New England Online > History of New England > New Found Nation (2012 - 2020)
New Found Nation
Independence came to New England on 1 October 2012. It was a time of great hope and expectation for many New Englanders. But with this new found sense of freedom, came a great weight of responsibility and reorganisation that would take many years to settle down.
New England had been shattered by the effects of the Civil War. The majority of the centre of Armidale lay in ruins, and the nations electricity and transport links were damaged. Most people had to deal with electricity rationing which rotated the limited supply of power to the entire nation for just a few hours a day. The only glimmer of joy in those first few months was the coronation of the King on the 18th November 2012. In an act of great charity, much of the regalia was loaned to the New Englanders from the personal collections of the royal and noble houses of Europe. It was act of kindness that was not forgotten by the people of New England.
The House of Assembly sat for the first time on the 1 October. It would remain in session until 24 December, meeting six days a week for the entire session, with the exception of coronation week which was held from the 12th to the 18th of November. In that time, a series of Acts were passed that established the necessary legal institutions and established time lines for the separation of New England and Australian infrastructure. While the governing United/Labour coalition government was advocating a rapid disconnection of shared resources, the opposition National/Liberal parties advocated a slower approach.
In almost every sphere, the infrastructure of both nations was hopelessly intermingled. New England had virtually no domestic electricity generation and was forced to buy electricity from am embittered New South Wales government determined to seek reparations. It didn't take long for a dispute to emerge. On the 16 October 2012, the Associate Minister for Utilities, Gina McHugh criticised the New South Wales government for delaying the construction of additional power lines into New England because the state government was not willing to pay half the cost. The original agreement had called for a 50/50 split in costs between New England and New South Wales, with the cost to the Australians being repaid over twenty years. But in a television interview the following night, the premier of New South Wales, Joe Tripodi revealed:
"We must seek reparations from New England for the reconstruction our power and highway systems now. The state of New South Wales cannot afford to wait twenty years while the New Englanders get our power at a discount.This softly-softly attitude does not wash with me, and nor will it wash with the voters of New South Wales."
Tripodi's refusal to back down got him nowhere, when later that week it was revealed he had approved the plan, and believed it to be the fairest plan for New South Wales. The Commonwealth government invoked it's external affairs power under the constitution and forced that state government to pay up.
Despite the extreme remarks from Tripodi, it had been expected by both sides that the first months would be a period of diplomatic brinkmanship to settle the relationship between Australia and New England and determine how close the two nations would be. Private conversations between journalists and politicians revealed almost none had any faith that the relationship would work out well. Though none would so publicly, almost every political leader in both nations expected that war would break out again within five years.
The next major test of the relationship came almost immediately after the first in November 2012 when the Australians proposed an access treaty to give lorries and trains access along the Pacific Corridor between Newcastle and Brisbane.
Initially it was expected this could be achieved with relative ease. The infrastructure along the corridor had been repaired quickly during the transitional government and freight was moving back and forward across the border with relative ease. Problems occurred when it became apparent how much damage the Australian lorries were causing to New England's roads. This was exacerbated when a family of five were killed on the Pacific Highway in early 2013 by a speeding Australian lorry. The lorry driver was later found to be under the influence of stimulants and had been driving without a break for sixteen hours.
In what was termed a 'maintenance levy', all Australian lorries were charged a $4.00 toll to enter New England and a further $4.00 to leave at the other end. Outraged, the Australians sealed the border and refused to allow any vehicle into the country. In response, the New Englanders withdrew from the negotiations for the Pacific Corridor and declared it closed. The First Minister, Jonathon Braddock told parliament:
"Mr Speaker, this nation will not be bullied by our larger neighbour and her allies into yielding our sovereignty of the Pacific Corridor. The people of the coastal counties spoke clearly and firmly to Mr Abbott when they ratified the Treaty of Wellington two years ago. We will not back down."
The matter was another sign that New England would not accept Australian heavy-handiness and marked a dramatic shift in relations. The strength of New England's response to Australia's bullying tactics and Australia's stubborn determination to not yield to New England's demands set the two nations on the inevitable path to another conflict.
The new nation also began to experiment with a range of social reforms aimed at rebuilding a shattered and war-torn society. Many old fashioned values were instituted in schools to try and teach a new range of values that had fallen out of use in Australia. The language was altered and regulated by the Ministry of Education in an attempt to halt the slide of Americanisms creeping into everyday speech. Media reforms toughened the ability for owners to exert too much authority over media content, and in a unique attempt to garner respect for the King, it was made illegal to hound members of the Royal House as the paparazzi had done in the United Kingdom. All senior members of the establishment were protected from the base rumours of tabloid journalism by a tough code of conduct and privacy laws that if violated risked fines and imprisonment.
Yet, despite all that was going wrong, the democratic processes of the new nation were working well. A general election held on the 20th July 2015 led to the election of the National/Liberal coalition government under Jacob Meyer. Unlike Braddock and his successor Jason Olsen, Meyer sought to slow the process of integration, and pursued an active trade and economic relations with the Australians. The Nationals sought to create a Regional Economic Agreements with a common currency and open market. The process was torpedoed by the Australians just three days after Meyer's election as New England's third First Minister.
The relationship with Australia became even more strained when in 2016, Australia withdrew from the Australasian Council. It also refused to follow through with the settling of border treaty which should have been resolved by 1 October 2017. This did not lead to an immediate conflict, as both sides recognised that a large amount of diplomatic wrangling could be carried out before the situation degenerated into outright conflict.
| Timeline of New England History | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Transitional Government |
New Found Nation 2012 - 2020 |
Succeeded by: Toil and Trouble |
| History of New England | ||
| Timeline: Pre-History · Colonial Times · Proudly Australian · Winds of Change · Shadows of Dissent · Civil War Transitional Government · New Found Nation · Toil and Trouble · Five Day War · Engagement To Europe · Recent Times |
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| Topics: Military · New State Movement | ||
