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committee's Report

The committee tabled its report on 30 November 2004.

View:   Report No. 46, 51st Parliament - 'A preamble for the Queensland Constitution?'
View:   Final Government Response from the Premier and Minister for Trade (Mr Beattie) to Report No. 46 titled 'A preamble for the Queensland Constitution?'
View:   Interim Government Response from the Premier and Minister for Trade (Mr Beattie) to Report No. 46 – A preamble for the Queensland Constitution?

Overview

On 29 February 2000, the Premier tabled in the Queensland Legislative Assembly the Queensland Constitutional Review Commission’s (QCRC) Report on the possible reform of and changes to the Acts and laws that relate to the Queensland Constitution for consideration and reporting by the Committee.

The Premier also indicated that while the Committee is considering the report, the government would consider the QCRC’s recommendations and, in particular, Cabinet will examine options for the possible introduction of four year parliamentary terms as recommended by the QCRC. The Premier further indicated that Cabinet might make a decision on the four year term issue before the committee brings down its report.

At its meeting of 15 March 2000, the committee noted the QCRC’s report, the Premier’s statement to the Assembly of 29 February 2000, and the desirability of Queensland having a modern, easy-to-read consolidated Constitution in the short term. Given these matters, and in light of the Committee’s statutory area of responsibility about constitutional reform, the committee resolved to review and report to Parliament on the QCRC’s report in two stages, namely:

• to review and report to Parliament on QCRC’s recommendation 5.2 that the maximum term of the Legislative Assembly be extended to four years with a fixed minimum period of three years (stage 1, part A);
• to (separately) review and report to Parliament on those QCRC recommendations which the committee considers as consolidatory and/or relatively non-controversial in nature (that is, capable of achieving bipartisan political support and likely widespread community support) and which the committee thought desirable to implement (stage 1, part B); and
• at some time after the tabling of the stage 1 reports, review and report to Parliament on the remainder of the QCRC’s recommendations as the committee sees appropriate at that point in time (stage 2).

The aim of this inquiry (part B of stage 1) was to incorporate the identified QCRC recommendations into draft consolidatory legislation capable of bipartisan support in the Legislative Assembly so as to facilitate passage of a modern, easy-to-read consolidated Queensland Constitution in the short term.