Leader of the Opposition (Queensland)

The Leader of the Opposition in Queensland is the title of the leader of the largest minority political party or coalition of parties, known as the Opposition, in the Parliament of Queensland. Prior to 1898, opposition to the government of the day was less organised. Thus the Queensland Parliamentary Record does not designate Leaders of the Opposition before then. The Leader is responsible for managing the Opposition and has a role in administering the Legislative Assembly through the Committee of the Legislative Assembly.

Leader of the Opposition of Legislative Assembly
Incumbent Steven Miles since 28 October 2024
Term length	While leader of the largest political party not in government
Inaugural holder	Thomas Glassey
Formation	30 August 1898 (Official Designation)
Deputy	Cameron Dick, Deputy Leader of the Opposition

List of leaders of the opposition

No.		Name	Portrait	Affiliation	Constituency	Term of office		Elections	Premier
	1	Thomas Glassey		Labor	Bundaberg	30 August 1898	12 May 1899	–		Byrnes 1898
								1899		Dickson 1898–1899
	2	Anderson Dawson		Labor	Charters Towers	12 May 1899	1 December 1899	–
	3	Robert Philp		Ministerial	Townsville	1 December 1899	7 December 1899	–		Dawson 1899
	(2)	Anderson Dawson		Labor	Charters Towers	7 December 1899	16 July 1900	–		Philp 1899–1903
	4	W. H. Browne		Labor	Croydon	16 July 1900	17 September 1903	1902
	(3)	Robert Philp		Conservative	Townsville	17 September 1903	28 June 1904	–		Morgan 1903–1906
	5	Arthur Rutledge		Conservative	Maranoa	28 June 1904	27 August 1904	1904
	(3)	Robert Philp		Conservative	Townsville	19 September 1904	19 November 1907	–
								–		Kidston 1906–1907
								1907
	6	William Kidston		Kidstonites	Rockhampton	19 November 1907	15 February 1908	1908		Philp 1907–1908
	(3)	Robert Philp		Conservative	Townsville	15 February 1908	29 October 1908	–		Kidston 1908–1911
	7	David Bowman		Labor	Fortitude Valley	16 November 1908	6 September 1912	1909
								1912		Denham 1911–1915
	8	T. J. Ryan		Labor	Barcoo	6 September 1912	22 May 1915	1915
	9	Edward Macartney		Liberal	Toowong	24 June 1915	8 September 1915	–		Ryan 1915–1919
	10	James Tolmie		Liberal	Toowoomba	8 September 1915	15 February 1918	–
				National				–
	(9)	Edward Macartney		National	Toowong	15 February 1918	28 January 1920	1918
								–		Theodore 1919–1925
	11	William Vowles		National	Dalby	28 January 1920	11 July 1923	–
				Country				1920 1923
	12	Charles Taylor		United	Windsor	11 July 1923	19 April 1924	–
	13	Arthur Edward Moore		Country	Aubigny	19 April 1924	11 May 1929	–
								–		Gillies 1925
				CPNP				1926		McCormack 1925–1929
	14	William Forgan Smith		Labor	Mackay	27 May 1929	11 June 1932	1932		Moore 1929–1932
	(13)	Arthur Edward Moore		CPNP	Aubigny	15 August 1932	15 July 1936	1935		Forgan Smith 1932–1942
				Country				–
	15	Ted Maher		Country	West Moreton	15 July 1936	21 May 1941	1938 1941
	16	Frank Nicklin		Country	Murrumba Landsborough	21 May 1941	15 August 1957	–
								1944		Cooper 1942–1946
								1947 1950		Hanlon 1946–1952
								1953 1956		Gair 1952–1957
								1957
	17	Les Wood		Labor	North Toowoomba	15 August 1957	14 April 1958	–		Nicklin 1957–1968
	18	Jim Donald		Labor	Bremer	14 April 1958	18 August 1958	–
	19	Jack Duggan		Labor	North Toowoomba Toowoomba West	18 August 1958	12 October 1966	1960 1963 1966
	20	Jack Houston		Labor	Bulimba	12 October 1966	1 July 1974	–
								–		Pizzey 1968
								–		Chalk 1968
								1969 1972		Bjelke-Petersen 1968–1987
	21	Perc Tucker		Labor	Townsville West	1 July 1974	19 December 1974	1974
	22	Tom Burns		Labor	Lytton	19 December 1974	28 November 1978	1977
	23	Ed Casey		Labor	Mackay	28 November 1978	20 October 1982	1980
	24	Keith Wright		Labor	Rockhampton	20 October 1982	29 August 1984	1983
	25	Nev Warburton		Labor	Sandgate	29 August 1984	2 March 1988	1986
								–		Ahern 1987–1989
	26	Wayne Goss		Labor	Logan	2 March 1988	2 December 1989	–
								1989		Cooper 1989
	27	Russell Cooper		National	Roma	2 December 1989	9 December 1991	–		Goss 1989–1996
	28	Rob Borbidge		National	Surfers Paradise	10 December 1991	19 February 1996	1992 1995
	29	Peter Beattie		Labor	Brisbane Central	19 February 1996	29 June 1998	1998		Borbidge 1996–1998
	(28)	Rob Borbidge		National	Surfers Paradise	29 June 1998	2 March 2001	2001		Beattie 1998–2007
	30	Mike Horan		National	Toowoomba South	2 March 2001	4 February 2003	–
	31	Lawrence Springborg		National	Southern Downs	4 February 2003	18 September 2006	2004 2006
	32	Jeff Seeney		National	Callide	18 September 2006	29 January 2008	–
								–		Bligh 2007–2012
	(31)	Lawrence Springborg		National	Southern Downs	29 January 2008	2 April 2009	2009
				Liberal National
	33	John-Paul Langbroek		Liberal National	Surfers Paradise	2 April 2009	22 March 2011	–
	(32)	Jeff Seeney1		Liberal National	Callide	22 March 2011	28 March 2012	2012
	34	Annastacia Palaszczuk		Labor	Inala	28 March 2012	14 February 2015	2015		Newman 2012–2015
	(31)	Lawrence Springborg		Liberal National	Southern Downs	14 February 2015	6 May 2016	–		Palaszczuk 2015–2023
	35	Tim Nicholls		Liberal National	Clayfield	6 May 2016	12 December 2017	2017
	36	Deb Frecklington		Liberal National	Nanango	12 December 2017	12 November 2020	2020
	37	David Crisafulli		Liberal National	Broadwater	12 November 2020	28 October 2024	–
								2024		Miles 2023–2024
	38	Steven Miles		Labor	Murrumba	28 October 2024	incumbent	–		Crisafulli 2024–present

Notes

¹ On 2 April 2011, Campbell Newman was elected to lead the LNP into the 2012 Queensland state election, but was not recognised as the Leader of the Opposition as he was not a Member of Parliament during the 53rd Parliament.

External links

• Opposition Leaders from 1898. Queensland Parliamentary Record