Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand (1983: Doomsday)

The Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand (also called ANZC, ANZ, CANZ or the Commonwealth) is a large country consisting of most of the Australia-Oceania continent. It was formed as a national unification between several independent countries in, with Australia and New Zealand forming the backbone of the union. Following the end of the, the ANZC appropriated much of the surviving overseas war machine of the old United States of America, and its network of associated states encompasses a large portion of the islands of the Pacific Ocean. Today it is still considered the most powerful country in the world, though is beginning to catch up. The ANZC was instrumental in the creation of several of the new global institutions, such as the WCRB and the League of Nations.

History

 * See main article: 

Territory
The Commonwealth spans a large part of the Pacific Ocean.

Integral territory
These regions are part of the Commonwealth proper. They have local self-government and send members to Parliament.
 * Australia
 * New Zealand
 * Samoa
 * Micronesia

External territories
These islands have limited or nonexistent local self-government. Some have very small populations or are used as military outposts. The Commonwealth has little to no actual control over many of the uninhabited islands and has been unable to enforce its claim over the Cocos.
 * Kermadec Islands
 * Ashmore and Cartier Islands (uninhabited)
 * Christmas Island (Indian Ocean)
 * Coral Sea Islands (uninhabited)
 *  (claimed, disputed)
 * Heard and McDonald Islands (claimed, uninhabited)
 * Okinawa (claimed, uninhabited)
 * Miscellanious Islands (claimed, uninhabited)
 * Heard and McDonald Islands (claimed, uninhabited)
 * Okinawa (claimed, uninhabited)
 * Miscellanious Islands (claimed, uninhabited)
 * Miscellanious Islands (claimed, uninhabited)
 * Miscellanious Islands (claimed, uninhabited)

Associated states
These islands govern themselves under the protection of the ANZC, whether by pre-Doomsday agreements with Australia or New Zealand, or through more recent arrangements. The Commonwealth largely conducts their foreign affairs, but several of these states have seats in the League of Nations.
 * Alaska
 * (includes )
 * (de facto)
 * Hawaii
 * Papua New Guinea
 * The
 * Papua New Guinea
 * The
 * Papua New Guinea
 * The
 * The
 * The
 * The

In addition, the ANZC jointly occupies the Cape of Good Hope along with South American forces, and with them manages the provisionsal regime.

Important cities
The destruction of Sydney, Melbourne and Perth left a large vacuum in nearly all aspects of Australian life, from business to sport to popular culture.

The Australian cities of Brisbane, Canberra and Adelaide have risen in stature over the years and, along with Auckland in New Zealand, have become the nation's de facto capitals of business, sport, music and culture. Many refugees from the United States and Western European countries have resettled in one of those four cities.

Other cities have also become prominent since Doomsday, none more so than Jervis Bay. In 1997, its location along the Pacific Ocean and the government's desire to have a capital more easily accessible than Canberra led to Jervis Bay being designated as the new capital. The full transition to Jervis Bay took ten years and was completed in 2007. The national government operates completely out of Jervis Bay today, and incentives have helped pushed the area population to just over 600,000.

Canberra, the former capital, was "redesigned" to help fill the void in business and culture left by the destruction of Melbourne and Sydney. Its population is just over 740,000, a sizeable minority being Papua New Guineans and Asians who resettled there for business, work and/or school.

Darwin (population: 400,000) has become an important naval base in northern Australia, and port for trade with southeastern Asian nations. It includes a large American expatriate community.

Bunbury, designated as a refugee centre after Doomsday, has taken Perth's place as the key city in western Australia. Its population is currently 500,000, including sizeable American, British and Chinese communities.

Newcastle, another town designated for refugees post-Doomsday, has earned the nickname of "New Sydney". The city of 600,000 includes a number of refugees from Sydney, some of whom helped to replicate many of Sydney's cultural and sporting landmarks. It is perhaps most famous for the Newcastle Opera House, modeled after the Sydney Opera House landmark and concert hall destroyed on Doomsday.

Geelong was designated as the refugee center for the state of Victoria. A number of former Melbourne residents relocated there, and the city of 600,000 has emerged as the primary city of Victoria. Geelong has been called the spiritual successor to Melbourne.

Other important cities in the ANZC include Gold Coast, Queensland; Hobart, Tasmania; Christchurch, New Zealand; Pago Pago, Samoa; and Hilo, Hawaii.

Government and politics
At the federal level, the country is dominated by three parties: Conservative, Labour, and Green. These are in fact coalitions of local parties which go by different names in the different states of the Commonwealth.

Micronesia has a more complicated political landscape, being sub-federalized into six states. At the local and state levels, political parties do not exist in most of Micronesia, though they are not banned. Political allegiances depend mainly on family and island-related factors. Only the Marshall Islands has a fully developed system of parties, and there the three national coalitions compete with the Marshallese Independence Party (MIP), which advocates secession from the ANZC. At the federal level, many (but not all) candidates for Governor-General, the Senate, and the national Parliament are supported by one of the national coalitions, or the MIP. Samoa also has a strong tradition of nonpartisanship.

As a result of the influx of immigrant into the Commonwealth in the aftermath of Doomsday a number of nationalist parties were founded by politians who feared that Australia and New Zealand would lose their cultural identity. Some of these parties were represented in the national parliaments for a while but as the people of the Commonwealth became used to the immigrants these parties lost any national influence they had. That having been said some of these parties are still represented in the the various state parliaments.

International relations
The ANZC is a founding member of the and sits on the organization's High Council. Tonga and to a lesser degree, the French Pacific, though neutral, depend on the ANZC economically.

The ANZC and the have often worked together since the solution of the Panama Canal-question, especially with the formation of the  and the. Recently, however, intense economic competition and differing positions over the ongoing civil war in, have led to cooler relations between the two power blocs.

Military

 * See main article: 

The CAF was first established by order of ANZUS in 1989 to serve Australia, New Zealand, and the territories under the. The CAF have increased in size since Australia and New Zealand unified, in order to meet the CANZ's global commitments as the heir to the USA.

Symbols
CAF markings were changed in 1996 to conform to the new flag of the Commonwealth. The roundels ended up looking almost exactly like the old Jamaican roundels (albeit with a much more bluish green). But Jamaica no longer has its own national government, much less an air force, so there is no real possibility of confusion.

Only six CANZ-associated states have an Air Militia. For their insignia they follow the old British Commonwealth pattern of replacing the central dot with a local emblem. These are as follows:
 * Alaska: polar bear
 * Hawai'i: humpback whale
 * Kiribati: frigatebird
 * Vanuatu: boar's tusk
 * Papua: bird of paradise
 * East Timor: cockatoo

Sports
With the destruction of Melbourne, Australian Rules Football suffered a devastating blow. Supporters throughout Australia fought to keep the sport alive, and it has now resurfaced as a popular sport in the ANZC. The Australian Football League is the de facto sanctioning body of the sport, and is headquartered in Canberra. Its franchises are located in: Second-tier leagues exist in each of the Australian states, as well as in New Zealand and Hawaii.
 * Adelaide (Adelaide Crows, Port Adelaide Power)
 * Auckland (Auckland Hawks)
 * Brisbane (Brisbane Bears)
 * Bunbury (West Coast Eagles)
 * Canberra (Canberra Swans)
 * Darwin (Darwin Buffaloes)
 * Geelong (Geelong Cats)
 * Gold Coast (Gold Coast FC)
 * Hobart (Tasmanian Devils)
 * Jervis Bay (Jervis Bay Bulldogs, St. Kilda Saints)

Rugby union has a storied history in both Australia and New Zealand. While rugby league is set up on the AFL/American football franchise model, rugby union's top domestic competitions are set up by state and associated territories, as seen in the annual Super 12 competition, comprised of provincial sides from Australia, New Zealand and Samoa, plus the nations of Tonga and Fiji. The ANZC sends three sides, Australia, New Zealand and Samoa/Hawaii to compete in the Six Nations Series against Chile, the United American Republic and Oceania (Fiji, Tonga and other islands). There has been discussion about expanding the series by inviting sides from the RZA, Singapore and/or New Britain. Club competitions are lower profile than their counterparts in league and the AFL, but exist in every state, governed by their repective state's sanctioning body for union. In 2004, the CRB (Commonwealth Rugby Board) professionalized the sport as to allow for better competition with rugby league for players.

Rugby league, with roots as the preferred rugby code in New South Wales and Queensland, has taken off in the last decade due to the more-open, free-flowing style of play and the fact that the Australian Rugby League was willing to pay its players and, subsequently, was prevailing in competition with union for players through the early 2000s. The de facto sanctioning body for the sport, in the ANZC and worldwide, is the Australian Rugby League. The ARL was established in 1995 and is headquartered in Auckland. It is comprised of franchises, based on the American football model. Its franchises are: There is talk of expansion to Singapore, Fiji and/or Samoa in the next couple of years.
 * Auckland (Auckland Warriors)
 * Brisbane (Brisbane Broncos)
 * Canberra (Canberra Raiders)
 * Gold Coast (Gold Coast Titans)
 * Hobart (Tasmania Tigers)
 * Jervis Bay (Jervis Bay Rabbitohs)
 * Newcastle (Newcastle Knights)
 * Papua New Guinea (PNG Rangers)
 * Townsville (North Queensland Cowboys)
 * Wellington (Southern Orcas)

Association football (soccer) is rapidly growing in popularity, especially among youth. The Football Federation of the ANZC (FFA) was formed in 2004 after a reorganization of the previous overseeing domestic body, Soccer ANZC. The FFA formed a domestic league, the A-League, in 2005. It operates the league which, unlike leagues in other countries built on a pyramid model (several levels of leagues with promotion and demotion), is franchise-based (this is under review, as the Asian Football Federation has requested that FFA change to a pyramid model). The current franchises are:
 * Adelaide (Adelaide United)
 * Brisbane (Brisbane Roar)
 * Bunbury (Western Glory)
 * Geelong (Geelong Victory)
 * Gold Coast (Gold Coast United)
 * Newcastle (Newcastle Jets)
 * Townsville (North Queensland Fury)
 * Wellington (Wellington Phoenix)

Association football's popularity has been boosted by the national side's success in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in the Celtic Alliance. Some observers believe in the far future, association football will become the dominant code in the country.

Cricket is the favored summer sport in the ANZC. The national cricket teams of Australia and New Zealand play a Test Match series with matches in Brisbane, Geelong (Boxing Day), Canberra (New Year's), Wellington and Christchurch. The ANZC cricket board is in discussions with its counterparts in New Britain, the Celtic Alliance and the East Caribbean Federation about restarting Test Matches and one-day international matches. Because of the logistical issues involved, such matches will not take place until 2013 at the earliest.

Regional cricket leagues exist in every state in Australia and in New Zealand, and there is discussion of expansion into Samoa and Hawaii.

Basketball, at the men's and women's adult levels, has had some success in recent years. ANZC athletes are approaching world-class status in several Olympic sports, such as swimming and track and field.

The most popular women's sports include association football, basketball and netball.

American football has gained longevity and popularity as a niche sport within the ANZC, its growth fueled by expats and refugees from the United States. The Oceanic Football League was founded in Samoa in 1991 as the American Football League, to tie it to the sport of American football and to distinguish the league from the Australian rules and rugby codes. Teams from across the Commonwealth and its associated states participate, located in: American football has certainly not surpassed the traditional sports of Australia and New Zealand, but it has become an important niche sport. After much discussion amongst owners, the AFL approved a name change to the Oceanic Football League in a hastily arranged owners meeting in mid-December. The OFL owners were expected to vote in January 2010 on whether to retain its headquarters in Pago Pago or move to other proposed locations, including Auckland.
 * Adelaide Rams
 * Auckland Raiders
 * Brisbane Cowboys
 * Canberra Colts
 * Darwin Bears
 * Newcastle Giants
 * Pago Pago Dolphins
 * Tasmania Browns

During the 1980s and early 1990s it looked as if baseball would join American football as a popular niche sport in Australia. The Australian League was formed in 1986 with six teams, and lasted until 1995. The Claxton Shield, the AL's successor, lasted from 1997 to 2002. Today, baseball is played at an amateur and youth level by Australian enthusiasts and the children of expatriate Americans; the ANZC Baseball Federation governs the sport, most particularly the ANZC's participation in international competition. Supporters are not optimistic about the sport reaching the level of popularity and participation as American football, much less the other football codes.

The highest-drawing sports in 2008 were the Australian Football League (36,000 per match), the Super 12 (21,000), the ARL (16,000), the A-League (15,000) and the American Football League (12,000).

In accordance with the Remembrance Act of 1995, no sporting events of any kind are played in the Commonwealth on 26 September.

Culture and Music
Keith Urban, from Brisbane, is the leading adult contemporary/pop star in the country. Darren Hayes, formerly of the pop duo Savage Garden, is another leading pop star.

Radio/television
Radio and television broadcasting in the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand is governed by the ANZC Broadcasting Authority. The official state network is the ANZC Broadcasting Corporation (ANZBC), which was created from the merger of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation. It is state-funded but enjoys editorial and programming autonomy, and competes with a host of privately-owned broadcasters, including Capital Radio Network; SBS; and Star FM. ANZBC also operates affiliates in all associated territories.

The ANZBC (formed by a merger of the Australian and New Zealand Broadcasting Corporations when their two countries merged) competes with the Seven and Nine Networks and SBS (also publicly owned) for viewers. ANZBC has affiliates in all of its associated states, and includes SBS programming in those areas; Seven and Nine provide network and syndicated programming for stations known as "Channel Two" in all of the ANZC states. All Australian networks also syndicate programming throughout Asia, Europe and North America and in select parts of Africa, the Caribbean, Central America, Siberia and South America.

Print
Australia greatly depended on the newspapers in Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide and Darwin to spread news and information after Doomsday, and since then they have become important sources of news and opinion in the region. Auckland and Jervis Bay's papers have joined that group.

Space exploration
In the aftermath of Doomsday, the then Australian aeronautical facility of Woomera remained largely unused, as space exploration and missile testing was seen as a pointless venture. However, more than thirteen years after Doomsday, the newly formed ANZC saw space exploration and, more importantly, the launching of communications satellites as a vital part of future faster coordination between itself and other nations. Thus, the Woomera facility was renamed into the Woomera Space Center and significant funds were were used to make the Space Center one of the most important hubs of space exploration. The first test rocket was launched in 2000 and was simply called the ANZC-1, while some time later the ANZC-2, was launched on the newly developed rocket payload system called the "Kiwi"

Since January 12, 2009, the facility is officially under LoNASO jurisdiction, while the Woomera Prohibited Area remains under ANZC jurisdiction as it is a matter of national security.

The site was most recently used to launch the third and fourth GLONASS satellites into orbit, the "James Cook" and the "Tasmanian devil", respectively. These were the first satellites of the network not to be launched from Siberia.