Queensland Labor Party

Trade unionists in Queensland had begun attempting to secure parliamentary representation as early as the mid-1880s. William McNaughton Galloway, the president of the Seamen's Union, mounted an unsuccessful campaign as an independent in an 1886 by-election. A Workers' Political Reform Association was founded to nominate candidates for the 1888 election, at which the Brisbane Trades and Labor Council endorsed six candidates. Thomas Glassey won the seat of Bundamba at that election, becoming the first self-identified "labor" MP in Queensland. The Queensland Provincial Council of the Australian Labor Federation was formed in 1889 in an attempt to unite Labor campaign efforts. Tommy Ryan won the seat of Barcoo for the labour movement-run People's Parliamentary Association in 1892, and the Labor Party was formally established in Queensland following the first Labor-in-Politics Convention later that year.^[11]

The Queensland branch subsequently formed the first Labor government in Australia, albeit briefly, when Anderson Dawson took office for a week in 1899 after a falling out between the non-Labor forces.^[12]

Since 1989, when the party came back to power after thirty-two years in Opposition, all its leaders have become Premiers despite two spells in Opposition in 1996–98 and 2012–2015.

As of 2020, the Queensland branch has three factions: the right, headed by Annastacia Palaszczuk, the left, headed by Steven Miles, and the centralist faction, the Old Guard. Discounting Speaker Curtis Pitt, of the 47 Labor MPs, 24 belong to the Left, 16 to the Right, and 7 to the Old Guard.^[13]

As of the 2020 state election, Queensland Labor's seat distribution was as follows:

Historically (1910s–1960s) Queensland Labor's voter base and membership has been distributed fairly equitably across the metropolitan, urban, and rural areas of the state, although maintaining a demographic majority within the South East region.^[14] Beginning in the 1970s, Queensland Labor's voter base in particular has swayed more heavily toward the metropolitan and urban areas of the state such as Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast, and Townsville, with the Country (later National) and Liberal parties competing with Labor in both regions as an electoral bloc.^[14]

Membership figures[14] Year Membership Diff. 1938 11,139 — 1976 6,890   38.15 1977 — — 1978 6,618   3.95 1979 6,570   0.73 1980 6,171   6.07 1981 6,596   6.89 1982 6,776   2.73 1983 7,623   12.5 1984 8,086   6.07 1985 7,817   3.33 1986 7,756   0.78 1987 7,578   2.29

Membership figures[14] Year Membership Diff. 1988 7,125   5.98 1989 6,367   10.64 1990 7,169   12.60 1991 7,213   0.61 1992 7,246   0.46 1993 — — 1994 7,492   3.39 1995 6,800   9.24 1996 6,800   1997 — — 1998 7,937   16.72 2012 5,000   37.00 2014 9,000   80.00 2021 10,000   11.11

Historically, the Queensland Labor Party was rooted in socialist principles, advocating for state socialism^[15][16][17] and agrarian socialism,^[15][18] with the party being broadly left-wing. Prior to 1908, the party also had a radical liberal faction, which split to form the Kidstonites in 1908.^[19] Over time, like other Labor/Labour parties, the party has shifted towards the centre-left of the political spectrum. The platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism,^[20] while observers describe the Queensland Labor Party as social democratic,^[17] supporting labourism,^[17] which prioritises the rights and conditions of workers, fair wages, and secure employment.

Labor contests Brisbane City Council elections, and has done so since the inaugural election in 1925. It has been in opposition to the LNP (and before that, the Liberal Party) since 2008. The last Labor member to serve as Lord Mayor of Brisbane was Tim Quinn, who was defeated in 2004.^[21]

Historically, Labor also endorsed candidates outside of Brisbane, including in Ipswich, Townsville and Toowoomba.^[22]

The current Labor leader on Brisbane City Council is Jared Cassidy, who has served in the position since September 2019.^[23]

The full list below is the official record of parliamentary leaders:^[24]

No.	Leader (birth–death)	Portrait	Electorate	Term of office
1	Thomas Glassey (1844–1936)		Bundamba	August 1892	May 1893
				274 days
2	John Hoolan (1842–1911)		Burke	May 1893	July 1894
				1 year and 62 days
(1)	Thomas Glassey (1844–1936)		Bundamba	July 1894	May 1899
				4 years and 305 days
3	Anderson Dawson (1863–1910)		Charters Towers	May 1899	July 1900
				1 year and 62 days
4	W. H. Browne (1846–1904)		Croydon	July 1900	October 1903
				3 years and 93 days
5	Peter Airey (1865–1950)		Flinders	October 1903	April 1904
				184 days
6	George Kerr (1853–1930)		Barcoo	April 1904	April 1907
				3 years and 1 day
7	David Bowman (1860–1916)		Fortitude Valley	April 1907	9 September 1912
				5 years and 162 days
8	T. J. Ryan (1876–1921)		Barcoo	9 September 1912	22 October 1919
				7 years and 44 days
9	Ted Theodore (1884–1950)		Woothakata	22 October 1919	26 February 1925
				5 years and 128 days
10	William Gillies (1868–1928)		Eacham	26 February 1925	22 October 1925
				239 days
11	William McCormack (1879–1947)		Cairns	22 October 1925	21 May 1929
				3 years and 212 days
12	William Forgan Smith (1887–1953)		Mackay	27 May 1929	16 September 1942
				13 years and 113 days
13	Frank Arthur Cooper (1872–1949)		Bremer	16 September 1942	7 March 1946
				3 years and 173 days
14	Ned Hanlon (1887–1952)		Ithaca	7 March 1946	15 January 1952
				5 years and 315 days
15	Vince Gair (1901–1980)		South Brisbane	17 January 1952	24 April 1957
				5 years and 98 days
16	Jack Duggan (1910–1993)		Toowoomba	30 April 1957	3 August 1957
				96 days
17	Les Wood (1907–1958)		North Toowoomba	28 August 1957	29 March 1958
				214 days
18	Jim Donald (1895–1976)		Ipswich East	14 April 1958	17 August 1958
				126 days
(16)	Jack Duggan (1910–1993)		Toowoomba West	18 August 1958	11 October 1966
				8 years and 55 days
19	Jack Houston (1919–2008)		Bulimba	11 October 1966	22 July 1974
				7 years and 285 days
20	Perc Tucker (1919–1980)		Townsville West	22 July 1974	19 December 1974
				151 days
21	Tom Burns (1931–2007)		Lytton	19 December 1974	28 November 1978
				3 years and 345 days
22	Ed Casey (1933–2006)		Mackay	28 November 1978	20 October 1982
				3 years and 327 days
23	Keith Wright (1942–2015)		Rockhampton	20 October 1982	29 August 1984
				1 year and 315 days
24	Nev Warburton (1932–2018)		Sandgate	29 August 1984	2 March 1988
				3 years and 187 days
25	Wayne Goss (1951–2014)		Logan	2 March 1988	19 February 1996
				7 years and 355 days
26	Peter Beattie (b. 1952)		Brisbane Central	19 February 1996	12 September 2007
				11 years and 206 days
27	Anna Bligh (b. 1960)		South Brisbane	12 September 2007	28 March 2012
				4 years and 199 days
28	Annastacia Palaszczuk (b. 1969)		Inala	30 March 2012	15 December 2023
				11 years and 261 days
29	Steven Miles (b. 1977)		Murrumba	15 December 2023	Incumbent
				346 days

Notes

Citations