Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has again ruled out a 'separate state' north of the tropic of Capricorn, which could prove constitutionally difficult.
The idea of splitting the state in two is being pushed by Katter's Australia Party which wants the Labor government to put up funding for a feasibility study into the economics of a split.
"My plan is to unite Queensland not to divide Queensland. And it's going to cause a lot of problems with State of Origin if we go down that path," Premier Annastascia Palaszczuk told ABC radio on Wednesday.
KAP on Tuesday called on all 17 north Queensland MPs to sign an agreement supporting a $250,000 feasibility study.
State leader Robbie Katter said this would allow a considered debate based on the issue, which has been raised multiple times in recent years.
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The push is based on what it believes is an unfair distribution of government resources in the state's coal-rich north.
Section 124 of the Australian Constitution allows for the separation of a territory from a state, but any move would need the approval of the both the Queensland and federal parliaments.
Mr Katter said he won't stop pushing for a new north Queensland state even if a feasibility study shows the idea doesn't stack up.
"The numbers didn't work real well for Queensland when it was a colony pulling away from NSW either," he said.
The West Australian A Liberal opposition is currently considering a similar plan, under which WA could declare itself as "independent" state but remain within the commonwealth.
Full secession is unlikely to be an option because the Constitution says the federation "one indissoluble federal commonwealth".
There has been only one secession referendum in Australia - the successful 1933 vote in Western Australia which was eventually rejected by the UK House of Commons.
