Crises, Deadlocks and Dissolutions

In 1859, "formed out of the rawest materials and in no very favorable [sic] circumstances", ruled by a neophyte governor with delusions of grandeur, little regard for the conventions of parliamentary government, and rather less for the truth, Queensland was, like Athena, born fully grown, yet possessing a political maturity that matched the ovine nature of its economy. First placid, then unruly, it progressed from bare sentience through mercurial factionalism, to a nebulous two-party system, and then an effective one-party state, all within 31 years. With the 20th century came a decade of fundamental political realignment and the creation of the two-party system that prevails, in its essentials, to this day. In 1915, the state's first majority Labor government was elected in a landslide with a clear policy of abolishing the troublesome upper house, the Legislative Council. In 1922, it became the first and only state Labor government to succeed in this endeavour. But terribly flawed though it was, still the Queensland upper house was the only real check on the power of the executive government based in the lower house. Unfortunately, it was wielded by Labor's opponents in the manner of a sledgehammer rather than a scalpel. Crises, Deadlocks and Dissolutions provides a forensic, highly entertaining account of this fascinating period in the evolution of parliamentary government in Australia, the outcomes of which continue to impact on the government in Queensland to this day.