Changes under Queensland’s recently instituted Planning Act give councils much more leeway in their decision-making, which makes it harder for appeals against decisions to succeed.
Steve Martin has been sworn in to take Jacqui Lambie’s place as a Tasmanian senator.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
Voters in Queensland and the rest of Australia may need to accustom themselves to a new norm of tight, drawn-out contests, where party leaders’ election night speeches might be obsolete.
Queensland Liberal National Party leader Tim Nicholls (right) and deputy leader Deb Frecklington.
AAP
Queensland Labor claimed it has ‘created 122,500 jobs – more than four times the number of jobs created under the Newman-Nicholls government’. Is that right? We asked the experts.
Economic growth under the Palaszczuk government has outpaced the two previous Queensland governments.
AAP
What will Queensland’s new laws to combat the bikie ‘menace’ actually achieve?
The Queensland government’s interpretation of public housing transfers conflicts with that of Labor colleagues federally and in some other states.
AAP/Dan Peled
Given its flagship status, the Logan public housing project’s abandonment could be a serious setback for Australian housing and urban policy.
Queensland independent Peter Wellington backed Annastacia Palaszczuk (left) to form government after she promised to act on political donations.
Dan Peled/AAP
At long last, Australia has a government that is prepared to introduce real-time disclosure for political donations – a crucial change that lets voters make an informed choice at the ballot box.
Flanked by local MP Ewen Jones and Greg Hunt, Malcolm Turnbull announced funding for a new stadium in Townsville and the Great Barrier Reef.
Lukas Coch/AAP
To win government, Labor needs a net gain of 19 seats nationally – and that’s the exact number of marginal seats being fought over in Queensland this election.
Tim Nicholls won a partyroom ballot to become the Queensland LNP’s new leader.
AAP/John Pryke
Tim Nicholls’ victory reverts to the pre-eminence of “urban Liberals” over the Queensland LNP’s rural and regional representatives and constituents.
The way Queenslanders vote and the number of MPs they’ll have to elect have both suddenly changed, after a dramatic night in parliament.
John Pryke/AAP
An “appalling” return to “the bad old days of Queensland politics” – why political analysts are so concerned about the shock overhaul of voting and the number of MPs in Queensland.
Those opposed to forced municipal mergers have reason to be sceptical of NSW Premier Mike Baird’s promises that it will improve councils’ performance.
AAP/Paul Miller
If forced amalgamations proceed, we may well see hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer and ratepayer funds squandered simply because policymakers preferred dogma to empirical evidence.
Queensland is set to join all other states, territories and local councils (with the exception of Tasmania) in having fixed four-year parliamentary terms.
AAP/Dan Peled
The House of Representatives is now the only lower house chamber in the Australian parliamentary system with non-fixed three-year terms. Should it change?
Annastacia Palaszczuk’s key priorities now revolve around diversifying Queensland’s economy and boosting foreign investment to create jobs.
AAP/Dave Hunt
The Palaszczuk government has been successful in maintaining parliamentary stability, restoring relationships with the judiciary and police, and ending the perceived policy inertia in job creation.
Queensland Police Commissioner Terry Lewis was a target of the Fitzgerald Inquiry.
Supplied
Matthew Condon’s new book, All Fall Down, ends Queensland Police Commissioner Terry Lewis’ story amid the demise of the Rat Pack and their corrupt system of graft payments known as “The Joke”.
Independent oversight will be a crucial new ingredient in the Queensland government’s vow for stronger domestic violence action.
Dan Peled/AAP
We’ve heard promises to act on domestic violence too often before. But a new Queensland plan offers public accountability measures – which could finally turn rhetoric into real action.
South Australia’s proposed anti-bikie laws criminalise the wearing of anything that indicates association with a declared ‘criminal organisation’ on licensed premises.
AAP/Eric Sands
While South Australia’s proposed anti-bikie laws may be constitutional, there are clear reasons why introducing them is at best premature – and at worst a very bad idea.
Annastacia Palaszczuk put her government’s future into doubt when she sacked one of her MPs, Billy Gordon, from the parliamentary party.
AAP/Matt Roberts