Queensland

Queensland is the second largest and third most populous state of Australia. It occupies the north-east corner of the mainland continent. The state is neighboured by the Northern Territory to the west, South Australia to the south-west and New South Wales to the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean.

The area was first colonised by Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, who arrived between 40 000 and 65 000 years ago, according to various dating methods^[1]. Later, Queensland was made a British Crown Colony that was separated from New South Wales in 1859. The area that currently forms Brisbane was originally the Moreton Bay penal colony, intended as a place for recidivist convicts who had offended while serving out their sentences in New South Wales. The state later encouraged free settlement, and today Queensland's economy is dominated by the agricultural, tourist and natural resource sectors.

The population is concentrated in the south-east corner, which includes the capital Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan City, and the Gold and Sunshine Coasts. Other major regional centres include Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Toowoomba, and Mount Isa. Queensland is often nicknamed the Sunshine State, since it enjoys warm weather and a sizable portion of the state is in the tropics.

Etymology

The state was named in honour of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom^[2], who in 1859 signed the proclamation separating the state from New South Wales. The monarch naturally preferred the name to the alternative of Cooksland, which had been suggested by local influential Presbyterian minister John Dunmore Lang.^[3]

Geography

• The state's borders are defined as:
  • North The northernmost part of the state is the triangular Cape York Peninsula, which points toward New Guinea. The western side of the peninsula is washed by the Gulf of Carpentaria, while its eastern side borders the Coral Sea, an arm of the Pacific Ocean.
  • East The eastern border is the Pacific Ocean
  • West To the west, Queensland is bordered by the Northern Territory, at the 138° E. longitude, and to the south-west by the north-eastern corner of South Australia.
  • South by New South Wales. This border has three sections:
    • The watershed from Point Danger to the Dumaresq River
    • The river section involving the Dumaresq, the MacIntyre and the Barwon
    • The 29° S. latitude, over to the South Australian border.

• State capital Brisbane, is located on the coast 100 kilometres (60 mi) by road north of the New South Wales border.
• The fifth-largest city by area in the world, Mount Isa, is located in Queensland. The city area is in excess of 40,000 square kilometres (15,400 sq mi).
• The state is divided into several major regions. Other smaller geographical regions of note include:
  • the Atherton Tablelands
  • the Granite Belt
  • the Channel Country in the far south-west.

• Queensland has many places that are blessed with natural beauty, including:
  • the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast having some of the state's most popular beaches
  • the Bunya Mountains and the Great Dividing Range with numerous lookouts, waterfalls and picnic areas.
  • Carnarvon Gorge
  • Whitsunday Islands and Hinchinbrook Island

• The state contains five World Heritage listed preservation areas.
  • Australian Fossil Mammal Sites at Riversleigh in the Gulf Country
  • Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves
  • Fraser Island
  • Great Barrier Reef
  • Wet Tropics of Queensland

Highest maximum temperature: 49.5 °C (121.1 °F), Birdsville, 24 December 1972 (The temperature of 53.1 °C (127.5 °F) at Cloncurry on 16 January 1889 is not considered official, the figure quoted from Birdsville is the next highest, so that record is considered as being official).

Lowest minimum temperature: -11.0 °C (12.2 °F), Stanthorpe, 4 July 1895 [1]

Demographics

Queensland's population is less centralised in the capital city than the rest of the country. At 30 June 2004 the capital city represented 45.7% of the population; for the whole country, capital cities represented 63.8% of the total population.

Christian: 70.9% (Roman Catholic: 24.9%, Anglican: 22.3%, Uniting Church: 8.4%, Lutheran: 2.1%, Other: 13.2%), Non-Christian: 2.3% (Buddhism: 1.1%, Islam: 0.4%, Hinduism: 0.3%, Judaism: 0.1%, Other: 0.4%), No Religion: 14.8%, Not Stated: 12.0%

On Friday, 9 December 2005 the population of Queensland officially reached 4 million. Queensland is the fastest growing state in Australia, with over fifteen hundred people moving to the state per week. 1000 in the southern part of the state alone. Once you calculate immigration and migration, (People Arriving in QLD-Minus-Queenslanders Leaving,) Queensland is left with a healthy number of people staying in Queensland. Predictions have been made to show that Queensland will become Australia's 2nd most populous state by the late 2020s. ^[4]

Economy

Queensland's economy has enjoyed a boom in the tourism and mining industries over the last twenty years. A sizeable influx of interstate and overseas migrants, large amounts of federal government investment, increased mining of vast mineral deposits and an ever expanding aerospace sector ensure that the state will remain Australia's fastest growing economy in the foreseeable future.

Between 1992 and 2002, the growth in the Gross State Product of Queensland outperformed that of all the other states and territories. In that period Queensland's GSP grew 5.0% each year, while growth in Australia's GDP rose on average 3.9% each year. Queensland's contribution to the Australian GDP also increased (by 10.4%) in that period, one of only three states to do so. [2]

In 2003 Brisbane city had the lowest cost of living of all Australia's capital cities. As of late 2005 Brisbane is the third most expensive capital for housing after Sydney and Canberra and just ahead of Melbourne by $15,000.

Primary industries include: bananas, pineapples, peanuts, a wide variety of other tropical and temperate fruit and vegetables, grain crops, wineries, cattle raising, cotton, sugar cane, wool and a mining industry including bauxite, coal and copper.

Secondary industries are mostly further processing of the above-mentioned primary produce: bauxite from Weipa is converted to alumina at Gladstone. There are also copper refining and the refining of sugar cane to sugar.

Major Tertiary industries are the retail trade and tourism.

Tourism

Tourism is Queensland leading industry with millions of interstate and overseas visitors flocking to the Sunshine State each year. Queensland is a state of many contrasts that range from sunny tropical coastal areas, lush rainforests to dry inland areas.

The main tourist destinations of Queensland include –

• Gold Coast
• Sunshine Coast
• Fraser Island
• Brisbane
• Whitsundays (Airlie Beach, Whitehaven Beach, Hamilton Island, Daydream Island)
• Far North Queensland (Cairns, Port Douglas,The Daintree)
• North Stradbroke Island and South Stradbroke Island
• The Great Barrier Reef

Theme Parks

The Gold Coast of Queensland is also sometimes referred to as "Australia's Theme Park Capital", with five major amusement parks –

• Dreamworld
• Movie World
• Sea World
• Wet 'n' Wild
• WhiteWater World

There are also wildlife parks - Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary and Australia Zoo (home of Steve Irwin until his death in 2006).

Weather

Queensland is drenched in sunshine, has warm seas, cool sea breezes and an enviable warm climate all year round; the weather in Queensland is incomparable to most other Australian states. The Queensland region has two weather seasons: a winter period of rather warm temperatures and minimal rainfall and a summer period of warm balmy temperatures and higher levels of rainfall.

The Average Summer Temperature in the South East of 19 to 29 degrees Celsius and the Average Winter Temperatures in the South East of 9 to 21 degrees Celsius. The averages for Tropical North Queensland do vary somewhat for winter with the Average Summer Temperature of 17-31 degrees Celsius and the Average Winter Temperature of 17-26 degrees Celsius.

Ozone depletion and the seasonal ozone hole has led to dangerously high levels of UV radiation, especially at the most extreme latitutudes of the southern hemisphere.^[5]. Incidence of skin cancer in Queensland, Australia has risen to 75 percent among those over 64 years of age by about 1990, due to thinning of the ozone layer.^[6]

Statistics

Queensland is the second most popular overnight holiday destination in Australia for domestic travelers ($10.9 billion per year) with NSW taking the honours for 2006. Holidays in Queensland comprised of 18 754 000 combined visitor nights (23% Australian Market) with more than 60% of these room nights by residents from NSW and Victoria. Day visitors also contributed a further $2.5 billion.

The Sunshine Coast ($1.4 billion) and Tropical North Queensland ($1.3 billion) where Australia’s most visited regional areas for overnight and day visitors (excluding major cities and the Gold Coast).

The highest average overnight expenditure is in the Whitsundays ($1 295 per person per night)

Accommodation in Queensland caters for nearly 22% of the total expenditure, followed by Restaurants / Meals 15%, Airline Fares 11%, Fuel 11% and Shopping / Gifts 11% ^[7]

Landmarks

The Q1, located on the Gold Coast, is the tallest residential tower in the world. It was completed in September, 2005.

Transport

Queensland is served by a number of National Highways and, particularly in South East Queensland, high quality motorways such as the M1. Rail services are provided by Queensland Rail and Pacific National, predominantly along the coastline.

Queensland has a number of major ports including the Port of Brisbane and subsidiary ports at Gladstone and Townsville amongst others. The Brisbane Airport, Gold Coast Airport and Cairns International Airport are the main gateways into the State from overseas, with smaller airports at Maroochydore and elsewhere.

South-East Queensland is governed by an integrated public transport system, TransLink, which provides bus, rail and ferry services. Regional bus and long-distance rail services are also provided throughout the State.

Government

Main article: Government of Queensland

Queen Elizabeth II is represented as head of state by the locally appointed Governor, Ms Quentin Bryce, AC. The elected head of government is the Labor Premier, the Hon Peter Beattie, who appoints an Executive Council from the members of the 89-seat Legislative Assembly, known as Members of the Legislative Assembly (MPs).

The Queensland State Parliament, known as the Queensland Parliament or the Legislative Assembly is unicameral. It is the only Australian state with a unicameral legislature. A bicameral system existed until 1922, when the Legislative Council was abolished by the Labor members' "suicide squad," so called because they took the unusual step of voting to abolish their own offices. Hanging was also abolished in 1922.

Constitution

In 2001 the state adopted a new codified constitution, repealing most of the assorted acts that had previously made up the constitution. The new constitution took effect on 6 June 2002, the anniversary of the formation of the independent colony of Queensland by the signing of Letters Patent by Queen Victoria in 1859.

Policing

Day-to-day law enforcement is the responsibility of the Queensland Police Service (State Law), and the Australian Federal Police (Commonwealth Law).

Queensland does not have separate Local Government district based Police forces, nor a metropolitan force.

Some (Quasi-)Police powers are exercised by Local Government Officers (especially Parking, Public Health & Safety) and by some Government and NGO officers such as those from the Department of Primary Industries (especially Fisheries) and the Queensland Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). The Brisbane metropolitan transport network (TransLink) also has Transit Officers with Authority to issue fines for certain behavioural and fare evasion offences.

History

Main article: History of Queensland

The history of Queensland spans thousands of years, encompassing both a lengthy indigenous presence in the state, as well as the eventful times of post-European settlement. Estimated to have been settled by Indigenous Australians approximately 40,000 years ago, the north-eastern Australian region was explored by Dutch, Portuguese and French navigators before being encountered by Captain James Cook in 1770. The state has witnessed the tragic events of frontier warfare between European settlers and Indigenous inhabitants, as well as the employment of cheap Kanaka labour sourced from the South Pacific. Likewise, it has experienced dynamic growth and progress since its separation from New South Wales in 1859, currently being the fastest-growing state in Australia.

Sister States

Queensland has one sister state:

• South Carolina, United States of America^[8]

Universities

• University of Queensland
• Bond University
• Central Queensland University
• James Cook University
• University of Southern Queensland
• University of the Sunshine Coast
• Griffith University
• Queensland University of Technology

See also

• Governors of Queensland
• Local Government Areas of Queensland
• List of Queenslanders
• Premiers of Queensland
• Protected areas of Queensland (Australia)
• Regions of Queensland
• List of highways in Queensland
• Queensland Council of Unions
• List of schools in Queensland

References

Wikipedia information about Queensland This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Queensland". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.