The Pros And Cons Of Queensland's Unicameral System

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The Queensland upper house, known as the Queensland Legislative Council, was eradicated in 1922. Arguably, the abolishment of this upper house, and the introduction of a unicameral system in Queensland placed a severe limitation on democratic credentials of the Queensland government (Aroney 2008, 39). With this, the reinstatement of an upper house in Queensland may hold the key to enhancing accountability and stability of the Queensland government whilst preventing dictatorship.

Queensland remains the only state in Australia without an upper house and as a result the only state that is operated with a unicameral system, the disadvantages of such a system is copious. A unicameral system is a smaller legislature, ultimately meaning a weaker …show more content…

This argument remains valid in modern debates as the absence of an upper house continues to severely restrict the possibilities by which legislation can be evaluated and amended (Costar 2015). Although it has been determined that the upper house alone is not the cure for attaining an answerable government, it is said that by re-introducing a second chamber in Queensland, a number of valuable functions can be performed. Functions such as the review of legislative proposals at a ministerial and departmental level as well as the control and limit of political power and the ability to protect human rights can be carried out in a way that is not possible alone by a lower house nominated by the government (Aroney 2008, 28). Not only does the upper house act as an extra technique to review and amend changes to legislature, it also has had a profound effect on the ability of the Queensland Parliament to correctly carry out its functions under the Constitution which compel it to act responsibly and review the undertakings of the executive arm of