Oceanic Republic

The **Oceanic Republic**, also known as **Oceania** or the **OR**, is a nation comprised of 30 states and two associated states on **Earth**. The bulk of the country's land is located in Australia and the Indonesian archipelago, along with most of the southern Pacific ocean. The Oceanic Republic possesses one extraplanetary holding, the **Bahloo Republic** on **Luna**, and has extensive colonies at Elysium-Amazonia on **Mars**. With a population of 447 million, the Oceanic Republic is the least populous sovereign state, approximately 15 million behind the **Eurasian Association**. The capital of the Oceanic Republic is Australis, an artificial capital constructed in the Outback Steppe, while the largest city is Makassar, on the island of Sulawesi.

## History

### Commonwealth of Oceania

The Oceanic Commonwealth Act of 1964 would see the combination of the former **British** Commonwealths of Australia and New Zealand, as well as various other British holdings in the Pacific ocean, combined into the Commonwealth of Oceania. The Act was actually received positively in the newly-formed Commonwealth, particularly among the residents of Australia and New Zealand, who had long held an exceptionally close national and interpersonal relationship stretching back to the First and Second World Wars.

### Republicanism & Reform

The modern Oceanic Republican Movement stretches back to the days following the creation of the Commonwealth itself. Seeing the gradual disintegration of the British Empire with the loss of formerly-premier colonies in South Africa, Egypt, and **Bharat**; as well as the increasingly irrelevant royal family in London, a growing call for Oceanic self-reliance began to be heard across the new nation. The movement was originally met with ambivalence from the ruling parties, but gradually gained support from immigrants, worker unions, and eventually federal politicians from the more liberal parts of southeastern Australia and Waipounamu.

The Republican movement would continue to be a minor subject of debate until the election of John Bjelke-Petersen to the office of Prime Minister in 1983. Bjelke-Petersen, a staunch conservative and monarchist, actively fought against the republican movement both inside and outside of the federal government, going so far as to crack down on labor unions and indigenous and immigrant communities. The so-called "Magenta Summer" of January-March 1985 was named for the pink and red clothing worn by participants, and swept across the country in response to Bjelke-Petersen's authoritarian crackdown and discriminatory policies. After narrowly winning reelection in the 1986 election, the Bjelke-Petersen government was investigated over claims of electoral malapportionment in order to strengthen the Oceanic National Party's showing in the election. The controversial investigation eventually resulted in the surprise dismissal of Bjelke-Petersen's government by Governor-General David Beattie, who subsequently appointed Opposition Leader Robert Hawke as Prime Minister. The 1987 snap federal elections resulted in a victory for Hawke's Labour Party, which by that point had become a champion of Oceanic republicanism.

Hawke's government would see a surge in the popularity of the republican movement, albeit partially as a backlash to Bjelke-Petersen and the National Party’s malfeasance. Hawke himself would make the first indication to some sort of republican referendum in 1993 when he indicated a desire to establish a republic in time for the Centenary of the Federation of Australia in 2001. He would later promise to convene a Constitutional Convention to discuss the issue, eventually scheduled for 1997. The convention concluded that the head of state and government in an Oceanic republic would be decided by direct election, and formally recommended that the proposal, along with other changes to Oceania’s Constitution, be put to a referendum in 1998. The constitutional referendum was held in September of 1998, was fiercely debated in every facet of Oceanic society, and resulted in the 'Yes' side winning with 52.11% of the vote (a total margin of 744,000 votes). After months of discussion in Parliament, the changes to the Constitution were officially adopted on January 1, 1999, establishing the Oceanic Republic. The first presidential election was a landslide victory for Robert Hawke, the first President of Oceania, in December of 1999.

### Great Interlude

The Oceanic Republic would spend the first decade of its existence and undergoing periods of massive political and social reform. A close relationship with the **United States** and **Japan** brought the country onto the world stage again, through Oceanian participation in the **Second Korean War** and **Second Chinese Civil War** in the early 2000s. The Republic also drew closer to the independent states of the South Pacific, chiefly as an economic gravitational field, and later absorbing them when they were decimated by climate change throughout the 21st century.

### Second Cold War

Throughout the **Second Cold War**, beginning in the 2020s, Oceania’s foreign policy was increasingly dominated by friction with **Indonesia**. A revolving door of Indonesian regimes had grown the influence of Islamist and nationalist forces in the country, during the first part of the 21st Century, by which point, Indonesia had taken to portraying liberal-democratic Oceania as an enemy for different internal factions to rally against. Though this took little form than simple diplomatic scuffles early on, in a matter of decades, Oceania and Indonesia began to clash more and more directly, such as during the efforts to combat piracy in the Straits of Malacca. As Indonesian stability degraded, Oceania opportunistically supported multiple separatist movements in the restless eastern portions of the archipelago, culminating in Indonesia’s total collapse in the late 2040s, and the formation of several independent states from the wreckage, as *de facto* Oceanian client states. Dependent upon Australis, many of these splinter-states would go on to successfully petition for annexation to become new Oceanian states.

### Stabilization-Era Growth & Modern Day

At the end of the Second Cold War in the 2050s, with a host of new states to integrate, and new challenges facing Oceania, the Republic began another spurt of reform and national growth. Oceanic foreign policy would center around Indonesia, with deciding how to deal with the archipelago one of the main topics of political debate for decades. Technologically, the country would pioneer geoengineering techniques on Earth with the Julunggul project in 2090, planning to turn the hot, dry Outback in central Australia into warm, lush savannah and grassland for settlement and agriculture.

## Spaceflight

### First Space Age

Following the start of the First Space Age in 1957, the Commonwealth of Oceania would form it's own national space agency, the Oceanic Space Agency (OSA) in 1970. Initially, the OSA would focus primarily on unmanned spacecraft, launching the first Oceanic Satellite, *OSCAR-4*, in 1975. The OSA would continue to launch experimental scientific, commercial, and military satellites using both imported (chiefly from Japan or the ESA) and homegrown rockets through the late 20th century.

For the country's manned space program, the OSA would turn to both the United States and Japan. Astronaut Finn Dines would become the first Oceanian in space in 1985, serving as a payload specialist on the American STS-23 aboard the *Space Shuttle*. Oceanian astronauts would continue to fly aboard both American *Space Shuttles* and Japanese *Nakidori* spaceplanes through the 1990s and into the earliest years of the 21st century.

After the establishment of the Oceanic Republic, however, attention would again turn to the creation of a manned space program. Working closely with the Japanese JSDA, the OSA would develop the *Bunjil* spaceplane in 2006. The *Bunjil*, comparable to the Japanese *Nakidori*, would only serve to bring groups of a few astronauts and small payloads to orbit. By 2014, however, the *Bunjil-2* SSTO, comparable to the European *Skylon*, would allow larger payloads and more astronauts to reach orbit, as well as provide transport to cislunar space.

### Second Space Age

The coming of the Second Space Age and Lunar colonization would bring massive change to the Oceanic space industry.

### Modern Day

Since the end of the Fossil Crisis, the Oceanic Republic has

## Demographics

### Population

The Oceanic National Bureau of Statistics estimates the total population of the Oceanic Republic in 2110 to be 447,896,121. 444 million (99.1% of the population) live on Earth, while the rest live offworld**.** The total population has increased by 14 million since 2110, and by 151 million since 2060. As of 2110, the Oceanic Republic is the least-populous sovereign state on Earth, trailing behind the Eurasian Association by approximately 15 million. The population is expected to continue to grow both on Earth and offworld, although growth on Earth is expected to slow throughout the century.

As of 2110, 83.2% of Oceanians live in urban areas (districts with a population density greater than 1000 people per square kilometer), while 16.8% live in rural or suburban areas. The largest city on Earth is Makassar, while the largest settlement offworld is Aitken City on Luna.

### Language

While English is the official language of the Oceanic Republic, and while spoken by approximately 85% of the population, is only the first language of 45%. Most of the remaining 55% Speak Indonesian or a related language (Sundanese, Malay, etc.). Other minority languages include Arabic, Hindi, and Vietnamese.

### Religion

The Constitution of the Oceanic Republic guarantees freedom of religion to all citizens. The largest religions in the country as Islam (29.7%), Christianity (27.7%), and Hinduism (6.9%). 2.4% of the population follows other minor religions such as Buddhism, Shintoism, and Sikhism. 33.3% of the country is unaffiliated or irreligious.

### Cybernetics

Cybernetic modification in Oceania began to become mainstream in the 2040s and 2050s, and has since become extremely popular. Of Oceania's 447 million residents, 49.2% (220 million) have at least one cybernetic modification. Of this, 26.8% have 1-5 modifications, 15.2% have 6-10 modifications, and 7.2% are considered "heavily-modified" with more than ten modifications.