Of Droughts And Flooding Rains

[KaiserEmu]

You asked for Australasian history. Here is possibly one of the darker bits of its history (apart from the original white settlement).
"Joh for PM" took a very different form ITTL...

I tried a new newspaper look - I'd like some feedback on it!

 

[Pragmatic Progressive]

tried a new newspaper look - I'd like some feedback on it!

I like it, especially if you are going for papers of a pre-internet age!

 

[KaiserEmu]

And another one!

(Things were moving pretty fast at that point.)

 

[Deleted member 82792]

What's Kylie Minogue doing in this setting?

 

[TheKutKu]

Interesting, So there is also an independance movement in New Zealand.

Also could we have a map of Australasian states? I guess Victoria is the same as IRL but where are Cooksland and New England?

 

[KaiserEmu]

Interesting, So there is also an independance movement in New Zealand.

Was. As you can see from the map, Cooksland is not independent. However, the High Court also ruled that provinces cannot secede from the Commonwealth, so secessionism has died off a bit since then.

Also could we have a map of Australasian states? I guess Victoria is the same as IRL but where are Cooksland and New England?

I’ll make it tomorrow. Cooksland is northern Queensland, New England is northern NSW. Victoria is not the same as OTL - it’s Australasia’s capital near OTL Nowra. OTL Victoria is the province of Flindersland.

What's Kylie Minogue doing in this setting?

An Australasian/American singer, born in Hobart as the daughter of an Australasian and a Patagonian migrant, Kylie Minogue became quite popular in Australasia before moving to the United States. Overall, she’s a little more popular ITTL.

 

[KaiserEmu]

Here you go. A map of the provinces of Australasia, and their provincial capitals. After the above crisis' resolution, Cooksland was renamed to Capricornia.

The Federal Capital Territory is located on the border between New Wales and Flindersland as a way to resolve the New Albion-Hobart rivalry. A new city was planned and built immediately south of Nowra, named Victoria after the long-reigning ruler of the British Empire at the time, although its name has been controversial in recent years, with a strong campaign for an Aboriginal name to be adopted.

NOTE: As part of my retcons, Queensland's capital is now named Macquarie, as opposed to Moreton.

 

[B_Munro]

Decolonisation being handled better by the British prompted Obama’s parents to stay in Kenya,

Staying in Kenya would have been tricky for his mother, since she was born in Kansas.

 

[KaiserEmu]

Staying in Kenya would have been tricky for his mother, since she was born in Kansas.

Shh!

She moved there during her academic studies, ITTL focusing on Eastern Africa instead of Indonesia. Then she met Barack Sr and the rest is history, as they say.

 

[B_Munro]

Shh!

She moved there during her academic studies, ITTL focusing on Eastern Africa instead of Indonesia. Then she met Barack Sr and the rest is history, as they say.

And Nixon is selling used cars in a TL where North America stayed British. It's fine.

 

[KaiserEmu]

And Nixon is selling used cars in a TL where North America stayed British. It's fine.

I've seen TLs where Obama becomes Hawaiian PM, a Canadian senator and a Californian president. I thought I may as well do something interesting with him, even if he probably wouldn't exist ITTL, so...

Yep. I told you I wasn't sticking to every single thing.

 

[Spens1]

Here you go. A map of the provinces of Australasia, and their provincial capitals. After the above crisis' resolution, Cooksland was renamed to Capricornia.

The Federal Capital Territory is located on the border between New Wales and Flindersland as a way to resolve the New Albion-Hobart rivalry. A new city was planned and built immediately south of Nowra, named Victoria after the long-reigning ruler of the British Empire at the time, although its name has been controversial in recent years, with a strong campaign for an Aboriginal name to be adopted.

Hobart is Melbourne, absolutely incredible.

 

[KaiserEmu]

I originally tried to write an extract from the actual court ruling, but there was too much legalese for me, so I settled with this. I've got one more graphic to do with the Cooksland Crisis (as it's known), and then I'm on to Europe. Any suggestions for which bit of Europe I should do first?

 

[Spens1]

Its quiet interesting. Joh obviously trying to create his own little dictatorship in Northern Qld (well, Cooksland in this tl) but clearly failing cause the courts aren't having that. The Government obviously don't want to let go of the mines as well.

 

[Oliveia]

I'd personally be very interested in Poland and Greece (in specific reference to the treatment of Turks by the Greek gov't). Been lurking on this TL awhile, recently decided to watch: great work so far!!

 

[KaiserEmu]

Here's the last one in the series.

An advertisement in a Mackay newspaper, explaining to Cookslanders how to vote in the upcoming election.

Following Joh Bjelke-Petersen's dismissal by the provincial governor and the High Court's upholding of said dismissal, elections were scheduled to be held on Saturday, 19 June, 1981. Due to the extreme gerrymandering of Cooksland's electoral districts under the many years or Bjelke-Petersen's rule, it was judged that a fair election could not be conducted under that system, and so the decision was taken to conduct the election under the STV system, which had been in use in Tasmania and Princeland for many years. The notable difference was that the entire province was considered as one electorate, prompting an absolutely enormous ballot paper, containing every single candidate for the provincial legislature on the one paper. This was a new system to voters in Cooksland, used only to the preferential voting system used in their unicameral parliament. In response, the Independent Election Commission of Cooksland commenced the largest publicity campaign in the province's history to inform the voting public about the new system.

Next comes Europe...

 

[KaiserEmu]

So I lied about Europe being next. Here is the composition of Cooksland's parliament after the election. Considering that the Country Party had a two-thirds majority before the election, it was an absolute disaster for them, and their election numbers only went further downhill.

I'd personally be very interested in Poland and Greece (in specific reference to the treatment of Turks by the Greek gov't). Been lurking on this TL awhile, recently decided to watch: great work so far!!

Thanks for the compliment! Greece actually has very few Turks, due to the alt-WWII and its aftermath. There's a map do do with that coming...

 

[Oliveia]

Thanks for the compliment! Greece actually has very few Turks, due to the alt-WWII and its aftermath. There's a map do do with that coming...

Fair enough - though I'm curious how that came to be (Genocide? Mass-deportations / crimes against humanity?)
Honestly, really solid timeline - I'm honestly pretty jealous, I'm terrible at maintaining timelines instead of wandering to newer ones.

 

[Spens1]

What happened to Joh of this timeline, did he ever get charged?

 

[KaiserEmu]

What happened to Joh of this timeline, did he ever get charged?

Oh yes. He was charged with corruption, fraud, perjury, and - most controversially - treason. He was found guilty of all but the treason and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. He was released a after serving 15 years due to his age and frailty, and he and his family moved to Patagonia. His name evokes similar reactions among some people as the names of Stalin or Mao.