Of Droughts And Flooding Rains

[KaiserEmu]

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains;
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror—
The wide brown land for me!

An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land—
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand—
Though earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.​

- Dorothea Mackellar
​

Well then.

I've decided to make a thread for this, partly to stop spamming the map thread with my maps, and also as a central place for the stuff I want to make for this timeline (I think I can call it that now?).

What's this?
You know how basically everyone's making a graphics thread for their timeline now?
This is mine. It'll never be as good as @Kanan's Our Fair Country or @LeinadB93's Hail, Britannia, but I'll try to make it at least bearable to watch.

Yeah, but what's it about?
This is based on a premise I've had floating around in my head ever since I discovered alternate history - that Australia was colonised by various nations ending up with multiple nations all inhabiting the Australian continent in the modern day. It's not the absolute most plausible TL out there, as I tried to fit as many nations as I reasonably could into Australia, while also ensuring the rest of the world is interesting to explore. The other reason is at about half of the TLs out there leave Australia just the same, and most others have it on the very periphery, and I wanted one where my home country gets more of a look-in. That doesn't mean the rest of the world is left out though: I've got lots of interesting backstory for it too.

POD?
The earliest change is that a problem with Willem de Vlamigh's ship causes them to stay longer in OTL Perth, prompting further exploration of the region and an eventual decision by the VOC to establish an outpost there. I'd like to say things go from there, but in some cases, some artistic licence has been used to get the bits I wanted to fit.

What to expect?
All kinds of things. Lots of maps and flags, news articles and other random graphics, alternate photos, and more and more wikiboxes as I get better at making them.

What do I do?
Anything you want, really.
Ignore it (though I'd rather you didn't); quietly watch; ask questions about the whole thing; even contribute ideas, lists and graphics of your own if you want! My only rule is that I have final say over everything - but I really welcome suggestions, especially in the Americas and parts of Africa and Asia, where my knowledge is lacking and ideas would be really useful.

Where do we start?
Nice to see you're so excited about this, hypothetical person I invented. If only the rest of AH.com was just as interested. But we'll start with the latest version of the world map of the universe of Of Droughts and Flooding Rains:

Ask as many questions as you want; just be aware that some bits will not be as well fleshed out as others, and some bits might be "just because"; hopefully not too much though, as I'd like to think I've got explanations for most things.
Also be aware that, as you may have guessed, I'm an Australian and so am working to Australian Eastern Time. So please don't get impatient if it takes a while for me to respond.

Here we go...​

 

[CosmicAsh]

Excited to see how this one goes!

Couple of questions out the gate...

Is Kanagroo Island part of another country than the blue which controls OTL South Australia? The colours seem a bit different, but I dunno if it's my monitor or not haha.

How about Uluru? That large, expansive state where basically the NT is seems like it would have a sizable indigenous population, is Uluru a centrepiece and well-known in this country?

 

[AstroRangerBeans]

Exciting and surprising.

Is any countries have any broadcasting companies and is any of highway transport system that passes thru borders which requires passport checks?

 

[TheKutKu]

Nice, i liked your few maps on the map thread, i'm interested.

 

[LeinadB93]

Looking forward to this one definitely very excited

Makes me want to amend my own version of Australia in Hail, Britannia...

I’m curious about which European nations colonised which parts of Australia? Partitioned Indonesia is an interesting idea. Is that a West Indies Federation I spot ? And British Sinai?

If you’re open to some suggestions in America / Europe:

1. With America extending into the Caribbean, perhaps a larger Canada with Alaska and the Oregon Country? Maybe Bahamas as a province?

2. Are the US Virgin Islands independent or part of Denmark?

3. Perhaps a version of the Talleyrand Plan for TTL’s Belgium?​

 

[Deleted member 82792]

Looks interesting

 

[KaiserEmu]

Excited to see how this one goes!

Exciting and surprising.

Nice, i liked your few maps on the map thread, i'm interested.

Looking forward to this one definitely very excited

Makes me want to amend my own version of Australia in Hail, Britannia...

Looks interesting

Glad you're all interested, especially from such auspicious critics. Hope this doesn't disappoint.

Couple of questions out the gate...

Is Kanagroo Island part of another country than the blue which controls OTL South Australia? The colours seem a bit different, but I dunno if it's my monitor or not haha.

Kangaroo Island is the French Overseas Territory of Baudinia, so yes, it's part of a separate country (although the Baudinians don't like it that way, but it's an important military base for France). The colours there are a bit difficult to tell apart.

How about Uluru? That large, expansive state where basically the NT is seems like it would have a sizable indigenous population, is Uluru a centrepiece and well-known in this country?

Uluru is indeed very important to the local indigenous population. Being a long way from the coast where most of the settlement is, it's not super iconic, but it does play a significant role - and tourists are starting to visit the area too.

Is any countries have any broadcasting companies and is any of highway transport system that passes thru borders which requires passport checks?

All countries have broadcasting companies, yes. Australasia (the brown one) and Tasmania are the only ones with public broadcasters. Passport checks are conducted at all three highway crossings: Between New Holland and Kidulia near OTL Broome, between Australasia and Auralia at OTL Murray Bridge, and between Australasia and Costa Norte at OTL Ayr. Visas are not required for travel between any Australian country thanks to the work of the Australian Union.

I’m curious about which European nations colonised which parts of Australia?

Coming soon, although you can probably guess from some of the names I've already mentioned.

Partitioned Indonesia is an interesting idea. Is that a West Indies Federation I spot ? And British Sinai?

Yes, yes, and yes.

If you’re open to some suggestions in America / Europe:

1. With America extending into the Caribbean, perhaps a larger Canada with Alaska and the Oregon Country? Maybe Bahamas as a province?

2. Are the US Virgin Islands independent or part of Denmark?

3. Perhaps a version of the Talleyrand Plan for TTL’s Belgium?​

1. I did think about all of those, and they're still possibilities, although I'm worried about making it too OFC-esque.
2. That was a glitch. Sorry to disappoint you, but it's part of the State of Puerto Rico.
3. Also thought about that. I left it as is because a) I wanted a vaguely similar WWI and b) France used up more of their bargaining chips to keep their Australian colony.

 

[KaiserEmu]

I’m curious about which European nations colonised which parts of Australia?

Why use words when you can make a map of it?

Whipped this up pretty quickly, so I hope it's ok.

On the left is the dominant or plurality language across the continent, and on the right is a map of colonies as of 1900. You can probably tell how most of the languages developed where they did.

Notes:

1. Germany lost its New Guinea colony after the World War, when it was ceded to Australasia as the Papua Territory.
2. Tasmania has a significant Dutch-speaking population, mostly descended from migrants who initially established an independent country, that was later overrun by the British.
3. French Creole is a hybrid of French and local indigenous languages, with a couple of words of English popping up here and there.
4. The language spoken by the Yolŋu is probably distinct enough to be its own classification. Instead, it's shown mixed between Indonesian and native languages.
5. The Dutch-speaking population in the Kimberley is nowhere as significant as it might look - it's actually quite small, but widely dispersed as a place chosen by many Dutch colonials to retire to on large properties, away from the hustle and bustle of Batavia.

 

[KaiserEmu]

Thought I'd better collate these here, just in case.

Map of the Commonwealth and rough history
Map of Tasmania
Map of Auralia
National Anthem of Auralia
Map of New Holland

Note that some parts, especially elements of world history, might be retconned, so anything posted in this thread will take precedence.

Soon to come: a quick look at global affairs, although questions on any subject are welcome.

 

[Spens1]

Its beautiful, shame we're stuck with NSW though. What is the name of the East-Coast country (did it get the Australian name).

Also the French clearly did not do a good job.

 

[Deleted member 82792]

What are the Australian countries?

 

[AstroRangerBeans]

@KaiserEmu, can you create the map of Australia with HDI (Human Development Index)?

 

[TheKutKu]

Nice! What’s the name of the Portuguese/native state and when did it become independant?

Oops stupid me, it’s costa norte

 

[Oliveia]

What is a Boer language? Do you mean Afrikaans or?

 

[KaiserEmu]

What are the Australian countries?

Oops! Should have explained that first. Clockwise from the left is New Holland, Kidulia, Costa Norte, Australasia (incl NZ), Tasmania and Auralia. Plus the French Overseas Territory of Baudinia on Kangaroo Island.

Its beautiful, shame we're stuck with NSW though. What is the name of the East-Coast country (did it get the Australian name).

Also the French clearly did not do a good job.

It is very much a shame we're stuck with NSW.

The French got in quite late in the game, so all the 'good bits' were taken. They had to settle with Adelaide. They did pretty well of Auralia's resources later on though.

Nice! What’s the name of the Portuguese/native state and when did it become independant?

Oops stupid me, it’s costa norte

It is Costa Norte. It became independent along with most of Portugal's other colonies in 1975, with the Carnation Revolution.

What is a Boer language? Do you mean Afrikaans or?

It is Afrikaans, albeit with a few less Bantu words. It can't be called Afrikaans ITTL for obvious reasons, so the Boer language it is.

@KaiserEmu, can you create the map of Australia with HDI (Human Development Index)?

Soon. I've got three things going at once so it'll happen, maybe just not right now.

 

[KaiserEmu]

A snapshot of current events around the globe:

Questions?

 

[Spens1]

Wait a minute. How on earth did Julia end up in the bottom end of South America. Who are Singapore separating from? Is the east coast the Australian Union. So not only did we get stuck with NSW, we got stuck with our old government as well, brilliant.

Whats Portugese Australia like?

 

[KaiserEmu]

@Spens1, this should hopefully answer your question about the Australian Union.
It's my first wikibox (that I'm prepared to share)!

NOTE: This is now no longer canon, thanks to the great retcon of February 2019.

​

Spoiler: The original wikibox

The Australian Union is an intergovernmental union of the nations of the Australian continent. The union currently has seven members - six sovereign nations and one autonomous entity - who cooperate on political and economic matters. Established in 1985 by the New Albion Accords, the Union was established to secure regional cooperation between the Australian nations at the height of the Silent War. Over the following decades, the Union has become closer together, including the adoption of a free trade area between the six nations, and moves toward a common currency, the Austral, expected to be progressively introduced from 2020. The French territory of Baudinia joined the Union in 2007 following a period of detente, although it has remained outside the free trade zone and future currency union. The Great Assembly of the Union is the legislative body of the organisation, which has few powers at present, but more powers are being transferred to the Union's elected body and its non-elected counterpart, the General Secretariat, each comprised of representatives of each member state. The economic benefits afforded by membership in the AU have prompted interest in further nations joining, with New Guinea and Papua undertaking the processes for admission, while Maluku, the Solomon Islands, East Timor and Vanuatu have all lodged applications for membership. Conversely, the desire for closer union between member states has prompted questions about Baudinia's membership as a non-sovereign entity. Some questions remain as to the exact role the Union will take in the Asia-Pacific region; whether a political union should be pursued, for example, but overall the Australian Union is a stable and prosperous entity.​

 

[Spens1]

Kevin Rudd got his big Australia after all. That's a lot of people. So the East Coast giant = Australasia. How developed is Costa Norte (the Portugese Colony i assume). Also where is Kidulia exactly? $20,000 GDP per capita, yikes, I'm guessing their is a ton of inequality on the continent.

Nhulunbuy as the largest city. Wow ok, how big is it?

Anyway great stuff.

 

[KaiserEmu]

Wait a minute. How on earth did Julia end up in the bottom end of South America.

Julia IOTL was born in Wales, which she still is, but ITTL her family moves to Patagonia, which is a half Cambrophone, half Anglophone country instead.

Who are Singapore separating from?

The UK.

Is the east coast the Australian Union. So not only did we get stuck with NSW, we got stuck with our old government as well, brilliant.

See above for the AU, and no, it's not our current government. Marise Payne chose to go into international affairs instead. The current Australasian PM is Kevin Rudd, though probably not for long.

Whats Portugese Australia like?

How developed is Costa Norte (the Portugese Colony i assume).

It varies drastically. On many parts of the Cape York Peninsula, it is very much like it was pre-white settlement. In Porto Novo, the capital (OTL Townsville), life is more developed and is comparable to something like OTL Cape Town. Overall, development is roughly equal to OTL East Timor.

Kevin Rudd got his big Australia after all. That's a lot of people. So the East Coast giant = Australasia.

Not quite sure what you're saying here.

Also where is Kidulia exactly?

The green slightly enlarged Northern Territory.

$20,000 GDP per capita, yikes, I'm guessing their is a ton of inequality on the continent.

Yup. New Holland, Tasmania and Australasia have some of the best standards of living in the world. The others? Not quite as great.

Nhulunbuy as the largest city. Wow ok, how big is it?

About 5.5 million. Quite cramped.

Anyway great stuff.

Thanks!