Principality of Hutt River

The **Principality of Hutt River**, previously known as the **Hutt River Province**, is the oldest micronation in Australia. The principality claims to be an independent sovereign state.  It is unrecognized except by other micronations, but got de facto legal status on 21 April 1972.

The principality is located  north of Perth, near the town of Northampton.

The principality was founded on 21 April 1970 by Leonard George Casley when he and his friends proclaimed their secession from the state of Western Australia.

## History 
The Principality of Hutt River was created in 1969, as a province by the name of Hutt River Province, in response to a dispute with the government of Western Australia over what the Casley family considered draconian wheat production quotas. The Casley farm had around  of wheat ready to harvest when the quotas were issued which allowed Casley to sell only 1,647 bushels or approximately . Initially the five families who owned farms in Hutt River banded together to fight the quota and Casley lodged a protest with the Governor of Western Australia Sir Douglas Kendrew. The Governor replied "no rectification of our Quota would be allowed" which, as he acts as the Queen's representative, made Her Majesty technically liable, in Tort, for applying an unlawful imposition as the quota had not yet been passed into law. Casley then lodged a claim under the Law of Tort for $52 million in the belief the claim would force a revision of the quota. Two weeks later the government introduced a bill into Parliament to "resume" their rural lands under compulsory acquisition. After approaches to the government to reconsider the acquisition bill failed, Casley and his associates resorted to a British law (the Treason Act 1495) which they felt allowed them to secede and declare their independence from the Commonwealth of Australia. Casley states that he nonetheless remains loyal to Queen Elizabeth II. Casley was elected administrator of the new "sovereign state" by his family.

The government of Western Australia determined it could do nothing without the intervention of the Commonwealth. The Governor-General of Australia, Sir Paul Hasluck, later stated that it was unconstitutional for the Commonwealth to intervene in the secession.

In 1976, Australia Post refused to handle Hutt River mail, forcing mail to be redirected via Canada. Following repeated demands by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) for the payment of taxes, on 2 December 1977 the province officially declared war on Australia. Prince Leonard notified authorities of the cessation of hostilities several days later.

In the early 1980s Hutt River Province declared itself to be a kingdom, but soon after reverted to its original status of a principality. The principality proceeded to release a number of its own stamps and coins.

In September 2006 Prince Leonard decided to change the name to "Principality of Hutt River" and dropped the word "Province".

## Statistics 
The Principality of Hutt River is situated  north of Perth along the Hutt River. It is about  in size.

Exports include wildflowers, agricultural produce, stamps and coins. Tourism is also important to its economy with 40,000 tourists visiting the principality every year.  All citizens over 18 living in the principality have the right to elect the parliament.

## Royal Family
*His Royal Highness Prince Leonard I of Hutt* was the style that has been used by Leonard George Casley since his creation of the Hutt River Principality.  Prince Leonard was married to *Her Royal Highness Princess Shirley of Hutt, Dame of the Rose of Sharon* (née Shirley Butler).  They have seven adult children, among them is *Crown Prince Ian* (born 1947) who is the Prime Minister of the Principality, and is Prince Leonard's heir apparent.

Prince Leonard died of a lung infection on 13 February 2019 at the age of 93.

Prince Ian is involved heavily in the wildflower production, with the product not only being exported to Perth, Western Australia but to many cities internationally.

Princess Shirley plays host to the many dignitaries and diplomatic representatives visiting the principality each year as well as receiving many of the television crews and magazine journalists. She is also royal patron and chairwoman on the board of directors of the Red Cross of Hutt.

In the royal family there are 24 grandchildren and 23 great-grand children in the direct line.

Prince Leonard pursued a number of occupations before purchasing a large wheat farm near Northampton, Western Australia and Geraldton, Western Australia in the 1960s.
A former mathematician and physicist who worked for NASA in the 1950s, the prince has had a star named in his honour.

Prince Leonard is the subject of a permanent exhibit at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.

## Currency
A set of low denomination banknotes was introduced in 1974. The first Hutt River coins were not issued until 1976.

The currency of the Hutt River Province Principality is the Hutt River Dollar, which is divided into 100 cents. The Hutt River Dollar is tied at a one-to-one ratio with the Australian dollar.

### First series: 1976 - 1978
There were four denominations: 5₵, 10₵, 20₵ and 50₵. These were issued between 1976 and 1978, but the 1978 issue was a proof only issue. There was also a silver $30 coin and a gold $100 coin, struck only in proof.

### Silver Jubilee $1 coin
In 1977 $1 coins were struck to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II. These coins are known as "holey dollars", a nickname which is applied to the extremely rare New South Wales 5/- coin and the Prince Edward Island 5/- coin, which were cut and counterstamped from Spanish-American Pieces of Eight (8 Reales).

Coins of the same design were struck again in 1978, without the inscription "Queens's Jubilee".

### Later series
Most of the coins of later series have specific commemorative topics and are usually made of precious metal. The issuance of coins went on until 2000, and resumed with new issues beginning in 2007 to celebrate the 60th wedding anniversary of the Prince and Princess.

## Status and criticism
The Australian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Jeremy Bruer, upon hearing that an office claiming to represent the “Hutt River Province” was operating in Dubai and allegedly selling travel documents, stated that the Australian Government did not recognise the "Hutt River Province", legally or in any other way.

He further stated that: "The area of land which is described as the 'Hutt River Province' is a privately owned wheat-growing property on the Hutt River, north of Geraldton in the State of Western Australia. It has no special status. It has no separate sovereignty and remains subject to the Australian Constitution and the laws of Australia."
The principality had plans to start a university in its territory, which is illegal within Australia. However, the government authorities did not act against PHR. Similarly, the PHR does not pay taxes to the ATO.

### Treatment by European Government departments
In 2008, the Council of the European Union issued a memorandum identifying Hutt River passports among known "fantasy passports...issued by private organisations and individuals" to which a visa should not be affixed.

## References 
* "Mini-states Down Under are sure they can secede", by Nick Squires, *The Daily Telegraph (UK) *, 24 February 2005.
* "If at first you don't secede…", by Mark Dapin, *The Sydney Morning Herald – Good Weekend*, 12 February 2005, pp 47–50
* "Unusual World Coins", by Colin R Bruce, Krause Publications, 2005, , p240

## Other websites
**PHR**
* Principality of Hutt River (PHR) website
* Permanent Representative of the PHR Berlin-Germany , multilanguage site
* PHR website/Charge D'Affaires for New England 
* HRP US Representative Office website (Updated 2007) 
* Hutt River Principality, Cabinet Magazine

**Australian Government**
* Australian Taxation Office's viewpoint on HRP's business 
* National Museum of Australia 

**Other**
* Time Magazine article/1975 
* ABC TV transcript/2003
* Interview with H.R.H. Prince Leonard