Greens Senator Larissa Waters backs an upper house for Queensland. Credit:Michelle Smith Since that vote, Parliament's Red Chamber has served as a location for media conferences, meetings and other events, such as a "leaders' retreat" during last year's G20 summit. Nearly a century on, political parties of almost diametrically opposed ideologies – Family First and the Greens – have united in calls for the upper house to be restored. Greens Senator Larissa Waters, a member of the national upper house, said there was "willingness and interest" among Queenslanders and it was a "conversation that the state government really should have". "We're seen, I think, as a poor cousin by many other states who can't understand our electoral system and are surprised that we got rid of our upper house in the 1920s," she said.

Family First Senate candidate Rod McGarvie says an upper house would bring stability to Queensland politics. Credit:Renee Melides "It's certainly not served us well in the intervening decades because without a house of review, a check on executive power, we've seen all sorts of laws pushed through." Senator Waters said an upper house based on proportional voting would be more democratic that the current two-party dominance in the Legislative Assembly. "It would be just fantastic to see some action on this because it's more democratic to have people's votes appropriately reflected. "For example, with the proportional system we have in the Federal Senate, it's not a winner-takes-all approach where a lot of voices are silenced.

"It's more of a representative composition." Family First's lead Senate candidate in Queensland, Rod McGarvie, said the upcoming referendum on four-year fixed terms should serve as a catalyst for further constitutional debate. "Many of the arguments put forward for this change cite the need for stability in the Queensland Parliament – stability for industry, stability for voters and stability for the government of the day," he said. "From 2012, we saw the Newman LNP government take Queensland on a ride of reform almost unparalleled in recent history. "Following this year's change of government we have looped the loop and see the Palaszczuk Labor government systematically winding back and repealing many of the changes made by the former LNP government.

"Family First holds the belief that the common-sense answer to increasing stability in the Queensland Parliament is to reinstate the previously abolished upper house (which) should serve its true purpose, as it does in other states and in our Federal Parliament, as a house of review." Mr McGarvie called on the Queensland Parliament to appoint an independent panel to "set out a roadmap" towards the reintroduction of an upper house. "We will be seeking support from all Queensland political parties, independents and the Queensland voting public to take this important step towards better government for Queensland," he said. Key Queensland crossbencher Robbie Katter said it was hard for minor parties to win lower house seats in Queensland, but stopped short of outright advocating for a Queensland upper house. Mr Katter, the state leader of his father's eponymous party, told Fairfax Media the rest of the world was "moving away" from two-party political systems.

"I'd love the answer to be that we propagate – a third party propagates, like One Nation did with 11 seats [in 1998] – I think that's the answer," he said. "But, if you wanted to just put a box around it and define it, (an upper house) would be one solution. "Whether that's realistic or not, I don't know, but if you sit down with people and have a conversation, they're not happy with the way it's going now." Without the support of the major parties, however, any movement to restore the Legislative Council was unlikely to be successful. A spokesman for Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Labor's position had not changed and it was not favour the reintroduction of the Legislative Council.

A spokeswoman for Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg said a model that would win the support of Queenslanders had not been put on the table. "During the last sitting of Parliament, Labor wouldn't support increasing the number of members by four ensuring fair representation for regional Queenslanders," she said. "Given this, support for an upper house, which would mean significantly more politicians, is unlikely in the near future." Stay in touch with Queensland's best news via Facebook.