It’s election day in Queensland

posted in: Life and things | 0

Australia is a unique place. It’s the only place on Earth that is at the same time a country, a continent, and an island. And that last property has helped to make it a haven for monotremes, marsupials, and other weird critters. Europeans ‘discovered’ the Great South Land several times over the centuries, usually by bumping into it by accident (see blame it on the longitude) but settlement didn’t take place until 1788 on the shores of what’s now Sydney Harbour because the British Government need a new place to dump its convicts after the United States of America declared independence.

The thing is, since Australia is such a big place, settlements also started at other places. Settlers from Europe began the Perth colony in 1829 and another group founded Adelaide in 1836. Hobart, Melbourne, and Brisbane all spawned from the Sydney colony. All of these settlements were easily as far from each other as European capital cities, each had its own climate and geology and different problems to overcome. So, they all developed in their own unique way, albeit on a British model. At the end of the nineteenth century, there were six Australian colonies – New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania – each functioning independently, with its own government, laws, and even tariffs on goods traded between them.

Australia became a federation on January 1, 1901, when the six colonies united to form the Commonwealth of Australia. This transformation was driven by a desire for a unified defense, consistent trade laws, and a cohesive national identity. The journey to federation involved decades of debate and multiple conventions, where representatives discussed and drafted a constitution. In the 1890s, after several constitutional conventions and public discussions, the colonies finally agreed on a federal system. The draft constitution was put to a series of referendums, which received majority support. With the British Parliament’s approval and the signing of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, the colonies officially united as states within the new nation.

But that didn’t – doesn’t – mean they suddenly gave up their colonial (now state) identities. Education, health, traffic laws, and all the nuts and bolts legislation that cover most of our daily lives are all run at a state level. Each state is different. Queensland covers enough land area to engulf several European countries. Parts of it are tropical, parts are desert. It covers the entire Great Barrier Reef, most of the Great Artesian Basin (underground water), and has vast mineral deposits. Unlike Western Australia, whose population is mainly concentrated in the south west corner, a whole string of medium to large cities have developed along the Queensland Pacific Coast. But they’re all governed from Brisbane, a sprawling sub-tropical city in the state’s extreme south east corner. There’s often resentment from the people in the ‘bush’ at how their needs are overlooked to provide for the needs of the electorate-rich conurbation of Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, and the Gold Coast.

Brisbane CBD from the air

So, here we are on election day in Queensland. Labor has been in power since 2015, presiding over the draconian covid years. What do we have to show for Labor’s time in office? Australia’s deadliest highway, the Bruce which runs from Brisbane to Cairns, is still a cart track along too much of its length. Youth crime is out of control, especially outside Brisbane. Homelessness has skyrocketed. Cost of living, especially energy prices, is through the roof. The public health system is creaking at the seams. And the public service has expanded by at least fifty percent.

But we have signed up to host the Olympic Games in 2032.

And here’s a picture of a white mandevilla in our new garden.

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