Great PhD topic; please suggest others

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Micronational activities were disproportionately common throughout Australia in the final three decades of the 20th century.

– The Principality of Hutt River was founded in 1970, when Leonard Casley declared his property independent after a dispute over wheat quotas.

–  1976 witnessed the creation of the Province of Bumbunga on a rural property near Snowtown, South Australia, by an eccentric British monarchist.

–  The Sovereign State of Aeterna Lucina was created in a hamlet on the New South Wales north coast in 1978.

–  An anti-taxation campaigner founded the Grand Duchy of Avram in western Tasmania in the 1980s; “His Grace the Duke of Avram” was later elected to the Tasmanian Parliament.

–  In Victoria, a long-running dispute over flood damage to farm properties led to the creation of the Independent State of Rainbow Creek in 1979.

–  The Empire of Atlantium was established in Sydney, in 1981 as a non-territorial global government.

–  A mortgage foreclosure dispute led George and Stephanie Muirhead of Rockhampton, Queensland, to briefly and abortively secede as the Principality of Marlborough in 1993.

–  The Principality of Snake Hill was established in 2003 as a result of a mortgage dispute and is located near Mudgee, New South Wales. The Head of State is Prince Paul and the constitution is based on the Ten Commandments. Lawyers are barred from entering.

–  The Principality of Wy was established in 2004 by Paul Delprat after a dispute with the local council of Mosman Municipality in Sydney.

–  The Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands was established in 2004 as a symbolic political protest by a group of gay rights activists based in southeast Queensland.

–  The United Federation of Koronis, based in Australia, claims the Koronis family of asteroids as its territory.

–  The Principality of Ponderosa, based on a small farm in Northern Victoria, achieved notoriety in 2005 when its founders—Vergilio and “Little Joe” Rigoli—were convicted of tax fraud.

–  The Independent State of Aramoana was established in 1980.

–  The Republic of Whangamomona was established in 1989.

5 thoughts on “Great PhD topic; please suggest others”

  2. Well if someone did a PhD on the secession movement in Australia we could find out. It’s interesting that a lot of these micronations were created in response to government oppression (usually taxation); this just proves that there is a rich history of tax revolts in Australia that go beyond the Eureka Stockade, and the spirit of freedom is alive and well. There’s probably enough research material out there for someone to write a book (like this one) on the topic.

  3. Not just tax. It was the unfairness of the WA law that let the Prince of River Hutt do what he did.

    It’s amazing – the Government pretends they don’t recognise his sovereignty yet they lost the legal battle and they don’t tax him.

    His province was started as a response to production quotas – arguably more offensive than a moderate taxation regime.

    I suggest you look at the Republic of Minerva (wiki or google for example)

    The Gov’t does not like competition.

  4. I think Lonely Planet also produced a book about Micronations. I bought such a book about two years ago. Many places around the world have seceded, although the UN doesn’t recognise them as being separate.

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