Our Fair Country: The Commonwealth of New England

[CosmicAsh]

1000% not mine, all credit belongs to @VT45 who said I was allowed to steal it. Finally remembered to fix the license plate.

Double Decker buses are used by the BMATA in addressing bus transportation solely in Boston not already covered by light or heavy rail, or by trolleybus. They are manufactured by Wrightbus New England, which maintains a manufacturing plant and maintenance operations in the Boston neighbourhood of Woburn. Modelled after the iconic buses common in the United Kingdom, BMATA's first buses were imported from the United Kingdom and Boston has long been known to be host to the coaches. Despite their ability to move a large number of people, the transportation agency does not run a large fleet of them, with light rail and the Boston Underground carrying the large majority of public transportation users in Boston.

 

[Scerus]

How is New England doing in the OTL Commonwealth Games?

 

[Riley Uhr]

​

Snip Snoop Bleep Bloop so much amazing stuff to Group

Wow! amazing! It's incredible how Labour has fallen that far. And I would love to see Kiwi culture with African influences. Did you turn Wairarapa Dark Blue just to annoy me or was it won by NZF? Next country should be the United Kingdom I wanna see how Andy Burnham is doing.

 

[Witch0Winter]

I'm not saying you're doing a really good job of creating an engrossing and in depth timeline experience (that I'm probably posting too much in), but I am saying that I went and looked up the guy representing Haverhill on the map you posted earlier and liked his Facebook page for updates because it took me a moment to realize that this timeline isn't real and he doesn't represent me.

 

[Analytical Engine]

I'm not saying you're doing a really good job of creating an engrossing and in depth timeline experience (that I'm probably posting too much in), but I am saying that I went and looked up the guy representing Haverhill on the map you posted earlier and liked his Facebook page for updates because it took me a moment to realize that this timeline isn't real and he doesn't represent me.

This TL is taking over our world!

Soon, it will achieve sentience!

 

[CosmicAsh]

Pops goes the Labour bubble.

*in an online, unscientific poll

This promises to be interesting. Proceed.

You don't know the half of it.

Also, how is Kevin Cavanaugh's Republican Party doing?

It's... surviving? He hasn't attracted any more members, and no one even knows if Regan is committed to the flag referendum. It hasn't been brought up since the leadership spill, but behind the scenes it's believed that Cavanaugh is still supporting the government because Regan will still allow the referendum to commence.

Holy Hell did not expect the SDP to get anywhere near first. But Parti Francophone is in for a good run next election! This feels like a weird Canada 2011 to me where the Centre Left party is overtaken by the Social Democratic party.

Keep in mind, this is the online-only poll. Who knows what the actual electorate is like! (Well, wait until Tuesday when more polls get released)

What is the education system like in New England (elementary, middle, High school, colleges, etc.) and what are the biggest universities in New England?

The Education system is much like that of the United States and Canada. Kintergarden (1 year) -> Primary School (Grade 1 - Grade 8) -> High School (Grade 9 - Grade 12) -> University (4-8 years). All education funding is local, and the federal government currently has no control over anything, not even a national curriculum. Labour is the strongest opponent to this, with the Conservatives interested in establishing a federal Education Ministry. Much of this stems from the more wealthy southern provinces (who tend to vote for Labour, MA, CT, LI) spending large amounts of money on their education systems, as opposed to the less well funded systems of northern New England (who tend to vote Conservative). Education in these well funded system is of a much higher quality than the under-funded ones, and Labour is concerned that taxpayer dollars from their constituents will be used only on these poorer performing schools while theirs suffer.

The biggest university by far is the University of New England system. It has a main campus in each state, and satellite campuses in that state. For instance, the University of New England—Long Island is located in Southampton and is the main campus for the province. The University of New England at Jamaica is a subordinate satellite campus of the University of New England—Long Island, only its located in the City of Jamaica. The UNE system is the only one that receives federal funds, but all twelve provinces also pay into the system.

It's also worth noting that New England is home to Dartmouth, Harvard, Brown, and Yale Universities. The country also has an extremely educated populace holding a college degree, which leads to how New England is a world leader in the tech sector. The New Haven, CT to Northampton, MA corridor is known as the "Knowledge Corridor" due to the highly skilled workforce and high concentration of high-tech firms. The region between Springfield, MA and Hartford, CT is comparable to the Silicon Valley we are familiar with.

On another subject, who’s this Methuen scientist who was honoured in London?

So @Kanan who was that Methuen scientist who was honoured in London? I feel like there’s a good chance I might know them

Purposefully obfuscated.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that this is a popular folk song in TTL New England, because of the number of New England places mentioned?

Hmm, I think I would be inclined to agree on this one. By far, however, the best known folk songs are done by Stan Rogers.

I don't know how my body is going to contain this much awesome, even before the Soviet Election on Sunday.

Today's a creative day I guess!

Wow! amazing! It's incredible how Labour has fallen that far. And I would love to see Kiwi culture with African influences. Did you turn Wairarapa Dark Blue just to annoy me or was it won by NZF? Next country should be the United Kingdom I wanna see how Andy Burnham is doing.

Wairarapa was won by New Zealand First. I really should go in and edit the colours for NZF, it really didn't turn out how I planned.

I'm not saying you're doing a really good job of creating an engrossing and in depth timeline experience (that I'm probably posting too much in), but I am saying that I went and looked up the guy representing Haverhill on the map you posted earlier and liked his Facebook page for updates because it took me a moment to realize that this timeline isn't real and he doesn't represent me.

<3 thank you so much. That means a lot to me!

I only got slightly mad when I passed the town hall the other day and saw the American flag...

This TL is taking over our world!

Soon, it will achieve sentience!

With luck!

 

[Riley Uhr]

Wairarapa was won by New Zealand First.

 

[BryanIII]

@Kanan how is Belgium in this TL (in other words you can PM me when you need help if you eventually get to Belgium )

 

[Gian]

@Kanan how is Belgium in this TL (in other words you can PM me when you need help if you eventually get to Belgium )

Ditto for the Philippines

 

[VT45]

Jeez, if Leonard Mirra's popularity/politics are anything like his OTL counterpart, I might actually stand a chance against him

 

[CosmicAsh]

 

[Lewie]

I don't think I can take this much awesome in such a small sitting.

She gained notoriety in 2014 when, during a function in Indonesia, she physically assaulted South African leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk who had unexpectedly shown up at the last minute.

So your telling me the sitting Prime Minister of New Zealand tried to beat up the President of South Africa, that is amazing. Given what we know about TTL South Africa, she has my vote.

Truly this timeline is living up to the tag "binders full of lore"

Keep up the amazing work.

 

[Spens1]

Spoiler

A masterpiece as always, any chance of an opinion poll.

Spoiler

Spoiler

New Zealand is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses, the North Island and the South Island, along with around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea. New Zealand's pre-colonial history was one of extreme isolation, creating a distinct biodiversity. New Zealand is home to the Māori people, which make up a significant portion of the country's population.

New Zealand is a close ally of Australia, and works to support Commonwealth operations in the Asia-Pacific Region. Since the 1960s, the country has welcomed refugees from southern Africa escaping the Apartheid regime in South Africa, which compose nearly ten per cent of the country's population. Two federal leaders, Prime Minister Helen Zille and TRA Alliance leader Frank Chikane, were born in South Africa.

New Zealand's position on African refugees has long been the subject of great debate, with the two main parties, the Nationals and Labour, strongly supporting an open immigration policy and ensuring that the refugees from Africa are able to find a safe home. Other potential countries that refugees could call home, such as Australia, Ceylon, or Sarawak, have refused them entrance into their countries, citing national security and economic reasons.

The joint 2015 decision to allow one hundred thousand more refugees from South Africa into New Zealand in the next decade by the National and Labour parties was the major catalyst for the rise of Winston Peters and his New Zealand First Party from a minor populist party to a major political force within New Zealand's politics. Peters, along with Maori and Green party politicians, stood staunchly against further African immigration, and demanded that New Zealanders should be cared for first, and that New Zealand simply did not need more people who, according to Peters, "Need thousands of dollars in aid, while normal New Zealanders are left with nothing."

The New Zealand general election, 2017 was the first test of Peters' new rhetoric. The Labour party under Andrew Little continued to decline into near irrelevancy, as the Nationals campaigned against NZ First's message of exclusion. Peters talked about not only becoming the second largest party, but also of potentially becoming Prime Minister in his own right. The threat of Peters rising to Premier House caused a surge in voter turnout of African New Zealanders.

Many of these new voters cast ballots for the newly formed TRA Alliance (Taxpayers, Refugees, and Academics), which is composed of mostly people of African descent who pledge their allegiance to New Zealand, and promote a more inclusive New Zealand nationalism than Peters more exclusive one.

The election saw the Nationals lose their majority, and Peters gain seven seats, but Labour was still able to win enough to retain their position as the main opposition party. The Nationals under Zille formed a coalition with the TRA Alliance, with Frank Chikane becoming Deputy Prime Minister. During the first sitting of Parliament, Winston Peters was ejected for Parliament for attacking the "African cabal" which had taken over New Zealand, and for attacking Andrew Little for being so "useless at defending New Zealand's rights."

Little would remain as leader until a leadership election in early 2018 would see Jacinda Ardern take control of Labour, giving signs of life to the long moribund party.

Prime Minister Helen Zille has held her office since 2010, taking over for the last Labour Prime Minister Helen Clark. She was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1951 to German parents who had immigrated in the 1930s to South Africa amidst growing Jewish persecution by the nationalist German government. Zille and her parents left South Africa via Natal in 1967 and settled in Christchurch, the centre of the White African diaspora in New Zealand. Zille would go on to study journalism at the University of Canterbury, where she would meet her future husband, and fellow refugee, Johann Maree.

She has long been an activist against the apartheid regime in South Africa, even going so far as to travel to Natal and try and sneak into South Africa to smuggle out news from the dictatorial hermit country. Her journalism in the 1990s actually uncovered the 1998 assassination of F. W. de Klerk. She gained notoriety in 2014 when, during a function in Indonesia, she physically assaulted South African leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk who had unexpectedly shown up at the last minute.

Zille entered politics as a strong supporters of the National Party's anti-Apartheid stance, and was chosen as leader only two years after entering Parliament because of her extensive humanitarian and anti-apartheid activism throughout the Asia-Pacific region and in southern Africa. Each year, she still travels to Natal to meet with recently escaped South Africans and volunteers at local shelters. Under her leadership, New Zealand has contributed record amounts to aid efforts in Natal and southern Africa. New Zealanders also own a majority of Natal's transportation infrastructure and control a large portion of its economy. Investment into Natal by New Zealand interests has greatly assisted aid efforts, and continues to grow the economy by record numbers, far surpassing anything compared to its South African neighbour.

​

​

Zille as NZ PM, wow that's pretty interesting to say the least. Any noteable Australian politicians that are from South Africa originally?

 

[Scerus]

​

New Zealand is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses, the North Island and the South Island, along with around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is 1,500 kilometres east of Australia across the Tasman Sea. New Zealand's pre-colonial history was one of extreme isolation, creating a distinct biodiversity. New Zealand is home to the Māori people, which make up a significant portion of the country's population.

New Zealand is a close ally of Australia, and works to support Commonwealth operations in the Asia-Pacific Region. Since the 1960s, the country has welcomed refugees from southern Africa escaping the Apartheid regime in South Africa, which compose nearly ten per cent of the country's population. Two federal leaders, Prime Minister Helen Zille and TRA Alliance leader Frank Chikane, were born in South Africa.

New Zealand's position on African refugees has long been the subject of great debate, with the two main parties, the Nationals and Labour, strongly supporting an open immigration policy and ensuring that the refugees from Africa are able to find a safe home. Other potential countries that refugees could call home, such as Australia, Ceylon, or Sarawak, have refused them entrance into their countries, citing national security and economic reasons.

The joint 2015 decision to allow one hundred thousand more refugees from South Africa into New Zealand in the next decade by the National and Labour parties was the major catalyst for the rise of Winston Peters and his New Zealand First Party from a minor populist party to a major political force within New Zealand's politics. Peters, along with Maori and Green party politicians, stood staunchly against further African immigration, and demanded that New Zealanders should be cared for first, and that New Zealand simply did not need more people who, according to Peters, "Need thousands of dollars in aid, while normal New Zealanders are left with nothing."

The New Zealand general election, 2017 was the first test of Peters' new rhetoric. The Labour party under Andrew Little continued to decline into near irrelevancy, as the Nationals campaigned against NZ First's message of exclusion. Peters talked about not only becoming the second largest party, but also of potentially becoming Prime Minister in his own right. The threat of Peters rising to Premier House caused a surge in voter turnout of African New Zealanders.

Many of these new voters cast ballots for the newly formed TRA Alliance (Taxpayers, Refugees, and Academics), which is composed of mostly people of African descent who pledge their allegiance to New Zealand, and promote a more inclusive New Zealand nationalism than Peters more exclusive one.

The election saw the Nationals lose their majority, and Peters gain seven seats, but Labour was still able to win enough to retain their position as the main opposition party. The Nationals under Zille formed a coalition with the TRA Alliance, with Frank Chikane becoming Deputy Prime Minister. During the first sitting of Parliament, Winston Peters was ejected for Parliament for attacking the "African cabal" which had taken over New Zealand, and for attacking Andrew Little for being so "useless at defending New Zealand's rights."

Little would remain as leader until a leadership election in early 2018 would see Jacinda Ardern take control of Labour, giving signs of life to the long moribund party.

Prime Minister Helen Zille has held her office since 2010, taking over for the last Labour Prime Minister Helen Clark. She was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1951 to German parents who had immigrated in the 1930s to South Africa amidst growing Jewish persecution by the nationalist German government. Zille and her parents left South Africa via Natal in 1967 and settled in Christchurch, the centre of the White African diaspora in New Zealand. Zille would go on to study journalism at the University of Canterbury, where she would meet her future husband, and fellow refugee, Johann Maree.

She has long been an activist against the apartheid regime in South Africa, even going so far as to travel to Natal and try and sneak into South Africa to smuggle out news from the dictatorial hermit country. Her journalism in the 1990s actually uncovered the 1998 assassination of F. W. de Klerk. She gained notoriety in 2014 when, during a function in Indonesia, she physically assaulted South African leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk who had unexpectedly shown up at the last minute.

Zille entered politics as a strong supporters of the National Party's anti-Apartheid stance, and was chosen as leader only two years after entering Parliament because of her extensive humanitarian and anti-apartheid activism throughout the Asia-Pacific region and in southern Africa. Each year, she still travels to Natal to meet with recently escaped South Africans and volunteers at local shelters. Under her leadership, New Zealand has contributed record amounts to aid efforts in Natal and southern Africa. New Zealanders also own a majority of Natal's transportation infrastructure and control a large portion of its economy. Investment into Natal by New Zealand interests has greatly assisted aid efforts, and continues to grow the economy by record numbers, far surpassing anything compared to its South African neighbour.

​

I don't understand why we would accept so many refugees from South Africa. This would require a radical shift in immigration policy from 1960, both parties were very contented (back then) with the very strict immigration policy that existed. Still further, the Labour Party in the 1960's was quite socially conservative, while National wasn't much different. Still more interesting is MMP, but I see that income inequality is low, this poses the question how did it actually happen. The reason it was introduced was the public's lack of faith in the two parties, thanks to Rogernomics and Ruthanasia. Without either, MMP is extremely unlikely and darn well impossible in many respects. I also don't understand the massive Maori population explosion, along with why the African population is so extremely large.

 

[puerto-nic0]

I love the fact that the Republican Party uses the color of royalty for its party color.

 

[Nicky99]

Not sure if its been answered before, but how did you make the districts? I'm assuming mostly Dave's redistricting, but what about for The Maritimes?

 

[Amateur Psephologist]

SNIP NEWS and all the other stuff i missed in the last 5 pages

Amazing!

 

[CosmicAsh]

I don't understand why we would accept so many refugees from South Africa. This would require a radical shift in immigration policy from 1960, both parties were very contented (back then) with the very strict immigration policy that existed. Still further, the Labour Party in the 1960's was quite socially conservative, while National wasn't much different. Still more interesting is MMP, but I see that income inequality is low, this poses the question how did it actually happen. The reason it was introduced was the public's lack of faith in the two parties, thanks to Rogernomics and Ruthanasia. Without either, MMP is extremely unlikely and darn well impossible in many respects. I also don't understand the massive Maori population explosion, along with why the African population is so extremely large.

The basic premise in the 1950s/1960s is that the Labour government under Nash never collapses in the 1960 elections, but virtue of there never being a "Black Budget." In general, the post-war consensus of Attlee & Co. remains strong across not only the United Kingdom but the Commonwealth as well. The economies of OFC during this period are slightly more advanced and wealthier than OTL, giving the Labour Government less of a gap in spending to plug. New Zealand's export market was very strong, still exporting to Britain and the Commonwealth on a very favourable basis. While there is still a need to increase some taxes, it was just seen as another run of the mill increase, coupled with the popular increases in social security benefits.

This allowed Labour to win the 1960 election by a small amount, and Nash continued as Prime Minister. Holyoake would still go on to win the 1963 election, but he would only win it by a few seats, leaving the two roughly evenly matched in the House. Holyoake would continue on in 1966 election, but would lose in 1969 to Nordmeyer. Known for his religious views, he couched accepting the African diaspora (in the late 1960s, this was limited to the White African diaspora) in religious terms and to provide for the social welfare of all people. With the door opened, this eventually led to the acceptance of Black Africans in the 1970s at the urging of the British. It is also worth noting that the Commonwealth Constitution, of which New Zealand was party to in the 1960s, allowed for relatively open inter-Empire immigration.

MMP was introduced much in a similar way in New Zealand. While there was no Thatcher or Reagan, there were similar politicians who pledged to smash the old order (again, of Attlee & Co.) who came along and brought a giant hammer to the delicate economies of many western countries. What resulted was a pretty dramatic falling off the cliff for a bunch of countries as they saw deficits explode, and everyone run around with more money in their pockets, but suddenly less services. MMP comes around during this time period when everyone has nothing but contempt in their hearts for the people who decided to fireball their economies.

The best way to understand why Commonwealth countries have low income inequality is because they represent the "middle" Superpower between the left-Communist of the Soviet Union and the right-Liberalism of the United States. They pride income equality, services to the poor and downtrodden, as well as high taxes on higher earners, but also creating an environment where high earners can flourish.

I will re-work the numbers on the Maori population, they should be about the same as OTL. I think some wires got crossed in my spreadsheet. Watch out for an update on that part. As for the African population, there's roughly 15-25 million people from southern Africa who are refugees in either other African nations or outside of Africa alone. Tiny New Zealand garnered a bunch of them.

Edit: It's been fixed. The 'exact' breakdown is below:

3,257,602 European
753,485 Maori
439,174 African (incl. White & mixed)
156,784 (Other)

I love the fact that the Republican Party uses the color of royalty for its party color.

I'm glad the irony isn't lost on anyone else.

Not sure if its been answered before, but how did you make the districts? I'm assuming mostly Dave's redistricting, but what about for The Maritimes?

Dave's redistricting when it works (it often doesn't), but I have a map of every town and city in New England (linked elsewhere), and I have the population of each municipality. I just mix and match until I get the right number. OTL Atlantic Canada I have a special formula for.

 

[Amateur Psephologist]

STV4NZ or bust.

*PR4NZ or bust.

 

[JLUK1234]

Not sure if its been answered before, but how did you make the districts? I'm assuming mostly Dave's redistricting, but what about for The Maritimes?

I've also been wondering about this as well.