The Queensland Labor Party, officially known as the Australian Labor Party (State of Queensland) and commonly referred to as Queensland Labor or simply Labor, is the branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in the state of Queensland. It has functioned in the state since the 1880s. The Queensland branch of the Australian Labor Party was the first Labour Party to win government in the world, when, in December 1899, following the resignation of the Dickson ministry, Queensland Labour leader Anderson Dawson accepted an offer by Lieutenant-Governor Samuel Griffith to form a government.
History
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.
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. Since 1989, when the party came back to power after thirty-two years in Opposition, all its leaders have become premier despite two spells in Opposition in 1996–98 and 2012–2015.
Membership and voter base 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. 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.
+ 2024 state election Queensland Labor seat distribution Region Electorates Labor seats Far North Queensland 5 1 20.00 North Queensland 7 align=center align=center Central Queensland 11 2 18.18 South-West Queensland 5 align=center align=center South East Queensland 65 33 50.77
Membership figures
+ Membership figures Year Membership 1938 11,139 1976 6,890 38.15 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 1988 7,125 5.98
+ Membership figures Year Membership 1989 6,367 10.64 1990 7,169 12.60 1991 7,213 0.61 1992 7,246 0.46 1994 7,492 3.39 1995 6,800 9.24 1996 6,800 1998 7,937 16.72 2012 5,000 37.00 2014 9,000 80.00 2021 10,000 11.11
Ideology
Historically, the Queensland Labor Party was rooted in socialist principles, advocating for state socialism and agrarian socialism, 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. 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, while observers describe the Queensland Labor Party as social democratic, supporting labourism, which prioritises the rights and conditions of workers, fair wages, and secure employment.
Factions The Labor Party internal politics has a variety of internal factions; however, since 1989, it has been organised into formal factions. As of 2025, the Queensland branch has three factions: the Left, led by Leader of the Opposition and former Premier Steven Miles, Labor Forum (also known as the right), led by Cameron Dick, and Labor Unity (also known as the 'Old Guard'), led by Grace Grace. The Left holds 18 seats, with Labor Forum holding 12 seats and Labor Unity 6.
Local government 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.
Historically, Labor also endorsed candidates outside of Brisbane, including in Ipswich, Townsville and Toowoomba.
The current Labor leader on Brisbane City Council is Jared Cassidy, who has served in the position since September 2019.
Leaders Leader The full list below is the official record of parliamentary leaders:
No. Leader(birth–death) Portrait Electorate Term of office 1Thomas Glassey(1844–1936)Bundamba 1892 1893 2John Hoolan(1842–1911)Burke 1893 1894 (1)Thomas Glassey(1844–1936)Bundamba 1894 1899 3Anderson Dawson(1863–1910)Charters Towers 1899 1900 4W. H. Browne(1846–1904)Croydon 1900 1903 5Peter Airey(1865–1950)Flinders 1903 1904 6 George Kerr(1853–1930)Barcoo 1904 1907 7 David Bowman(1860–1916)Fortitude Valley 1907 1912 8 T. J. Ryan(1876–1921)Barcoo 1912 1919 9 Ted Theodore(1884–1950)Woothakata 1919 1925 10 William Gillies(1868–1928)Eacham 1925 1925 11 William McCormack(1879–1947)Cairns 1925 1929 12 William Forgan Smith(1887–1953)Mackay 1929 1942 13 Frank Arthur Cooper(1872–1949)Bremer 1942 1946 14 Ned Hanlon(1887–1952)Ithaca 1946 1952 15 Vince Gair(1901–1980)South Brisbane 1952 1957 16 Jack Duggan(1910–1993)Toowoomba 1957 1957 17 Les Wood(1907–1958)North Toowoomba 1957 1958 18 Jim Donald(1895–1976)Ipswich East 1958 1958 (16)Jack Duggan(1910–1993)Toowoomba West 1958 1966 19Jack Houston(1919–2008)Bulimba 1966 1974 20Perc Tucker(1919–1980)Townsville West 1974 1974 21 Tom Burns(1931–2007)Lytton 1974 1978 22 Ed Casey(1933–2006)Mackay 1978 1982 23 Keith Wright(1942–2015)Rockhampton 1982 1984 24 Nev Warburton(1932–2018)Sandgate 1984 1988 25 Wayne Goss(1951–2014)Logan 1988 1996 26 Peter Beattie(b. 1952)Brisbane Central 1996 2007 27 Anna Bligh(b. 1960)South Brisbane 2007 2012 28 Annastacia Palaszczuk(b. 1969)Inala 2012 2023 29Steven Miles(b. 1977)Murrumba 2023 Incumbent
Election results State elections + Queensland Legislative Assembly Election Leader Votes % Seats +/– Position Status 1893 Thomas Glassey 25,984 33.32 16 2nd 1896 28,581 34.97 4 2nd 1899 33,756 35.47 1 2nd 1902 William Browne 39,579 39.33 4 2nd 1904 George Kerr 28,961 36.05 9 1st 1907 David Bowman 52,079 26.39 16 3rd 1908 55,771 29.80 4 3rd 1909 77,712 36.85 5 2nd 1912 100,878 46.70 2 2nd 1915 T. J. Ryan 136,419 52.06 20 1st 1918 180,709 53.68 3 1st 1920 Ted Theodore 168,455 47.77 7 1st 1923 175,659 48.13 5 1st 1926 William McCormack 189,968 47.96 0 1st 1929 173,242 40.16 16 2nd 1932 William Forgan Smith 225,270 49.89 6 1st 1935 247,135 53.43 13 1st 1938 250,943 47.17 2 1st 1941 267,206 51.41 3 1st 1944 Frank Arthur Cooper 224,888 44.67 4 1st 1947 Ned Hanlon 272,103 43.58 2 1st 1950 295,138 46.87 7 1st 1953 Vince Gair 323,882 53.21 8 1st 1956 335,311 51.22 1 1st 1957 Jack Duggan 201,971 28.90 29 2nd 1960 296,430 39.89 5 2nd 1963 337,928 43.83 1 1st 1966 350,254 43.84 0 2nd 1969 Jack Houston 383,388 44.99 5 1st 1972 424,002 46.75 2 1st 1974 Perc Tucker 376,187 36.03 22 3rd 1977 Tom Burns 466,021 42.83 12 3rd 1980 Ed Casey 487,493 41.49 2 2nd 1983 Keith Wright 579,363 43.98 7 2nd 1986 Nev Warburton 577,062 41.35 2 2nd 1989 Wayne Goss 792,466 50.32 24 1st 1992 850,480 48.73 0 1st 1995 773,585 42.89 9 1st 1998 Peter Beattie 773,585 38.86 1 1st 2001 1,007,737 48.93 22 1st 2004 1,011,630 47.01 3 1st 2006 1,032,617 46.92 4 1st 2009 Anna Bligh 1,002,415 42.25 8 1st 2012 652,092 26.66 44 2nd 2015 Annastacia Palaszczuk 983,054 37.47 35 1st 2017 957,890 35.43 4 1st 2020 1,135,625 39.57 4 1st 2024 Steven Miles 1,011,252 32.56 16 2nd
Federal elections + Australian House of RepresentativesElectionSeats Won±Total votes%± Leader1901 321,26434.80 34.80 No leader1903 463,87856.70 21.90Chris Watson1906 351,23143.00 13.701910 278,88147.60 4.60Andrew Fisher1913 1149,44754.80 7.201914 0125,01755.70 0.901917 3160,44848.70 7.00Frank Tudor1919 1149,58846.80 1.901922 1132,51541.40 5.40Matthew Charlton1925 1152,77842.40 1.001928 1112,98247.40 5.00James Scullin1929 1173,41739.80 7.601931 2141,44339.30 0.501934 0235,90446.80 7.501937 0233,61243.00 3.80John Curtin1940 1255,06346.10 3.101943 0279,37247.80 1.701946 1256,37043.10 4.70Ben Chifley1949 2255,03639.50 3.601951 1257,09941.00 1.501954 1295,42442.50 1.50H.V. Evatt1955 0258,99442.10 0.401958 2270,67637.50 4.601961 8365,93048.10 10.60Arthur Calwell1963 3369,57046.30 1.801966 2354,67442.10 4.201969 1430,40348.20 6.10Gough Whitlam1972 1449,62047.20 1.001974 2476,71044.00 3.201975 5439,40538.80 5.201977 2443,22137.70 1.101980 2535,80042.80 5.10Bill Hayden1983 5621,14646.10 3.30Bob Hawke1984 1605,68444.10 2.001987 4683,64045.00 0.901990 2695,29141.60 3.401993 2739,86240.50 1.10Paul Keating1996 11639,51033.20 7.301998 6719,74336.10 2.90Kim Beazley2001 1730,91434.70 1.402004 1765,50734.78 0.08Mark Latham2007 91,020,66542.91 8.13Kevin Rudd2010 7800,71233.58 9.33Julia Gillard2013 2751,23029.77 3.81Kevin Rudd2016 2825,62730.91 1.14Bill Shorten2019 2754,79226.68 4.232022 1784,18927.5 0.8Anthony Albanese2025 7975,89831.0 3.6
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