Australia

**Lower House**

* House of Representatives

**New Australia**, officially the **Free Territory of New Australia**, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania (disputed), and numerous smaller islands. Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country. Australia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a large variety of climates, with deserts in the center, tropical rainforests in the northeast, tropical savannas in the north, and mountain ranges in the southeast.

Australia is a federal presidential constitutional republic, comprised of six states and ten territories. Australia's population of around thirty million is highly urbanized and heavily concentrated along the western and southwestern seaboards. Adelaide is the nation's capital, while its most populous city and financial center is Perth. The next four largest cities are Mount Isa, Port Hedland, Esperance, and Mildura. Hobart is also a major city within New Australia, however, since the nation's foundation, Tasmania has refused to recognize the New Australian government as legitimate and has practiced self-governance. Australia is ethnically diverse and multicultural, the product of large-scale immigration, with almost half the population having one parent born overseas. Australia's abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade relations are crucial to the country's economy, which generates its income from various sources including services, mining exports, banking, manufacturing, agriculture and international education. Australia ranks amongst the highest in the world for quality of life, health, education, economic freedom, civil liberties and political rights. However, the country also has one of the highest levels of economic inequality in the world due to the presence of many megacorporations, and lacks a universal healthcare option, instead relying on corporate-based private options.

Australia has a highly-developed market economy and one of the highest per capita incomes globally. It is a member of international groupings including the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the Pacific Islands Forum, and the Pacific Community.

## History

### Early Twenty-First Century

The early twenty-first century in the old Australian Commonwealth was a period of both economic upturn and social unrest. Internal issues such as the continued use of fossil fuels and contention with neighboring nations such as Indonesia and Papua New Guinea over aquatic oil fields dominated Australian politics, culminating in the Labor Party achieving a majority of the seats in the old parliament after the 2018 federal elections. Labor-aligned Prime Minister Edward Gray emerged as the leading figure of the new Australian government from 2018 onwards, however, his reign became marked by the COVID-19 global pandemic, which forced the country into shutdown for several months and resulted in an economic recession. Prime Minister Gray's response to the epidemic was controversial, as he remained steadfastly in support of liberal solutions to the disease, such as the implementation of mask mandates, the enforcement of curfews, and the requirement for all government officials to be vaccinated once such agents were released to the public. Gray's response to the Russo-Ukrainian War was also somewhat controversial among the Australian populace, as many people determined that his sending of extensive financial aid to Ukraine was taking money away from Australians still affected by the pandemic.

As a result, Gray was removed by the Labor Party in a vote of no confidence, and replaced by Prime Minister Abby McEwan on March 16th, 2022. McEwan would serve in her position for only three months, however, before parliament became once again dominated by the conservative coalition. Spearheaded by the National Party, the coalition removed McEwan and replaced her with Prime Minister Luke Evison, whose main campaign promise was to end aid to Ukraine, bring the country out of the pandemic years, and revitalize the economy. He delivered on these promises throughout his first two years in office, cutting both taxes and spending on public programs. Another major aspect of his reign as Prime Minister was to control the national debt, and from 2022 to 2024, he mostly succeeded in this goal. From its high-point of nearly 900 billion dollars in early 2022, the debt decreased to as low as 250 billion by the time Labor Party pressure forced Prime Minister Evison into walking back on some of his cost-cutting policies, reintroducing spending to programs like Australia's universal healthcare option and social security.

The conservative coalition maintained their domination over the Australian parliament following the federal elections of 2026, however, liberal sentiments in the country begin to return once the economy stabilized and attention was once more turned towards issues of environmental regulations, international relations, and equality. Discourse on these issues was mostly non-intensive until the Tablelands Disaster, during which an oil pipeline running through the Northern Territory town burst and released hundreds of thousands of gallons of unrefined oil. The impact of the spill on the local environment was catastrophic, and as a result of the oil seeping into the groundwater reserves and water pipelines of the town, Tablelands was completely evacuated in April of 2027, with all residents forced to move elsewhere. The disaster brought the issue of the country's continued usage of fossil fuels to the spotlight once more, and it became clear that amongst the populace, greener energies were the future.

Prime Minister Evison and his fellow conservative members of parliament attempted to limit legislation from the Labor Party aimed towards levying new taxes on corporations continuing to use fossil fuels, however, they found themselves without much popular support. As oil wells began to dry up across the country, even conservative members of the population were beginning to understand that Australia's natural reserves would only last for so long, and finding a proper solution for the incoming energy crisis was imperative. Compromises were reached between the conservatives and liberals in parliament to begin construction on a series of major solar farms throughout the nation's deserted interior, however, conflict came with the proposition of the construction of a series of expensive nuclear power plants along the nation's eastern and western coasts. Whether or not to devote considerable resources to nuclear power was the most critical topic of debate throughout the federal elections of 2030, and ultimately, the people of Australia decided that change needed to be made to make certain the stability of the nation's energy reserves. Labor Party domination of parliament came once again, and Evison was replaced by Prime Minister Daniel Baines.

Baines' reign was Prime Minister mostly revolved around the country's response to climate change, however, several other ethical issues began to take center stage throughout his time in office. The status of refugees and asylum seekers in Australia was of particular importance to the Australian populace, who were fiercely divided as to whether or not refugees should be allowed entrance into the country. Debates revolved around whether or not allowing refugees into the country undermined national security - especially in the wake of terrorist incidents throughout Europe - but ultimately, the Labor Party decided that the nation's moral responsibility outweighed caution, and began lowering the requirements for permanent visas and citizenship across the board. In 2031, more than twenty-thousand immigrants from regions such as the Middle East and North Africa arrived in Australia.

The issue of First Nation criminality was also of particular importance throughout Baines' time in office. In 2031, First Nations peoples comprised more than thirty-five percent of Australia's prison population, despite making up only two-percent of the populace. In efforts to address this issue, Baines and the Labor Party introduced legislation funnelling more government aid into historically indigenous towns and regions such as Wintinna, Yulara, Ceduna, Mundrabilla, and more. Rehabilitative programs were also introduced to Australian prisons throughout 2032, aimed towards teaching First Nations prisoners - specifically juveniles - skills that would help them find employment once their sentences were over. The age of criminal responsibility was also raised from ten to fourteen years-old in 2032.

Baines' time in office was however marked by a return to high levels of government spending and an increase in the national debt. From 2030 to 2034, the national debt had increased from around 300 billion to as high as 600 billion, primarily from spending associated with green energy projects. Unemployment that resulted from the shutdown of many of Australia's oil wells and coal mines contributed to Baines' unpopularity as well, though an attempt was made at the creation of a program aimed towards rehiring these workers onto green energy plants. Ultimately, the Labor Party remained popular enough to secure four more years of domination following the elections of 2034.

The next year of Baines' time in office mostly followed the same pattern as the previous four. Spending remained relatively high, efforts towards moving to green energy continued, and the transition from petrol to electronic fuel among government vehicles began. Spending was also seen on efforts to introduce buses fueled by both natural gases and electricity to Australia's largest cities. The critical event of Baines' second period in office came in 2035, however, with the outbreak of the First Nile War in Africa. While Australia sent no aid to either warring party, the steady stream of refugees that began to enter Australia as a result of the war was most certainly felt. In 2035 alone, as many as forty-thousand refugees arrived from nations like Sudan, South Sudan, Egypt, and Ethiopia. While by and large these immigrants integrated without difficulty, isolated incidents of violence and criminality made the loosening of Australia's borders an immensely unpopular action. Attacks reminiscent to those seen throughout Europe following the Syrian refugee crisis took place in Australian cities such as Sydney and Brisbane, though the bombing of an Catholic church in Melbourne became the rallying cry of the country's conservative and anti-immigration populace. Calls were made for Baines to once more tighten the nation's borders, and when he refused to do so in the final month before the 2038 elections, it seemed conservative rule was once more a certainty. This proved correct, as the conservative coalition won a narrow majority of parliament, and replaced Baines with Prime Minister Aurora Goodrem.

Prime Minister Goodrem's initial platform mostly revolved around reinstating pre-Baines border security standards and increasing funding both to the police and to the Australian intelligence community. Her policy of prioritizing national security above all else also encouraged her and her supporters from within the conservative coalition to propose the Deter Act, aimed towards expanding the powers of Australia's surveillance apparatus to include nationwide CCTV installation, free access for government security to the Australian populace's search data, and the restriction of VPN software. Simultaneously, conservative elements of the media worked to spread disinformation about the Deter Act so as to make it seem less radical than it really was and to discredit liberal opponents to the legislation through various means. Labor Party opposition to the bill was fierce, and certain compromises were reached before the bill eventually passed, leading to the implementation of a reformed version of the act that did not make the use of VPNs illegal, but did allow for the expansion of state surveillance, both physically and digitally. Still, the populace eventually became aware as to the true extent of the act, and backlash was severe. Even steadfast supporters of the conservative coalition felt that their right to privacy was being whittled away by the government, and demonstrations were held outside the Australian parliament building in attempts to get the act repealed. Prime Minister Goodrem doubled down on the act, however, and claimed that it was a necessary expansion of government power aimed towards ensuring the nation's security against terrorist threats.

Her words seemed to ring true when the Black Brisbane Plot was uncovered by the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, a planned attack masterminded by Sudanese immigrant Dani Rahmat to plant bombs in seven Australian border posts. Rahmat was arrested alongside four of his accomplices in his Melbourne apartment on August 6th, 2040, and it seemed as if Goodrem's policies had been proven reasonable and effective. Soon, however, Rahmat came into contact with agents from the Alliance of Investigative Reporting, and confessed that the entire plot had been a false-flag operation conducted by the ASIS at the behest of Goodrem so as to serve as a basis for the Deter Act's continued existence. This confession and numerous other testimonials supporting it were released as part of the Brisbane Papers in November of 2040, and almost immediately, public perception of Goodrem and the conservative party turned from indifferent to disdainful. Polls held in December of 2039 showed that around forty-percent of voters intended to support the conservatives in the 2042 elections. Polls held in December of 2040 meanwhile showed that only around eighteen-percent of voters now intended to support the conservatives, and less than nine-percent polled favorably in opinion towards Goodrem.

In attempts to salvage their term as the majority party in parliament, the conservative coalition removed Goodrem by a vote of no confidence on February 7th, 2041, and replaced her with Prime Minister Charles Coleman. Coleman's seeming status as a transitional leader was felt by the nation, however, and few rallied behind him or his ideals. Indeed, most of Coleman's policy was directly copied from Goodrem and the previous administration, with the notable exception of Coleman's insistence on repealing the Deter Act. Done mostly in continued efforts to salvage their 2042 campaign, the conservatives relented and agreed to repeal the act in April of 2041. However, the damage had already been done, and the Labor Party once again emerged as the dominant force in parliament following the elections, upon which Coleman was removed from office and replaced with Prime Minister Evelyn O'Keenan.

O'Keenan's time in office mostly served as a transitional period in Australian politics, as the immense unpopularity of the conservative coalition encouraged the growth of new centre-right and centre political organizations, the most prominent of which became the Party for a New Australia, led by celebrated member of parliament Helena Dischinger. Dischinger and her party focused on a trilateral approach, headed by three basic tenets - freedom, equality, and prosperity. They campaigned to peel back heavily on government surveillance - particularly of internet activity, to continue Baines-era efforts towards modernizing the First Nations communities, and to invest heavily back into the national economy through the creation of new state-owned corporations and through large-scale subsidies handed out to businesses across the country. When compared to the platform of the ruling Labor Party and Prime Minister O'Keenan, the New Australians seemed more moderate, yet also still removed from the reactionary policies that had become the status quo in the conservative coalition. Their popularity was seen through the numbers of conservative members of parliament that left their original parties to join the PNA throughout O'Keenan's time in office, as at the time of the 2042 elections, they had not yet become popular. Quickly, the PNA became the de facto successor bloc to the conservative coalition, and worked alongside more established parties to limit the Labor Party's legislation for the next four years.

Particular points of contention between the PNA and the Labor Party revolved around corporate activity and the regulation of businesses. The PNA found support from some of Australia's largest corporations due to their policies of deregulation and laissez-faire economics, while more restrictive members of the Labor Party believed that regulating Australia's corporations was imperative to continue efforts against climate change. The fundamental divide between the parties became how to motivate and influence these corporations, then, with the PNA believing in rewarding corporations that complied with government policy, and the Labor Party believing in punishing corporations who refused.

Overall, O'Keenan's time in office was fairly stable and saw a new period of economic growth, as despite tensions regarding the economy in parliament, Australia's moves towards green energy seemed to be working in the nation's favor. Unemployment that had emerged in the years since the closing of many of Australia's fossil fuel mines and refineries had fallen back down to normal levels, and trade with nations such as New Zealand, Japan, the United States, and India was netting more profit than ever before. Despite this success, however, the Labor Party found themselves on the disadvantage leading up to the 2046 federal elections, which ended in a PNA majority parliament and the removal of O'Keenan as Prime Minister. Helena Dischinger was instated as Prime Minister following her party's success, and spent her first period in office working to implement her policies.

From 2046 until the next cycle of federal elections in 2050, Dischinger's policies seemed to work wonders towards putting Australia's economy towards the right path. Corporations that had previously been founded in more restrictive countries such as France, Germany, and the United States flocked to Australia to take advantage of the decreased regulations and tax benefits. Like the PNA had theorized, these corporations were also more than happy to abide by the government's environmental policy when it was to their benefit, through both tax benefits and increased subsidies. The influx of government money into the economy also helped spur economic activity, seen through the yearly stimulus checks handed out to thousands of Australia's small businesses starting in 2046. More established businesses used the money given to them by the government to expand their operations and grow, meanwhile, startups used the influx of capital to pay off their loans, settle their bills for the month, or hire their first employees, leading to a growth overall in small business activity.

With this economic success, Dischinger's popularity was high, and her approval rating settled at just below seventy percent prior to the 2048 election cycle. With the economy in a stable position and after having retained their campaign promises by and large, the PNA carried their majority past the elections, and even grew it by a margin of about ten members of parliament. With these results, it seemed the PNA was heading towards another four years of legislative dominance, and perhaps even beyond that. The first signs of deterioration came soon, however, as Prime Minister Dischinger fell ill in September of 2050 and was replaced temporarily by her deputy, James Lynes. Subsequently, it was revealed that Dischinger had suffered a serious stroke at only the age of forty-one, and was partially paralyzed as a result. Following this, she resigned as Prime Minister, and parliament held an emergency session in November to choose her successor. Lynes emerged as the most prominent candidate immediately given his previous status as deputy, however Kai Wenham, a member of parliament since 2046, was also nominated for the position of Prime Minister. Debates commenced, during which Lynes faltered, upon which voting commenced and Wenham was selected to succeed Dischinger.

With the promise of continuing Dischinger's policies and holding fast onto the PNA's doctrine of laissez-faire economics, Wenham churned through his period in office steadily, and quickly became a popular figure amongst the Australian populace. His charisma and frequent public appearances won him support from some of the PNA's more skeptical voters, and his everyman persona endeared him to many of Australia's working class. Quickly, however, Wenham's term took a turn for the worse. Once more under scrutiny by the Alliance of Investigative Reporting, Australia's government was again implicated in corruption, as it was revealed in January of 2053 that Prime Minister Wenham had been accepting personal bribes from Australian corporation Tranaus Telecom in exchange for turning a blind eye to the company's monopolization of the telecommunications industry. Suddenly the PNA was implicated in a scandal many had worried would plague the party from the start, and quickly, the party turned form the party of the people into the party of the corporations. The conservative parties that had banded together under the PNA banner once more began to fragment upon the exposure of the Tranaus Scandal, and heading into the next election cycle, the emergent party seemed doomed after only eight years in power.

Wenham was removed from office after a heated series of parliament debates and discussions, and replaced by fellow PNA member of parliament Ginmakin Turner, who would become the very first Australian Prime Minister of aboriginal descent. Yet, even this move failed to much attention from the disastrous events that had unfolded in the past year, and heading into the 2054 elections, only around twelve percent of the population polled that they would consider voting for the PNA again. In the PNA's stead, new parties seemed to have began emerging, however. The two largest emerging parties were the centre-right United Australian Party, whose primary policies revolved around a more aggressive foreign policy and a return to conservative government spending, and the Populist Party of Australia, whose primary policies revolved around continuing PNA-era social reforms and reorganizing the country's universal healthcare option. Ultimately, the country's progressive state of mind overcame its distrust for the fragmented PNA, and the Populists won a comfortable majority in parliament. Unsurprisingly, they removed Turner from office, and replaced him with Jordan Miller.

The major event of Miller's early time in office came in March of 2055, however, when the Chinese armed forces began the Lei Gong Wargames, seen globally as a domineering and aggressive action aimed at intimidating the west and Taiwan. Miller and his new Australian government were quick to publicly speak out against the wargames, however, the Populists found themselves hesitant to send practical support to Taiwan, who for many decades now had lagged behind China in military power to the point where an invasion might have become trivial. Despite calls from the United Australian bloc in parliament to send an aid package to their Asian ally, the Populists retained an isolated foreign policy, and instead turned their focus inwards, with legislations aimed at upsizing Australia's existing public healthcare option. As a result, the United Australians and other conservatively-minded parties in parliament began a campaign of staunch opposition to any Populist legislature, refusing to compromise so long as the Populists refused to aid Taiwan. Instead of backing down, however, Miller and his government doubled-down on their stance, and did all in their power to circumvent parliament and achieve their policy goals.

Intense debate emerged among the Australian populace then about the country's place in the world at large, with some believing in an isolated and introspective approach, while others believed in a policy of active defense. Subsequent sensationalizing of Chinese military activity swayed the Australian populace towards the right in regards to foreign policy, however, as a new red scare overcame many of the nation's youth. These media campaigns were in large part conducted by American megacorporations, who had vested interests in turning the western world fully against China, as explained by reports released several decades later studying the causes of the Third World War.

As a result of Miller's refusal to stand up to China and his government's relative ineffectiveness, most Australians went into the 2058 election cycle looking for change once more. The New Australians geared up for another campaign, while the United Australians emerged as the favorite. Ultimately, the conservative UAP took a parliament majority, installed Adam Reid as Prime Minister, and forged key partnerships with other conservative parties in order to secure even more domination over the legislative process.

### Mid-Century

The United Australian Party was quickly tested in regards to their foreign policy when civil conflict that had been brewing in Israel since 2056 emerged as a multinational armed conflict, including Palestine, Jordan, and Syria. Miller and the Populists had refused to get involved in the conflict when it began, however, with the entrance of Syrian peacekeeping forces into the war, the United Australians felt it was time for the west to take a side. They campaigned among allied nations to intervene on Israel's behalf, however, they found little international support. Regardless, Australia eventually sent a five-hundred strong volunteer force to Israel in September of 2058, whose goals were to aid Israel logistically and through humanitarian activity. Yet, only a few months into their service, these volunteers found themselves witness to the first nuclear exchange since the Second World War. The Mesopotamian Meltdown as it would come to be known devastated the Middle Eastern region as a whole, and shocked the rest of the world into silence, as cities such as Damascus, Baghdad, Cairo, and more found themselves engulfed in nuclear detonations.

The Australian volunteer force was completely annihilated as a result of the meltdown, with only a handful of survivors making it back home from bomb shelters and private basements. Yet despite the failure of Australia's mission abroad, support for the United Australians and their foreign policies reached an all-time high, as the Australian populace became steadfastly determined to avoid the same nuclear fate as the Middle East by all costs. The new red scare that had been emerging among conservative circles of Australian society became a nationwide phenomenon, as fears of the "beast to the north" reached all-time highs, and Chinese Australians became the targets of paranoia, xenophobia, and discrimination. Military spending was increased as well to a high of nearly ninety billion dollars in 2060, with numerous acquisitions made for expensive American corporate defense equipment. Programs were also instituted to introduce the use of military cybernetic enhancements into the army, through volunteer regiments specifically designed with the usage of such technology in mind. Wargames were also held yearly starting in 2060, primarily revolving around a potential naval invasion of China's eastern seaboard, mimicking such an event through the landing of amphibious units near Australia's largest coastal cities.

Heading into the 2062 federal elections, support for the United Australians was high, and they achieved a majority of parliament by a greater majority than in 2058. Prime Minister Adam Reid retained his previous position and led his party with competence and charisma, which helped assuage the populace's concerns about the future of the world and Australia, especially with the emerging oil crisis and global recession. Efforts to move towards green energy made by previous Australian administrations paid off big in a world where buying oil from overseas was far more expensive than maintaining nuclear plants, and despite an economic slowdown, Australia entered the mid-2060s having missed only a step or two when compared to the rest of the world, struggling to meet their energy demands.

Quickly, however, the positive outlook many Australians had fizzled out when Pyongyang was struck by a series of terror attacks, spurring the outbreak of global war in the blink of an eye. In the East Asian theatre, the war was fought between China and North Korea against the allied nations of South Korea, the Republic of China, and Japan, with support from the United States. Calls were made to Australia urging it to fight alongside its allies, and having prepared for this outcome, the United Australians did not hesitate to take a side, officially joining the war on April 19th, 2064.

### The Third World War

Initially, Australia focused on supporting its allies in East Asia and mobilizing its own armed forces, which had been spread out along the country's coastline as part of routine military exercises. It sent financial and material aid to the frontline nations of the Republic of China and South Korea, alongside a collection of small volunteer forces that were already prepared for combat. These included the 12th Australian Rifles, the 17th Infantry Brigade, and the 3rd Armored Battalion, all of which found themselves fighting on the Korean Peninsula by late April.

By the beginning of May, Australia's entire military force of some one-hundred thousand soldiers had been mobilized, with seventy-thousand deployed to the Korean Peninsula, ten-thousand deployed to Taiwan, and the remaining twenty-thousand deployed to defensive positions along Australia's northern coastline. The Royal Australian Navy by that point had also been mobilized, and headed north in order to join the ongoing battles raging across the South China Sea alongside the United States Navy and other parties. Meanwhile, the Royal Australian Air Force found themselves deployed mostly in Korea, with the goal of holding their own in the air battle against Russia until reinforcements from the United States could arrive. Legislation proposed in parliament reintroducing conscription was passed almost unanimously on May 7th, and the drafting of new recruits commenced, while as many as one-hundred thousand volunteers that had joined just as the war started began their basic training.

In mid-May, Taiwan fell to Chinese amphibious forces, marking the first major offensive the war had seen. The ten-thousand strong Australian force fought against the invading Chinese as part of the defense, however, they alongside their allies were pushed out of the coastal cities and into the mountainous interior by May 18th, after which they began a guerilla campaign aimed at drawing Chinese forces away from Korea. Reports from the island during this time are hard to verify and few and far between. Estimates suggest as many as two-thousand Australian soldiers were killed or wounded during the initial invasion, while another thousand or so were taken prisoner, and the remaining seven-thousand fled into the interior. Only a few days following the fall of Taiwan, however, the allied forces in Korea achieved a major breakthrough following the Battle of Hyonnae-ri, and advanced quickly towards Pyongyang after sending the North Korean forces into a full retreat. The arrival of the United States Air Force to the Korean front proved the deciding factor, and alongside hundreds of thousands of allied soldiers, the Australian force of seventy-thousand besieged Pyongyang starting on May 25th.

Throughout the rest of May and June, Australian forces fought in the streets of Pyongyang during brutal urban warfare operations alongside allies, particularly from South Korea and the United States. Australian units fought most often in the eastern part of the city, around districts such as Munhung-Dong and Munsu-Dong. Australians captured the Mirim Airport on June 2nd, and secured a crucial resupply point for further operations in the city. The Taedong River Bridge was demolished by North Korean forces on June 3rd, however, by June 6th, Australian forces had bridged the Taedong River twice, near both the Seunghori Train Station and the town of Chong-Dong, and were advancing into the northern half of Pyongyang from the east. Intense fighting broke out, especially in and around the Pyongyang 6th Primary School, as the desperate defenders attempted to hold off attacks from two directions. By the early weeks of July, however, the situation seemed hopeless for the North Koreans. Outmanned and outgunned on the ground and in the air, Pyongyang officially fell on July 11th, with the flags of all allied nations hoisted above the Mansudae Assembly Hall, and the statues of the various leaders of the Kim dynasty torn down. From then on, the allied nations began a dash towards the Chinese border, in an attempt to meet the armies of the western nation before they could gain ground on the Korean Peninsula. Over a period of only two days, the allied armies made it as far north as Chagaewon and Kanggye, before encountering Chinese resistance.

From there, the war entered into a stalemate. The mass of Chinese units stationed on the frontlines made a frontal assault seem almost impossible to succeed on the part of the allied nations, and the possibility of an invasion into eastern Russia was tossed aside quickly. By the beginning of August, the allies seemed content to hold Korea and focus their efforts more on the defense of Europe, which was faltering in its defense against the armies of Russia. From its high-point of nearly half a million in late June, the amount of US soldiers in Korea decreased to as low as 300,000, as units were shifted en masse to the European theatre. The defense of Korea was entrusted to the Australians, the Japanese, and the Koreans themselves, while the United States Navy secured and maintained dominance over the Pacific Ocean so as to prevent any Chinese invasions of the Australian or Japanese mainlands. With this, many tens of thousands of Australian soldiers stationed in Australia began to rotate onto the Korean lines, increasing the country's presence on the peninsula from 70,000 in June, to as much as 150,000 in August.

Soon, however, the war for the allied nations of the Pacific became fought not on the frontlines of Korea, but in the domestic markets for food, energy, and other essentials. The war meant that exports of produce from the agriculturally rich nations of China and Russia were no longer arriving in Australia or Japan, and that, alongside a global period of drought, contributed to significant food crises. Japan, for its part, attempted to seek aid from the rich megacorporations, both local and multinational. These megacorps provided Japan with new export partners - particularly from Africa - at the price of increased privileges and decreased taxes. Many of these megacorps operated in Africa themselves as well, and began trading with Japan outside of national restrictions. The same occurred in Australia, though to a lesser degree, and largely from American megacorporations as opposed to African and European.

Even new ties with the megacorporations could not save Australia in particular from the extreme drought, however, which not only led to decreased domestic food production, but an increase in wildfires. Extensive fires broke out across the northern coastline of Australia and the southeastern region, with more than a hundred thousand square miles of forest and brush affected. Soldiers stationed across the country were deployed en masse to help put out the fires - which put the states of New South Wales, Victoria, and the North Territory into states of emergency - while significant financial resources were diverted from the war efforts in Korea to the fighting of these fires. Citizens across Australia were forced inside due to the intense smog and air pollution, while those who did brave the outdoors did so equipped with masks, goggles, and thick clothing. These extreme wildfires started a period known as The Red, which lasted more than a year and a half, and was symbolized by the intense red hue often seen in the skies as a result of firestorms and air pollutants.

Despite the strenuous state of affairs in the Australian mainland, however, tens of thousands of new migrants and refugees began appearing at the nation's borders as well following the outbreak of war. Many of these refugees were displaced persons from South Korea or the Baltic States of Europe, whose homes had been destroyed by the fighting. Many more came from frontline countries such as Poland, Germany, and others, who feared what occupation under the Russians might bring to them. These refugees strained the capabilities of the Australian government even further, and many found themselves lumped into crowded border camps and shantytowns around Australia's northwestern coastline.

### The Detonations

Conditions in Australia had become difficult to manage by the middle of September, 2064. Firestorms still raged throughout the Australian countryside, and most city-dwellers still found themselves trapped indoors, unable to do anything more than walk to the local store to pick up the necessary items to make it through the week. Even that was beginning to become less and less common, however, as stores boarded up, ran out of stock, or simply ceased to operate, the workers and owners trapped inside themselves, fighting the wildfires, deployed to Korea, or otherwise too busy to bother with anything other than survival. The consensus of the nation online was that change was needed. Something had to happen to end the war as soon as possible, whether it be with the ultimate victory or the ultimate defeat of the allies. Be it Moscow and Beijing or Washington and Paris, one side needed to fall for things to return to some sense of normal, and for life to begin again. Change would however come in a much darker form than anticipated on the afternoon of September 23rd, 2064.

For reasons unknown, a country fired the first missile, which turned into a dozen, then a hundred, before another country retaliated with a volley of their own, then more and more, until dots littered the radars of Earth, bringing with them doom. Sirens began to blare throughout many of Australia's largest cities, as the people and government united watched helplessly as Chinese nuclear warheads soared towards them on the news. Those who could make it underground did so, with many thousands crowding into urban storm shelters, basements, and anything else they could find, be it sewers, storm drains, and more. Those were were caught out in the open with nowhere to run, such as the many thousands still roaming the countryside, fighting the great wildfires, sat and tried to enjoy their last moments of life before everything they knew was gone.

Darwin was the first city to be struck. Two missiles landed, one just south of the city near Channel Island, and one just east, near the town of Holtze. Explosions rocked the coastal city, as the population of 506,718 was cut down to a mere 348,102 in an instant. The highways leading in and out of the city destroyed, aid would not come to Darwin for weeks. Some braved the bush in their vehicles, while other sailed east and west in search of untouched land aboard dinghies, yachts, and everything in between. Many thousands resigned themselves to their fates and died in Darwin having never been touched by the bombs or their radiation, starving, drowning from the floods caused by the Channel Island detonation, and more.

    Brisbane was next, targeted by five missiles in total. One landed off the coast past Point Lookout, and completely destroyed the small community there, but otherwise did minimal damage. Another landed far to the south of Brisbane, striking the town of Pimpama, killing more than half of its 12,000 residents. The third struck the suburb of Kenmore, due southwest of Brisbane proper. Like Pimpana, more than half of Kenmore's 14,000 perished as a result. The forth and fifth, however, did the majority of the damage. One struck the neighborhood of Hamilton, while the other struck Bardon, both less than three miles from downtown Brisbane. The results were catastrophic. Skyscrapers across the city had their glass exteriors shattered, while those nearer to the blasts collapsed entirely, trapping the hundreds who had sought refuge in the building's basements. The same story was heard everywhere else, from the local corner shop, to the sheltered suburbs, all of which took damage in some way, and many of which fell entirely. In Brisbane and most other Australian cities, people didn't die from the blasts, they died because no-one was there to save them once the blasts had hit.

### Post-War and Reconstruction

In the direct aftermath of the nuclear detonations, Australia was placed into a state of chaos, at least on the federal level. Much of the country's government, including Prime Minister Adam Reid, were killed by the blasts themselves. Many more died as a result of injuries sustained from the blasts, starvation, radiation sickness, and more. By October of 2064, the federal government had essentially ceased to exist, and as a result, Australia became fragmented by state.

While the governors of New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland had perished, the governors of the Northern Territory, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia all survived. Alongside them, their governments remained mostly intact, and they continued operating as the forces of authority within their state territories. Communications between the various states first began to return in early October, and immediately, talks were held between the various governors and other local officials from Australia's eastern seaboard in attempts to coordinate a reconstruction of the federal government. These talks fell through, however, as individual states believed their resources would be best spent on their own security and citizenry as opposed to on expensive rescue operations aimed at Australia's ruined cities. Personal conflicts between the various governors also emerged, and no single leader came to the forefront who was not in some way opposed.

These conflicts and disagreements doomed any chance of immediate reunification, and as a result, Australia entered a period now referred to as The Time of Disunion. Individual states operated essentially as their own sovereign countries, borders between the states were closed entirely before being reopened under tight security, and unique currencies were adopted by most of Australia's surviving states. Meanwhile, the country's eastern seaboard collapsed entirely, with only secluded towns and villages remaining orderly under the guidance of mayors and city councils, while the rest of the region descended into anarchy. Violence - particularly between rural citizens further west from the sea and former city-dwellers - was frequent and intense along the eastern coastline, and contributed to the emergence of the Australian Nomad Nation, a loose confederation of nomadic clans and tribes formed out of the city survivors.

Attempts at reunification emerged once more around the mid-2070s, however, spearheaded in particular by Western Australian politician Matthew Wheelwright. Still a supporter of the old United Australian Party, Wheelwright espoused a nationalistic and vehemently Anti-China foreign policy, and encouraged the Australian states to unite together once more so as to secure their place on the global stage, provide mutual defense, and re-standardize the devalued Australian dollar. His message was spread through various means including newspaper and the Australian intranet, but with the full adoption and connection to the Newnet around 2076, Wheelwright became well-known across the continent.

Discussions within the various state governments regarding reunification once again emerged, and quickly, the topic of reunification became the most important political debate throughout the continent. Those in support of reunification pointed to all the benefits a unified government would bring, such as a standardized currency, open borders between the states, government aid to those in poverty or in sickness as a result of the detonations, and mutual defense against China. Those opposed meanwhile mostly pointed to the potential for economic ruin a national government would bring. So economically damaged from the war, opponents believed a new national Australian government would be unable to deal with the widescale crises, and would inevitably bankrupt itself attempting to aid all the millions of people surviving across the continent.

Proponents for reunification had no rebuttal to that argument until a selection of megacorporations from the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and more began to approach the state governments, promising extensive financial aid and assistance with reunification on the condition that they would be allowed to operate on the Australian continent with minimal regulations and taxes. Some of the largest megacorporations interested in partnership with a potential national Australian government included Odyssey Courier Services, Dynetic Systems Interstellar, NovaNet Communications, the Poseidon Group, and Inoculum Services. Though the state governments of Australia feared the potential for a megacorporate-dominated government, they believed the positive benefits that would come with megacorporate partnership far outweighed the potential negative consequences, and as a result, signed the Perth Agreements in 2080, assigning as many as twenty corporations associate status with the to-be-founded New Australian government, affording them special rights and privileges in return for financial aid, material support, and defense cooperation.

With this new influx of capital and potential employment, the states of Australia saw no further need to delay in reunification, and began negotiations once more at Adelaide in late 2080. Discussions mostly revolved around the semantics of reunification - the name of the country, the capital, the currency, the flag, etc - and the potential leadership. It was eventually decided that the state governments were in no position to decide the country's leadership, and after agreeing to a new presidential system based on the United States' government, voting was held on the national level on November 16th, 2081. After more than a week of collecting and processing votes, it was revealed that the United Australian Party's candidate, Joel Helman, would become the first president of New Australia. The United Australians also won pluralities in the new legislative houses of New Australia, winning 38 seats of 100 in the New Australian Senate, and 129 seats of 256 in the New Australian House of Representatives. Other parties that emerged during the 2081 elections included the National Progressive Party, the New Australian Party, and the Australian Advancement Party, with the Progressives emerging as the far-left selection, the New Australians emerging as the center-left selection, and the Advancers emerging as the center-right selection.

## Government and Politics

Australia is a federal presidential constitutional republic. The country has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system under its current constitution since the adoption of the Articles for a New Australia in 2081. Australia's previous government modeled itself primarily on that of the old United Kingdom, however the government of New Australia takes heavy inspiration from the systems found in the United States. New Australia heads an executive branch with a President and Vice President - with the President elected by the people to serve as the nation's ultimate leader and commander-in-chief - runs legislation through a bicameral congress composed of the Senate and House of Representatives, and determines the legitimacy of actions and laws through the Australian Supreme Court.

In the Senate, there are seventy-six senators, twelve from each of the states and two from each of the mainland territories. The House of Representatives has two-hundred and fifty-two members, two-hundred of which are elected from single-member electoral divisions, commonly known as electorates or seats, allocated to states based on population, with each original seat guaranteed five seats. The further fifty-two seats are divided among many of the Australian government's megacorporate partners in regards to how much stock they own in the National Association of Labor - a state-owned corporation that has been used by Australia to construct large-scale public works projects since it was founded in 2113. As it stands, the Poseidon Energy Group holds eleven of these megacorporate seats, while seven are held by Noumenon, six are held by Dynetic Systems Interstellar, six are held by the Lasanne Corporation, and the further twenty-two are held by smaller companies and individual entrepreneurs.

Australia's electoral system preferential voting for all lower house elections which is combined with proportional representation in a system known as the single transferable vote. The President of Australia has been elected in the same manner since the foundation of New Australia in 2081. Voting is compulsory for all citizens eighteen years and over in every jurisdiction.

Currently, Australia's political dynamic is heavily fragmented, and to secure stable governments, most individual political parties form coalitions with similarly-minded groups. The most important parties include the New Australian Party (the largest conservative party), the National Progressive Party (the largest liberal party), the Australian Advancement Party, the Industrialist Party, the United Australian Party, and the Party of Social Democracy. The most recent federal election was held on May 23rd, 2148, and resulted in continued Conservative Bloc (NAP, INP, and UAP) domination of congress and the election of conservative-backed president, Denis K. Kerrisk.