first-past-the-post (plurality) system 1860 to 1892. From then until 1942 an unusual form of preferential voting called the contingent vote was used. This was introduced by a conservative government to hinder the emerging Labor Party from gaining seats with minority support. In 1942 the plurality system was reintroduced. The Labor government then in power had seen its vote decline in

1258-639: Was Lawrence Springborg , former Minister for Natural Resources and Leader of the Opposition . In 1989, he entered parliament aged 21. The Queensland Legislative Assembly sits in Parliament House in the Brisbane central business district . The building was completed in 1891. The lower house chamber is decorated dark green in the traditional Westminster style. The chamber once featured central tables which divided two rows of elevated benches on each side. The room

1295-464: Was abolished, with the help of members known as the suicide squad , who were specially appointed to vote the chamber out of existence. This left Queensland with a unicameral parliament—currently the only Australian state with this arrangement. From 1948 until the reforms following the end of the Bjelke-Petersen era, Queensland used an electoral zoning system that was tweaked by the government of

1332-503: Was for the adoption of fair electoral systems around Australia. Although the referendum did not succeed, it heightened public awareness of the issue. A large public interest non-partisan organisation, the Citizens for Democracy, lobbied extensively the Liberal and Labor parties to abolish the gerrymander and to make it a major issue in the lead up to the landmark 1989 Queensland election. Despite

1369-574: Was held in the old converted convict barracks in Queen Street . It consisted of 26 members from 16 electorates, nearly half of whom were pastoralists or squatters. Early sessions dealt with issues of land, labour, railways, public works, immigration, education and gold discoveries. In April 1864, Australia's first Hansard was produced. That year also saw member numbers increased to 32, and by 1868—as more redistributions occurred—the number grew to 42. Members were not paid until 1886, effectively excluding

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