Crown land administration
Over time, a number of systems were used to administer Crown land in Queensland. Crown land could be land leased by the government, land held as reserves or land being prepared for sale.
Once land was sold, any further dealings with this land (e.g. subdivision or further sales) were administered as freehold land.
Commissioners of Crown land
It was upon separation from New South Wales in 1859 that land settlement in Queensland became administered by the Colonial Secretary. A Board was formed for the purpose of opening 'runs' of Crown lands beyond the settled Districts. This Board consisted of:
- the Honourable, Colonial Treasurer
- the Surveyor General
- the Clerk of the Executive Council.
In 1860, Parliament passed Land Bills which, amongst other things, provided for the appointment of Commissioners of Crown Land. They were to carry out the provisions of the acts in the districts assigned to them. It was their responsibility to execute Crown land dealings. Sir Augustus Charles Gregory the noted explorer and Queensland’s first Surveyor-General, was also appointed Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands for Queensland. John Carne Bidwill was the Wide Bay district's first Commissioner of Crown Lands.
In January 1862, the Department of Land and Works was established, directed and controlled by a Minister of the Crown, the Honourable Arthur Herbert.
The Land Administration Board
The Department of Land and Works administered Crown lands as an entity until 1927, when a Land Administration Board was constituted.
The first members of the Land Administration Board were:
- William Labott Payne, Barrister-at-Law, Member of the Land Court and Chairman of the Prickly Pear Land Commission
- Arthur George Melville, Under Secretary, Department of Public Lands
- Francis Desmond Power, Deputy Chairman of the Prickly Pear Commission.
Land Administration Commission
From the time of separation in 1859 to the middle of the 1950s, there were many land bills passed resulting in complex amendments to the land acts. At one stage there were 79 different acts on the statute book relating to the alienation, leasing and occupation of Crown lands. The confusion was resolved in the consolidation of the land laws in 1959.
The passing of the Land Acts and Other Acts Amendment Act of 1959 constituted a Land Administration Commission.
This consisted of a chairman, who was designated the Chief Commissioner of Lands, along with 2 other members.
The powers and duties of the Land Administration Commission were expressed as follows:
‘Subject to the Minister, the Commission shall be charged with the proper and effective administration of Crown lands and all the laws relating thereto and shall control, manage, supervise and carry on the administration of the department. For the purpose of any enquiry or investigation, the Commission and each and every member thereof, shall have and may exercise the powers of the Commission under the Commissions of Inquiry Acts.’
The Minister had the authority under the act to delegate any of his powers, authorities and functions to any particular member of the commission.
As a matter of day-to-day administration, each member of the commission made decisions and executed authorities in accordance with the delegation given to him by the Minister. The exception to this was cases that were complex, precedent-making, or required the input of more than one commission member. These types of cases were considered at commission meetings, which were held on a regular scheduled basis.
All decisions and actions were based in the Brisbane headquarters of the Lands Administration Commission, which had full control of all state lands and national parks.
The Department of Lands answered to the commission, which made decisions for the department. The commission in turn answered to the Minister.
The Land Administration Commission ceases
In 1990, a major re-organisation resulted in the demise of the Land Administration Commission. The Department of Lands was divided into 4 regions and each region was made virtually autonomous. There was now access straight to the Minister instead of through many levels of hierarchy in the head office.