Noosa 360

Background 

Parliamentary committees in Queensland perform vital oversight of government activity, including changes to legislation. This is usually done by an Upper House, however in 1922, despite Queenslanders wanting some form of Upper House to continue, the government of the day abolished it, leaving Queensland a unicameral parliament.  

The Fitzgerald corruption Inquiry, which reported in 1989, criticised the weak parliamentary system the lack of an Upper House had left Queensland with, observing that:  

Any government may use its dominance in the Parliament and its control of public resources to stifle and neuter effective criticism by the Opposition… A government can use its control of Parliament and public administration to manipulate, exploit and misinform the community, or to hide matters from it. 

Fitzgerald recommended the introduction of a comprehensive committees system to more effectively scrutinise government activity.  

Parliament says this about its committees: 

Committees carry out the responsibilities assigned to them by legislation or the parliament. They consider and report on bills introduced into the parliament and subordinate legislation, consider the annual state budget Appropriation Bills (the estimates process), investigate issues of public importance, consider whether policies or past decisions could be improved and make sure that public money is used appropriately. Committees also have an oversight role to monitor and review the performance of government entities. 

A review of the Queensland committees system is well overdue, with the last proper investigation done in 2010, and before that, 1995.  Sandy has been advocating for such a review since 2018 due to the failings reported by crossbench and the then opposition, and now current opposition.  

They are not alone, with a parliamentary committee overseeing changes to the Constitution of Queensland in 2016 saying:   

It is only by periodic full review that the Legislative Assembly and the public can be assured that the committee system is appropriate and working effectively and efficiently.  

Sandy raised the lack of effective oversight of government in Noosa Today back in 2021:  

The cycle governments find themselves in of not meeting expectations through some ‘band-aiding’ and short election cycles, leads to major issues going unresolved as they are often not quick to fix, nor of much interest to media! 

As a unicameral or ‘one Chamber’ Parliament, we are a bit different to others who have both an upper and lower house. That means our committee system must work as effectively as it can to offset a lack of this extra level of scrutiny. 

Numerous critiques of the current system from John Alvey, Scott Prasser, Nicholas Aroney, and the Clerk of the Queensland Parliament Neil Laurie, among others, point to inadequacies leading to a loss of representation, scrutiny, accountability and democracy, however differ in their conclusions as to how this can be resolved. 

Nicholas Aroney, Law Professor at UQ in his paper believes that restoring an Upper House is the only way to end the current ‘winner takes all’ approach in the Queensland system and return to negotiated outcomes and appropriate scrutiny. 

In response, Neil Laurie, Clerk of the QLD Parliament for 23 years, suggests increasing the number of backbenchers available to discharge the scrutiny function of committees, and legislating safeguards to prevent the government dispensing with democratic procedure.  

Various other ‘methods’ to rein in government dominance have been touted, such the Hare Clark electoral system used in Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory, which makes it much harder for governments to gain large majorities and requires them to consult with their own backbenchers and with other parties to get laws passed. 

Current 

A pre- 2024 election commitment by the current government to review committees as reported in the previous 360 update resulted in superficial changes in 2025 to the way committees consider budget Estimates by installing the Speaker and Deputy Speaker as chairs instead of the independent chairs requested. These changes do not satisfy the reform called for in both estimates and committees, and instead the government reduced the time for scrutiny by the opposition and cross bench by removing the requirement for 70% of Estimates time to be devoted to non-government questions.  Nor have cosmetic changes resolved time-wasting points of relevance and Dorothy Dixers common during Estimates and in the House.  

The existing committee system has become flawed for a number of reasons as outlined in Sandy’s previous post.   With 3 government and 3 opposition members on committees, and 6 of our 7 committees chaired by government MP’s who have a casting vote, committees have become  ‘rubber stamps’ of predetermined government policy, rather than open forums for rigorous debate towards negotiated outcomes that both sides of the Chamber are accountable for. This would reduce the vast ‘swings’ in positions, and blame-laying which has become the standard response from both parties to major issues impacting the state such as housing and youth crime.   

To end the tyranny of casting votes and create an environment for bipartisan agreements, an independent committee chair or removal of a chair’s casting vote is one solution to these major flaws with Queensland’s committees that has been identified. Additionally, with minutes of all except one committee not being published, Queenslanders are not privy to the debate that happens within committees, nor if 50% of the committee are against a bill or policy. Standing orders mean members of committees cannot refer to what happens in them, leaving Queenslanders in the dark. 

So why would anyone not agree to change this status quo?  As Sandy asked in the House on 17 September: 

Why would any government not agree to greater integrity, scrutiny, transparency, and accountability in our Parliament? And why would they not agree to allow Queenslanders to have a say in this? 

 Five words. Scrutiny. Transparency. Accountability. Representation. Integrity. Not slogans. Just five of the most important aspects of Queensland Parliament that are missing in action. Actually there’s a sixth. Democracy, which is diminishing every sitting. Every Queenslander should be more than concerned. They should be outraged by what is occurring. 

 Since those cosmetic changes to Estimates in June 2025, Sandy has asked the House seven additional times for a review of the parliamentary systems as the most vital aspects for a properly functioning Parliament have been decreasing, evidenced by the papers referenced above by Prasser, Aroney and Laurie.  

In addition, the Coaldrake review in 2022 found: 

Widespread disaffection with the performance of governments and rising expectation that our politicians and their officials be more accountable and transparent in their dealings, and behave with integrity… 

In every case, whether the trivialising of parliamentary committees, lack of independence needed by integrity bodies or lack of clarity about decision making, this can be reversed by a commitment to openness, supported by accountability. 

Clerk of the Queensland Parliament Neil Laurie warned government since 2018 that changes to the committee system implemented in 2010 have impaired the effectiveness of a properly functioning Parliament, because the sheer number of Bills sent to committees for review have prevented them from scrutinising public accounts and public works, which is where most government spending is directed.  Mr Laurie said: 

 An accidental victim to the legislative and financial roles of portfolio committees has been the neglect of the public accounts and public works powers…. Now I am concerned that the paucity of such inquiries has engendered an avoidance of them by the committees. 

Sandy’s recent speeches on the decline in scrutiny, accountability and oversight are available here, here, here, here, here, and here.  

In December 2025, the Premier replied to Sandy’s Question Without Notice that a review of parliamentary systems is “not their top priority.” Since then, the Chamber has seen increasing use by government of ‘guillotine’ orders to restrict debate in the Legislative Assembly about budgets and laws. More Bills are being declared urgent by the government, bypassing committee review and community consultation altogether. As Sandy reported in Noosa Today  

Queenslanders need to be very aware of what is occurring. An increasing lack of scrutiny, accountability, transparency, representation and action of governments are being made possible by a very flawed system that I have spoken about many times. A system that requires the ‘okay’ by government to actually investigate is not ‘okay’! 

The last time our Parliament was seriously looked at was 15 years ago. That is a very long time when the speed at which change has been occurring is unprecedented. These systems are failing every single person, and I wonder at which point Queenslanders, as well the broader Australia, will take a stance. Democracy is about people having a voice, not being silenced, and about governments who will move beyond election cycles, to genuine solutions. 

 Future  

The 15-year interval applied by previous Parliaments to committees system reviews are overdue, and Sandy will continue to advocate for this both inside and outside the House, and utilise whatever parliamentary mechanisms are available to bring about the reform needed to meet the expectations of Queenslanders.   

Further information 

On the subject of the “flaws within the Queensland Parliament processes”, a Google search will outline numerous examples, media articles and reports from various sources. 

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