West Australia (Alternity)

West Australia, officially the Federation of West Australia, is a nation located in Oceania that occupies roughly 1/2 of the Australian continent. West Australia shares its only land border with the Commonwealth of Australia to the east, but also shares maritime borders with Indonesia and the Philippine Empire to the north through the WAN (West Australian National) Commonwealth of Java.

Founded as the Republic of West Australia in 1903, the nation initially underwent a period of prosperity until the Great Depression drew it into a nearly sixty-year period of ruin that began in 1932 when the national government underwent radical changes as the West Australian Communist Party (WACP) took hold and created a heavily militaristic and socialist state under Fred Paterson. It has faced international reprisals over the years for its annexation of Java in 1959, the Indonesian War, and Great Australian War, and the highly controversial nuclear dealings by Governor-General Peter Symon with the Soviet Union in the 1970s. The latter was what indirectly brought the current government into power through the March Riots of 1990, when Symon's dealings were revealed to the public by disgruntled aides, resulting in his resignation on March 12 along with the entire Senate and his cabinet, leading to the appointment of Acting Governor-General Francis Burt in that year's unofficial August elections. Current Governor-General Richard Court was elected in October 1992 and was re-elected in a landslide in 1996. Court has done much to heal the nation's wounds both at home and abroad, initiating major construction projects across the nation and signing a half-dozen major international treaties and agreements. Java is slated to either become independent or rejoin Indonesia in the fall of 2000, and the Northern Territory is to be returned to Australia around the same time.

Colonial years (1890-1901)
After Britain granted self-rule to the Colony of Western Australia in 1890, the famous explorer and surveyor John Forrest became the first Premier. Though initially a strong supporter of Australian federation (and indeed, seeing it as an inevitable process), Forrest became concerned that the West's comparatively small and tariff-dependent economy would suffer heavy losses in a federal Australia with with freer trade. In 1895, the Premiers of each colony attended a Federation Convention, during Forrest got into an argument with New South Wales Premier George Dibbs over protectionism. From then on, Forrest openly declared his opposition to federation. This stance earned him much support from the Western Australian Legislative Council and coastal districts, but led to anger and resentment from residents of the Goldfields region, many of whom were new arrivals from the eastern colonies. A movement in Kalgoorlie petitioned Queen Victoria to create a separate colony, which would seek federation with the eastern colonies on its own terms.

In response, Forrest used his growing credibility with the Legislative Council to gain generous funding for infrastructure projects such as the Kalgoorlie-Esperance Railway and Goldfields Water Supply Scheme, both of which were completed over a year ahead of schedule. Forrest pointed to these successes as evidence that Western Australia would be capable of standing on its own feet, and did not need federation to survive.

Concerned that Western Australian voters would not agree to federation, the eastern colonies made a last-ditch effort to bring Forrest around to the idea of federation, but they refused his demand to fund a railway line from Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta, South Australia. Subsequently, the 1899 referendum on federation was met with a landslide No vote, and Western Australia remained a colony when the Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed in 1901.

Early years as a nation (1903-1907)
In 1903, Edward VII granted Western Australia its independence as West Australia, and Perth's main hospital was renamed in his honor. Forrest became the first Prime Minister, and spent much of his term cutting spending in order to pay off the large debt accumulated to finance the Goldfields infrastructure projects.

"Years of Peace" (1905-1930)
The Goldfields Water Scheme allowed the population of Kalgoorlie to swell to over 40 000. Buoyed by the success of the 1890s infrastructure investments, the government of John 'Happy Jack' Scaddan extended the irrigation and railway networks throughout the south-west, leading to large crop yields in districts east of Perth, which quickly became known as the 'Wheatbelt'. Scaddan capitalised on the Wheatbelt Boom by introducing a monopoly on foreign shipping and lobbying to gain contracts to supply wheat in the United Kingdom, while ensuring the benefits flowed to all corners by introducing an income tax and supporting trade unions. High wheat prices ensured that the Scaddan years were viewed as a great success. However, an agreement was still not reached on the funding of a trans-Australian railway, so the West remained insulated from the rest of Australia.