Queensland citizens draws to attention of the House that there has been a long-held belief of a divide between the capital's
populous South East Comer and regional Queensland. Over recent years, increasing numbers of decisions of the House have hindered, delayed and even prevented developments that would have provided significant economic growth and employment in regional areas. Additionally, new legislation routinely restricts existing regional industries and businesses.

Those who drafted our Australian Constitution foresaw the possibility that as the nation grew there would be the likelihood that not all the people of the founding 'colonies' would be well served in the future by their existing seat of their colonial government and provided in Chapter VI of the Constitution for the creation of additional new states from the territory of the existing states.

Of Queensland's population of nearly 5 million, 1.5 million live in Central and Northern Queensland in an area covering nearly 1.5 million square km. With large areas of agricultural land and vast developed and undeveloped natural resources it would be more than capable of being a viable state of the Commonwealth of Australia. The advancement of Central and Northern Queensland and the prosperity of its people would be better served by a parliament of its own.

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to make the immediate provisions to initiate a State Referendum to allow the people of Queensland living north of the Latitude 26.000 South to vote on the creation of a new North Eastern State of Australia.