Mr Michael Berkman MP
Queensland Greens
Electorate: Maiwar
Topic Engagement
Parliamentary Activity
Some votes may not appear here if they were party votes where individual member votes were not recorded.
Spoke strongly against the bill as absurd and discriminatory, attacking the age limits, driver-licence requirement, speed limits and the failure to stop the sale of illegal e-motorbikes.
“I rise to speak against the Transport and Other Legislation (Managing E-mobility Use and Protecting Our Communities) Amendment Bill. ... this is perhaps one of the most absurd and poorly cobbled together bills I have seen during my time in this place.”— 2026-06-04View Hansard
Opposed the bill, arguing it chips away at community participation rights and regulatory oversight, removes environmental authorities for code-managed activities, abolishes small-scale mining sureties and weakens rehabilitation safeguards.
“The bill makes a suite of changes that chip away at community participation rights and regulatory power as well as handing over greater power to corporations to self-regulate.”— 2026-06-02View Hansard
Opposed the bill, arguing it removes the independent commissioner contrary to the Johnston review, allows board and ombudsman members to be removed for any or no reason, and repeals the Land Access Ombudsman industry levy and collapses the office into Coexistence Queensland, subsidising the resources sector at taxpayers' expense.
“This is really a cynical way of introducing quite far-reaching administrative changes that not only were not recommended by that review but also actually run counter to it and serve to quite directly undermine the independence and integrity of some key regulatory bodies.”— 2026-05-12View Hansard
Strongly opposed the bill, calling it a 'prison crisis in the making' and 'complete insanity'. Argued most of the 12 new offences are not committed by children, criticised the inadequate committee inquiry process, and cited police evidence that the drug diversion program was 'working relatively well'.
“This bill and this government are a prison crisis in the making. This bill is complete insanity.”— 2026-04-22View Hansard
Bills Introduced (5)
Mineral Resources (Galilee Basin) Amendment Bill 2018
LapsedThis Greens private member's bill would have banned all coal mining in Queensland's Galilee Basin, including terminating Adani's existing mining leases for the Carmichael mine without compensation. It was based on the 2018 IPCC Special Report finding that coal must be almost entirely phased out of global electricity by 2050 to limit warming to 1.5 degrees. The bill lapsed and did not become law.
Civil Liability (Institutional Child Abuse) Amendment Bill 2018
WithdrawnThis bill was withdrawn from consideration and will not become law.This Greens private member's bill sought to implement key recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. It would have created a legal duty for institutions — such as schools, churches, and care facilities — to prevent child abuse and made it easier for survivors to sue by reversing the burden of proof. This bill was discharged and did not become law.
Electoral Legislation (Political Donations) Amendment Bill 2018
DefeatedThis bill was defeated at the second reading — the main debate on its principles. It cannot proceed further.This bill sought to ban for-profit corporations from making political donations to candidates, parties and elected members at both state and local government level in Queensland. It was introduced by the Greens member for Maiwar, building on the Crime and Corruption Commission's Operation Belcarra findings about corruption risks from corporate donations. The bill's second reading was defeated and it did not become law.
Criminal Law (Raising the Age of Responsibility) Amendment Bill 2021
DefeatedThis bill was defeated at the second reading — the main debate on its principles. It cannot proceed further.This bill sought to raise Queensland's minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 years old, consistent with United Nations standards and medical evidence that children under 14 lack the brain development to fully understand the consequences of their actions. It was a private member's bill introduced by Michael Berkman MP (Greens) that failed at its second reading vote and did not become law.
Planning and Other Legislation (Make Developers Pay) Amendment Bill 2023
LapsedThis bill would have removed state-imposed caps on infrastructure charges that local governments can levy on property developers. Introduced by Greens MP Michael Berkman, it lapsed at the end of the 57th Parliament and did not become law. It aimed to give councils the flexibility to charge developers the true cost of providing infrastructure like parks, footpaths, and flood mitigation in growing communities.