Holes poked in north Qld secession plan

A separate north Queensland state like the one floated by federal MP George Christensen would have big problems funding its new government, a leading economist says.

The Member for Dawson wants a separation referendum open only to north Queenslanders and says he'll write to mayors, senators and MPs north of the Tropic of Capricorn to ask for support.

But University of Queensland professor John Quiggin says a northern state would be reliant on Brisbane for a number of services and wouldn't be able to support infrastructure needs without Commonwealth funding.

"The big problem for a new state wouldn't be economic survival," he told AAP on Wednesday.

"But the need to fund a new state government, serving a large area with a small population and revenue base."

Mr Christensen said it was not appropriate that northerners were told what to do by inner-city politicians 1000-plus kilometres away.

He said the new state could eliminate stamp duty and payroll tax and would be dependent on industries like agriculture, tourism and mining.

Prof Quiggin said mining royalties made up 20 per cent of the Queensland government's own-source revenue and while the rate may be higher in the north it was the southern half dominating the big growth area of LNG.

He also said Mr Christensen's claim that only 0.5 per cent of mining royalties go back into affected regional communities was "nonsense".

"It's reasonable to suppose that North Queensland gets the same share from this source as its share in total expenditure, which is roughly in line with population," he said.

The idea of a separate northern state has previously been proposed by other disgruntled politicians concerned the region is not getting the attention it deserves.

The state parliament's powerful "northern bloc", made up of independent and KAP MPs, have reportedly also been considering the issue.