Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the Australian state of Queensland comprises the largest party or coalition of parties not in Government. It is so styled to demonstrate that although it opposes the Government, it remains loyal to the Queen. The Opposition's purpose is to hold the Government to account and constitute a "Government-in-waiting" should the existing Government fall. To that end, a Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Ministers for the various government departments question the Premier and Ministers on Government policy and administration, and formulate the policy the Opposition would pursue in Government.
At times, the Opposition consisted of more than one party, notably when the Coalition parties (the state Nationals and Liberals) were in Opposition. Those state parties entered Opposition in 1996 and merged to form the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) in 2008, National Leader Lawrence Springborg becoming Leader of the LNP and remaining Leader of the Opposition.
The current Leader of the Opposition is LNP Leader Tim Nicholls, and Deb Frecklington is the Deputy Leader. Their elections on May 5 2016 came after the former Leader of the Opposition Lawrence Springborg called for a leadership spill after media speculation about his position.
Current Shadow Ministry
The current Shadow Ministry was announced on 8 May 2016.