Cloven Australia
- Thread starter mowque
- Start date
Things would be a bit shaky until the mining boom takes off (maybe sooner or later depending on butterflies).
Could also see QLD becoming independant as well.
Could also see QLD becoming independant as well.
The independent nation state of WA reunifies with the rest of Australia sometime in the late nineteen forties.
People, the Pacific War, remember?
(And you have to do a lot of handwaving to get the secessionist movement to succeed in the first place. That plebiscite victory occurred the same day a state Labor government was elected, f'rinstance, and they were in favour of a stronger central government, at least in theory. Then there's the high court, the Imperial privy council, etc.)
People, the Pacific War, remember?
(And you have to do a lot of handwaving to get the secessionist movement to succeed in the first place. That plebiscite victory occurred the same day a state Labor government was elected, f'rinstance, and they were in favour of a stronger central government, at least in theory. Then there's the high court, the Imperial privy council, etc.)
Last edited:
Rush Tarquin
Gone Fishin'
You could see the Auralian counter-secession and Western Australia could lose its goldfields, making it a pretty poor country to begin with.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secess...22Auralia.22_-_goldfields_separation_movement
Albany could opt out of secession as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secess...22Auralia.22_-_goldfields_separation_movement
Albany could opt out of secession as well.
If you wanted an independent WA, another way to do it would be to stop them joining Australia in the first place. They were the last state to vote on federation, and although they did vote for, it was only because of a number of concessions being made, such as a transcontinental railway on the other states expense and allowing WA to charge interstate tariffs for five years.
If you want it to split off later, then it would help if they had kept in the nationalists in '33, as the new labour state government didn't want to advance the secession movement, even though a referendum had just voted yes to secede.
If you want it to split off later, then it would help if they had kept in the nationalists in '33, as the new labour state government didn't want to advance the secession movement, even though a referendum had just voted yes to secede.
ninebucks
Banned
Western Australia secedes in the 1930s.
In 1942, a Fascist government comes to power in WA and declares itself for the Axis.
About a week later, a joint Australian-Dutch East Indian force invades WA.
The Dutch East Indian force, consisting mostly of native conscripts, mutinies at the prospect of handing WA back in its entirety to Australia, and they begin occupying the northern third of the state.
After the war, Indonesia gains its independence, and North-West Australia becomes an Indonesian province.
In 1942, a Fascist government comes to power in WA and declares itself for the Axis.
About a week later, a joint Australian-Dutch East Indian force invades WA.
The Dutch East Indian force, consisting mostly of native conscripts, mutinies at the prospect of handing WA back in its entirety to Australia, and they begin occupying the northern third of the state.
After the war, Indonesia gains its independence, and North-West Australia becomes an Indonesian province.
mowque
Banned
When does these booms start OTL?
Things would be a bit shaky until the mining boom takes off (maybe sooner or later depending on butterflies).
Could also see QLD becoming independant as well.
Same question to you. And what is QLD?
So you find it very unlikely? Also, no Pacific War in my TL, so no outside threat is looming.
If the gold fields, left, would the nation have enough steam to go on?
My POD is 1902, so I can't go back that far, sadly. Nationalists? I am butterflying a good bit of stuff, so the circumstances should be there.
Western Australia secedes in the 1930s.
In 1942, a Fascist government comes to power in WA and declares itself for the Axis.
About a week later, a joint Australian-Dutch East Indian force invades WA.
The Dutch East Indian force, consisting mostly of native conscripts, mutinies at the prospect of handing WA back in its entirety to Australia, and they begin occupying the northern third of the state.
After the war, Indonesia gains its independence, and North-West Australia becomes an Indonesian province.
But irrelevant due to the POD.MacCaulay
Banned
Western Australia secedes in the 1930s.
In 1942, a Fascist government comes to power in WA and declares itself for the Axis.
About a week later, a joint Australian-Dutch East Indian force invades WA.
The Dutch East Indian force, consisting mostly of native conscripts, mutinies at the prospect of handing WA back in its entirety to Australia, and they begin occupying the northern third of the state.
After the war, Indonesia gains its independence, and North-West Australia becomes an Indonesian province.
Alas, I have found my Australian Offensive impetus...
Conservative, rural backwater built on sheep, minimal net migration post independence (some $10 Poms but a similar number of natives heading to the East Coast). Then when the resource boom starts, boom-town. WA streaks up the GDP per capita tables despite major labour shortages (inter-state migration is a lot easier than international migration) but with a economy entirely based on the value of half a dozen resources, meaning periodic busts.
EDIT: I just realised PM Wilson TUCKEY.
AWESOME!
That is all.
EDIT: I just realised PM Wilson TUCKEY.
AWESOME!
That is all.
Last edited:
Cook
Banned
From independence onwards The Republic of Western Australia would be one of the wealthiest nations in the world. Remember that prior to its current Minerals boom in the Pilbara the Golden Mile in Kalgoorlie was booming for decades.
West Australia has always contributed more to the Federal Budget then it receives back.
The Pilbara currently accounts for 17% of Australian GDP.
West Australia has always contributed more to the Federal Budget then it receives back.
The Pilbara currently accounts for 17% of Australian GDP.
Cook
Banned
Also note that the original Australian Federation Convention invited representatives from New Zeeland and not West Australia. West Australia was only incorporated into the Federal movement after the discovery of Gold.
An independent West Australia would be likely to be less conservative then the rest of Australia. The White Australia Policy was a hindrance to the West’s need for labour in the goldfields and cattle industries.
An independent West Australia would be likely to be less conservative then the rest of Australia. The White Australia Policy was a hindrance to the West’s need for labour in the goldfields and cattle industries.
With a POD in 1932 (which is the year Japan moved against China) an independent WA is only seven years away from submitting to the Australian War Cabinet, as Fremantle is the departure point for the Australian forces to be sent to the Middle East.
In 1942 Broome will be bombed, and WA will have an invasion scare.
So reunification is a given in the post-War era; think 'populate or perish', economic reconstruction, etc. The one really interesting thing I can see is if a new constitutional negotiation process sees Canberra extending offers to New Zealand to become a state as well.
Outside of the pearling industry at Broome, and the use of Afghan camel drivers on the goldfields, who was advocating the use of non-white labour?
The Western Australian electoral process was subject to the same demotic racism as the rest of the continent--that's one reason political Labour was as successful there as in the other states in OTL. (Or moreso. WA had the first majority Labour government at either state or federal level.)
I don't see why a Prime Minister John Forrest (or whoever) of the Dominion of WA wouldn't pursue exclusionary immigration policies.
mowque
Banned
The POD is is in 1902, so all this WW2 stuff is pointless and not going to happen. Assume peace and prosperity, noy war and threats.
Rush Tarquin
Gone Fishin'
The Federal movement essentially blackmailed WA into joining, threatening to allow Auralia to join as a state and deprive WA of the Golden Mile. Secession is a double-edged sword, as the CSA found out. WA would need to discover what it had in the Pilbara and the technological means to effectively mine it quick smart.
Cook
Banned
New Zealand was invited to the original Federation Conference and the constitution still has an open offer to them doesn’t it?
I’m sure that an independent Dominion or even Republic of Western Australia would coordinate defence with the Australian Commonwealth as part of the British Empire and Allied forces.
The thing is, though, is that threat was during federation, not during the secession movement of the 30's. Out of the sixty electoral divisions, only five voted against it, and while they were in the mining areas, they were still a minority of those mining areas. This could lead to a smaller WA, but the bulk of the goldfields and the Pilbara would have stayed with them.
Cook
Banned
Tolash is right. It is a bit hard for the Goldfields to cut free from the rest of WA, their water comes from Mundaring Wear.
That’s why Forrest was so keen on the pipeline in the beginning, to tie them to Perth.