Parliament of Queensland, Legislative Assembly election

* Party did not contest previous election or did not meet criteria for listing, or contested previous election under a different party name.

Notes

Electoral system and voting: In April 2016 the Legislative Assembly approved the increase of the membership of the Assembly from 89 to 93 seats with the consequent need for a redrawing of electoral district boundaries. At the same time, the government reintroduced, with cross-bench support, the requirement that voters must list preferences for all candidates on the ballot paper, that is, a shift from preferential voting (AV) with voluntary preferences to one with compulsory preferences. Preferential voting (AV) with optional preferences had been adopted for Queensland Legislative Assembly elections from 1992, replacing the previous system of compulsory preferences which had been in place since the first adoption of preferential voting (AV) for Queensland elections in 1963.

Government in office at election: At the 2015 Queensland Assembly election, the Newman Liberal National Party majority government was defeated. It was replaced by an Australian Labor Party minority government led by Premier Palaszczuk who relied on the support of Independent member Peter Wellington (electoral district of Nicklin). In spite of a subsequent loss of one member from the Labor Party in the Assembly, the Palaszczuk government continued in office with cross-bench support until the expiry of the Assembly's fixed term and the calling of this election (2018).

Liberal National Party: In July 2008, the Liberal Party and the National Party in Queensland had agreed to merge to form a new party to contest state elections, the Liberal National Party. The merger was approved by the membership of both parties at separate state party conventions. The party won office in 2012 under the leadership of Newman until it was defeated at the election in 2015.

Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party: Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party first ran candidates at the Queensland Legislative Assembly election in 1998 and won 11 seats. Subsequently, the party experienced a series of major organizational changes and the decline of its vote share. The party was reconstituted several times and, by 2006 was registered as One Nation with few ties to Pauline Hanson. During 2015, Pauline Hanson worked to reconstitute the party under the original name of Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party, winning Senate seats and representation in some state parliaments in 2016; see 'Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party' in the party name entry in the Glossary.

At this Queensland Assembly election (2017) the party is listed in the table above as Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party, its current registered name in Queensland. At the previous Queensland Assembly election in 2015, the party (listed as 'One Nation) won fewer that 1 percent of the first preference votes; the restructured party made significant gains at this election in 2017, endorsing 61 candidates, increasing its vote share to 14 percent but winning only one seat (Mirani).

For commentary on the influence of Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party on the outcome of this Queensland Assembly election, see Colebatch, in 'References', below.

Greens: The Greens had been contesting Queensland Legislative Assembly elections since 1989 but this election in 2017 was the first at which the party's primary vote reached 10 percent and won a seat in the Assembly (the metropolitan seat of Maiwar). Under the registered name of Australian Greens for federal elections, the party had won a Senate seat in Queensland at the 2010 and 2016 Senate elections.

Katter's Australian Party: Bob Katter, a former National Party member of the Queensland Assembly (1974-1992), was elected to the House of Representatives from 1993 as a National Party candidate, and as an Independent from 2001 to 2010. In 2011 he registered the party name 'Katter's Australian Party' for both federal and state elections and won the Party's only seat (the electoral district of Kennedy) at the House of Representatives election in 2013. At the 2012 Queensland Legislative Assembly election, Katter's Australian Party fielded 76 candidates, and gained two seats (the electoral districts of Dalrymple and Mount Isa).

At the 2015 election for the Queensland Legislative Assembly, Katter's Australian Party fielded 11 candidates and, although its state-wide vote dropped by 10 percent, maintained its hold on the two seats of Dalrymple and Mount Isa, held by Bob Katter's son, Robbie Katter.

At this Queensland Legislative Assembly election (2017), Katter's Australian Party endorsed 10 candidates, maintained its vote share and won an additional seat for a total of 3 (the electoral districts of Hill, Hinchinbrook, and Traeger, won by Robbie Katter after his previous seat, Mount Isa, had disappeared in the electoral redistribution required for this election).

Civil Liberties, Consumer Rights, No-Tolls: This party was registered in Queensland in 2015. Its policies included the abolition of road tolls and resistance to increases in consumer taxes, the licencing of GMO foods and water fluoridation. The party fielded 8 candidates at this election (2017).

Independents: The vote shown for Independents at this Queensland Legislative Assembly election in the table above is the sum of votes cast for all candidates who ran for office without a registered party name. Most of these candidates campaigned as Independents, but some may have campaigned using the name of an unregistered party grouping. The Electoral Commission of Queensland regards both these groups of candidates as 'other candidates'. There were 95 such candidates at this Queensland Assembly election in 2017 with one, Sandy Bolton, being elected as an Independent to the seat of Noosa.

Registering a political party for Queensland elections is now a cumbersome process; for the requirements for registration, see the Electoral Commission of Queensland website 'Registering a political party', online here [accessed 8 January 2018].

References: For commentary on the influence of Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party on the outcome of this Queensland Assembly election, see Tim Colebatch, 'Queensland: A Final Note on Preferences', Inside Story, 14 December 2017, online here [accessed 8 January 2018].

Sources

The results in the tables above are taken from the Electoral Commission of Queensland website online here [accessed 10 December 2017].