Queensland Changes Dates for Queen’s Bday, Labour Day Celebration

The Queensland Parliament passed on Tuesday night legislation that would change the dates two important holidays would be observed in the Australian state. Affected are the Queen's Birthday holiday and Labour Day.

Under the changes, the observation of the Queen's Birthday would be held second Monday of June and Labour Day to first Monday of October.

The legislation reverses a law passed by the previous state government that set the celebration of the Queen's Birthday to October.

The Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee recommended the start of the changes be delayed to 2014 to reduce the social and financial impact of the amendments on affected community groups that have calendared activities for the 2013 Labour Day long weekend.

These include the Hervey Bay Triathlon, Maleny Wood Expo and the Ten Days in the Towers Music Festival at Charles Tower.

However, Attorney General Jarrod Bleijie rejected the suggestion to delay the change because it would only cause increased uncertainty.

He explained that delaying its implementation would lead to disruption to production and services due to the concentration of holidays in April and May which includes Easter, Anzac Day and Labour Day. Mr Bleijie said the changes would create a more even spread of holidays over the year and assure workers extra respite and rest.

He added that bringing back the celebration of the Queen's birthday to June would help the state's tourism industry because that mid-year month is traditionally a quiet period in Queensland.

But Opposition leader Annastacia Palaszczuk argued that Queensland has been traditionally commemorating Labour Day in May since 1891. She described the shift to Labour Day celebration to October as an attack on working Queenslanders.

The MP pointed out that one of the first Labour Day marches in the world was held in Barcaldine in May 1, 1891 when workers celebrated hard-won advancements such as eight hours work, the right to negotiate as group, health and safety protection in the workplace, minimum wage and the principle of a fair day's pay for a fair day's work.

"They will still celebrate Labour Day - they're just going to celebrate it on a different day of the year," Mr Bleijie was quoted by ABC.