Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand (1983: Doomsday)

Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand
Timeline: 1983: Doomsday
OTL equivalent: Commonwealth of Australia, Realm of New Zealand, Samoa and the Federated States of Micronesia

Flag Coat of Arms Location of ANZC, ANZ, CANZ
Capital	Jervis Bay
Largest city	Brisbane
Other cities	Adelaide, Canberra, Darwin, Alice Springs, Hobart, Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington, Apia, Kolonia, Townsville, Cairns, Newcastle, Bunbury, Geelong
Language   official	English (official)
others	Maori, Samoan, Marshallese, Kosraen, Ponpeic and Turkic languages, Australian Aboriginal languages, Tokelauan
Governor-General	John Howard
Population	27,802,500 in all CANZ areas
Independence	1997
Currency	Commonwealth dollar ($)

The Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand (also called ANZC, ANZ, CANZ or the Commonwealth) is an association of nations consisting of most of Oceania, including the entire Australian continent and the islands of New Zealand, and the former U.S. states of Alaska and Hawaii. It was formed as a military and economic unification of several independent countries in Oceania with the American Provisional Administration, and with Australia and New Zealand forming the backbone of the union. Following the end of the American Provisional Administration, the ANZC appropriated much of the surviving military assets of the former United States of America. The ANZC's network of associated states encompasses a large portion of the islands of the Pacific Ocean. As of 2010, the ANZC is still considered the most powerful country in the world, though Brazil is beginning to catch up. The ANZC was instrumental in the creation of several of the post-Doomsday global institutions like the WCRB and the League of Nations.

History

The following details the history of post-Doomsday Australia and New Zealand, the foundation of the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand and the history of the new nation up to the present day.

Doomsday

On September 26, 1983, people in Perth and the west coast of Australia were just starting their workdays, while those in south Australia and on the east coast - including the cities of Sydney and Melbourne - were settling in and heading towards midday.

A presumably normal day in Australia, in the matter of an hour, changed drastically when news came of incoming missiles from the Soviet Union towards three cities: Perth, Sydney and Melbourne.

Citizens on the fringes of those three cities had just enough time to seek some kind of shelter and get further away from the anticipated blasts. Some people in the cities were able to escape, incredibly, but for most people in the cities their fate was sealed.

Around 12:20 p.m. on the Australian east coast and 9:20 on the Australian west coast, nuclear missiles exploded over the heart of all three cities, throwing the outskirts into complete panic and the nation into chaos.

Australia, however, had something working in its favor that neither the United States nor the USSR had: the strikes had not destroyed the federal government in Canberra nor many of the military installations and bases around the nation. That would prove crucial for Australia not only surviving the crisis, but moving on to becoming a global power in the new, post-Doomsday world.

Prime Minister Bob Hawke, who had taken office six months previous, would lead the stunned nation through the crisis. As the nation had not been hit with an electromagnetic pulse attack, Australia's power grid and telecommunications capacity was intact.

His first impulse was to find out why three of his nation's cities had been targeted; he ordered troops to the U.S. and Soviet embassies. Personnel at both embassies were already in shock over news they had been told by their respective ambassadors; Moscow had launched first, Washington launched in defense. The Soviet embassy personnel were told it was an accident; American personnel told that the Soviets had launched first. Both were told their home countries likely were devastated by the subsequent exchange.

Robert Nesen, the American ambassador to Australia, spoke with Hawke by phone and told Hawke everything he knew; Hawke in turn offered his condolences, and pledged support in any manner. Nesen's counterpart at the Soviet embassy also spoke by phone with Hawke, and protested "American aggression" before hanging up the phone. Hawke ordered two Army companies to the Soviet embassy - and one to surround the American embassy to protect it from troublemakers.

Nesen met Hawke at 6:07 p.m. Canberra time and told Hawke he had not been able to contact anyone from the mainland since the strikes on Australia. He also said the staff wanted to stay where they were as it was apparently the only vestige of America - and home - they had left. Hawke said he was ordering an evacuation of the city, and recommended the staff leave for safer grounds in Wagga Wagga - but they could stay if they wanted.

At the Soviet embassy, the situation was growing more and more tense by the hour, with all embassy personnel having been armed and told to fight "to the death for the motherland". At 9:22 p.m. Canberra time, Soviet guards took up defense positions around the embassy grounds, while Australian troops took up positions around the perimeter.

Meanwhile, after gathering basic information about the detonations from civilian and police officials on the ground, and knowing the military was already on full alert, Hawke gave the order for residents and government officials in Canberra to evacuate to "safe zones" in Wagga Wagga and Cooma. Hawke, his cabinet, and other important government officials relocating to a secured, secret location in the region.

Hawke also gave orders for civilians in Brisbane, Adelaide, Darwin, and Hobart to evacuate - a redundant order, as civilians had already began fleeing those cities for the countryside when television and radio gave news of the Sydney/Perth/Melbourne strikes. He also declared martial law throughout the entire country for the duration of the crisis. At 9:07 p.m. Canberra time, Hawke spoke to his nation, informing the people of the hits on the three cities, the emergency orders and martial law, as well as scant information he had been able to gather from the U.S. embassy: the Soviets had launched first. He then informed the people of the ongoing standoff at the Soviet embassy.

One of Hawke's emergency orders covered non-citizens who were in Australia either on holiday or business, authorizing government aid and assistance "for the duration of the emergency" to cover basic expenses. Subsequent orders would put non-citizens under the authority of the embassy of the country they were citizens of, and ensure they would be included in rationing of food, medicine, clothing and other necessities over the next several months.

Throughout the evening of September 26 and into the early hours of September 27, local officials struggled to maintain order as panicked civilians fled cities they thought would be the next to get hit. Hawke contacted many of those officials and after a series of sometimes contentious conversations, decided to keep the civilians in the safe zones for a week; his thinking was that if this was World War III, the Soviets surely would launch any remaining missiles by the end of the week - if not that day.

While Australian submarines patrolled for any Soviet subs in the region, Hawke also ordered Australian troops into the temporarily abandoned cities to keep order and prevent looting - if necessary by force.

Tragedy in Canberra

An RAAF P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft sighted over Canberra, Australia during the standoff at the Soviet and Cuban embassies

Before dawn, Canberra policemen who had stayed in the city to help patrol it reported outbursts on the grounds of the East German, West German, Bulgarian and Cuban embassies. More troops were ordered into Canberra to surround all four embassies; the order would grow to include embassies of all Communist countries and those nations allied with the Soviet Union.

At 9:04 a.m. Canberra time on the 27th, the Soviet ambassador spoke via loudspeaker, through his translator. He declared the embassy grounds the "sovereign territory of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and any aggression on part of foreign aggressors will be met with force, and be seen as a further declaration of war that have already been declared upon our peoples by the United States of America and its capitalist allies." It was apparent the ambassador had gone mad, and weeping could be heard in parts of the embassy building. At 10:30 a.m., Australian intelligence monitored a phone conversation amongst the ambassadors of the Warsaw Pact nations and Cuba, with the Soviet ambassador telling his counterparts "stand your ground and prepare to fight"; the Bulgarian ambassador said "are you out of your mind, comrade? This is not the way to go", and the conversation quickly devolving into shouting and incoherent screaming. Australian intelligence then monitored a subsequent conversation amongst the Bulgarian, Yugoslavian, Romanian and Polish ambassadors, discussing some sort of conciliation with the Australian government and peaceful solution to what could turn into a disaster.

At 11:58 a.m., shots were heard from inside the East German embassy, and the Australian commander on the scene ordered his troops to rush the facility. Three troops were killed by East German guards, all of whom were themselves killed; troops found numerous mass suicides - including the East German ambassador - and several staffers, mainly women in other parts of the building, shaken and frightened. Hawke ordered more troops as backup, and consulted with military leaders: what to do about the belligerent embassies, and especially the Soviet embassy?

At 12:08 p.m., the answer from Hawke came: treat the Soviet ambassador and any belligerents as enemies of the state and subdue the threat as quickly as possible, and do the same for any other embassy - friend, foe or neutral. Once the threat was subdued, Hawke would meet with the various ambassadors.

Just 14 minutes later, despite a last-minute plea from the Polish and Bulgarian ambassadors to "turn from your madness", the Cuban and Soviet embassies declared war on Australia.

Guards at the Cuban embassy shot at TV reporters covering the siege from 100 yards out, then started shooting at the Army positions.

At the Soviet embassy, Australian troops were rocked when a hand held rocket was launched from inside the embassy at a tank, killing everyone inside and three troops surrounding it; the troops encircling the compound then came under heavy fire from all corners of the embassy; the Soviets were not going to peacefully surrender. And, apparently, neither were the Cubans.

Moments after hearing what happened to the tank, the Australian commander at the Cuban embassy gave the order to take the embassy. The troops came under heavy fire; 14 took shots, and four were killed. The troops overpowered the guards guarding all entrances to the building and rushed in, anticipating a possible room-by-room battle to take the entire building.

At the Soviet embassy, 15 troops were killed by another hand-held rocket on the south side, as troops advanced on the building itself. At that point, the troops came under heavy fire themselves, and encountered heavy resistance from guards and other staffers, all whom were well-armed themselves. On the east side, someone was spotted on an upper floor readying another hand-held missile launcher - this time, he never got the chance to launch it; spotted on the ground, an Army helicopter found him and destroyed his position with a rocket.

The invasion of the Cuban and Soviet embassies was well underway by this time, with troops going room-by-room looking for the belligerents and for anyone who dared lift even a finger in offense.

It took until 2:34 a.m. Wednesday morning to end the standoff at the Cuban embassy. By then, another four soldiers, and 56 embassy personnel and guards, were dead. One was the Cuban ambassador, shot by one of his own men. The remaining men and women were taken into custody.

Three hours later, the situation at the Soviet embassy still had not been settled, as the Soviet Ambassador (and his translator) had taken to his megaphone and made every kind of claim from possessing a nuclear weapon in the basement to threatening to contact the "Third Soviet Navy" to "destroy your aggressive nation with nuclear weapons if you do not end your siege on the sovereign territory of the Soviet Union". None of his claims were true, but the Army exercised caution, given what had occurred two days before.

A radiological sweep of the premises indicated no nuclear weapon anywhere in the vicinity, and Royal Australian Navy patrols reported no signs of Soviet activity anywhere close to Australia or New Zealand. With more troops having been sent in as backup (some of which had helped quell a minor uprising in Wagga Wagga), Hawke gave the order to bring the conflict to a close. Troops rushed the building, and found themselves in a final, brief, but desperate firefight with the remaining staffers and guards.

As dawn rose in Canberra, medics were tending to the 24 troops injured in the final siege. Troops were guarding the premises and investigating every inch of the former USSR Embassy. Others were carrying bodies to nearby, make-shift morgues to separate the 47 Australian troops from the 37 staffers killed that morning. And, ten staffers - seven women and three men - who survived in the basement underneath the corpses of others killed in the last two days were being taken elsewhere in Canberra for questioning.

New Zealand

The former USSR embassy in Wellington, NZ (now the headquarters of the Russian diaspora which chose to live in New Zealand after DD)

Aware of the situation in Canberra, New Zealand had sent in its military to surround the various embassies in the capital city of Wellington. Prime Minister Robert Muldoon hoped that the ambassadors to his country from the USSR/Warsaw Pact bloc would be more willing to negotiate in peace.

Strongly influenced by events in Canberra, and by the blunt appeals of his staffers, the Soviet ambassador requested to "negotiate peace terms" with the New Zealand government. Muldoon was set to meet with the Soviet and Warsaw Pact ambassadors on September 29.

That morning, gunfire was heard in the Soviet, Bulgarian, Romanian, East German, Polish and Czechoslovakian embassies, by military station around the embassies. Acting on intelligence that suggested the gunfire was instigated by KGB agents, Muldoon ordered his Army to occupy each Communist-allied embassy and end the violence. Wellington immediately went under martial law; Muldoon and other top government officials were taken to a safer location outside the capital, and NZ Army troops helped escort Allied personnel to safe places in the North Island.

It took 51 hours to end the standoff, which resulted in the deaths of 257 embassy members (including assumed KGB agents) and 28 New Zealand military. By October 2, the embassies of the Soviet Union and all of its allies were under complete New Zealand control. Official protests by the Cuban and Bulgarian ambassadors were ignored. Survivors who were belligerent or otherwise deemed threats to the country and its people were separated by the military; the other survivors were taken to a hastily-built camp, where they were cared for while the government figured out what to do with them.

1983, post-Doomsday

In Australia, Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart, Canberra and Darwin were reopened to the public on October 3, the same day that Hawke set up relief centres in three cities near the destroyed centres of Sydney, Melbourne and Perth:

• Bunbury, for the survivors of the Perth blast
• Newcastle, for those from Sydney
• Geelong, for survivors from the Melbourne region

All three cities were also named provisional capitals for their respective states (and formalized as such in 1986).

It was notable that all three strikes hit directly over the downtowns of their respective targets, and not nearby military bases. This proved to be especially valuable to the survivors of the Perth blast and to western Australia in general, as the Pearce RAAF base in nearby Bullsbrook was not hit. Not only was the base relatively undamaged, the military also was able to use it as a staging area for the defence, and eventually rebuilding of, western Australia.

As Canberra remained untouched from nuclear attacks, the Australian government survived and was able to maintain a basic degree of order over the entire nation, preventing the chaos and anarchy that happened in numerous other nations. Hawke oversaw temporary, but necessary, emergency powers and acts designed to give the federal government the power it needed to keep order and help oversee the rebuilding of his nation.

Muldoon offered aid to Australia, and requested a meeting to discuss what both countries should do going forward.

File:480px-BobHawke(cropped).jpg

Prime Minister Bob Hawke of Australia

On October 8, Hawke met Muldoon to discuss the events of Doomsday and subsequent days. Hawke proposed changes that would align and combine key branches of both governments, first and foremost the military. Hawke also proposed measures aimed at preventing a collapse of the economy, and other changes that would have wide-ranging ramifications for both nations, from civil defence to agriculture to transportation. The changes would have to be defined, and developed, jointly by both countries, but the end result would be two separate nations that, in many respects (most notably economically and militarily) acted as one.

Hawke told Australia and New Zealand media that the relationship between the two countries "was enormously precious at this difficult and challenging time" and that it would help pave the way for their "joint future".

The summer saw continuing work on resettling refugees near the destroyed cities into new homes in or near the three designated relief centers. The federal government also took on increased, but temporary, powers that helped it with food distribution and maintaining order nationwide. And, quietly, Australian and New Zealand militaries began combining resources and taking steps to work as a unified force by April 1984.

Communications were restored with Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and most of the Pacific island nations by Christmas of 1983 (including British-affiliated Western Samoa and U.S. territory American Samoa)

Prime Minister Robert Muldoon of New Zealand

Hawke met with Indonesian President Suharto in February 1984, asking for access to Indonesian oil while pledging Australian aid for the beleaguered nation regardless of Suharto's response. Suharto accepted the aid and agreed to open up his country's oil to all markets. He believed that Indonesia needed to move forward on the assumption that the Australia, New Zealand and Singapore markets would eventually bounce back to near pre-Doomsday levels; that would help secure Indonesia's long-term economic future, and the needs of the Australian and Singaporean militaries would give Indonesia's economy a short-term boost.

A 1981 picture of the HMAS Melbourne, with the US Navy's USS Midway in the background

The HMAS Melbourne - retired from the Royal Australian Navy fleet the year before - was reactivated, repaired and returned to service in May 1984, serving as the RAN flagship for the next 11 years.

Indonesian oil allowed Australia the luxury of visiting various nations in the south Pacific. With both Great Britain and the United States assumed totally destroyed on Doomsday, the American and British protectorates and territories looked to Canberra.

Message from America

In February, an unexpected radio message from North America came: the American President, Ronald Reagan, was alive, as was Vice President George Bush and several other staffers and cabinet members, and they were trying to find out who else was alive in this post-Doomsday world.

After learning of the message from America, Hawke ordered that he be in on any further messages sent from the states, and that Ambassador Nesen be allowed in.

The next day, another message came through from Mount Weather, and 20 minutes later, Hawke was speaking with President Ronald Reagan. Nesen came in moments later, and he and Hawke were told that Reagan and Bush had gotten to shelter, but that the known situation throughout the United States was grim. The Virginia and West Virginia state governments had collapsed, with even the surrounding towns falling into anarchy, and locals beginning to resort to cannibalism; supplies were dwindling, and food in the region was either inedible or had already been accounted for by local survivors. No one had been able to establish contact with anyone outside the Mount Weather or Greenbrier regions, and certainly not from Canada, Japan nor Western Europe.

The one contact other than Australia the U.S. had been able to establish was with Mexican military south of Mexico City; they learned that Mexico had survived Doomsday and was not only functioning but was apparently taking American survivors from the southwest border states. It gave Reagan, and Bush, and everyone around them hope, to carry on and seek safe haven.

Reagan's advisors informed him the situation around Mount Weather and Bush's headquarters at the Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia was likely the same throughout the country and were advising him to abandon the mainland for the closest known surviving U.S. ally. With Australia now known to have survived, Reagan told Hawke that "I have been convinced by my advisors that Australia, not Mexico, gives our government the best chance at survival, and therefore, we are asking you for temporary refuge for the duration of the crisis."

Hawke immediately agreed to accept Reagan and Bush, along with other remaining cabinet members, staffers, military personnel and family members. Hawke advised that Reagan make arrangements with Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid, if possible, to accept any and all American refugees who had fled into that country (which Reagan had already planned for).

Reagan's plane never made it. Soon after leaving Hawaii, Air Force One began having mechanical problems; the last recorded message from the pilot reported extreme mechanical duress over the Pacific Ocean. The RAAF pilot in communication with Air Force One lost contact with the plane.

No signs of Air Force One, nor anyone on board, have ever been found.

The American Provisional Administration

Bush arrived in Canberra on Air Force Two on May 6 from Auckland, greeted personally by Hawke only to be told that the RAAF had lost contact with Air Force One. Bush and his party, shaken by the news, were escorted to the U.S. embassy while Hawke ordered (as a courtesy to Bush) two RAAF planes to fly over the general area Air Force One was believed to have crashed in.

On May 8, after no traces of Reagan's plane nor party were discovered, Bush was sworn in as U.S. President by Sir Harry Gibbs, the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia at the U.S. Embassy.

On the same day of his inauguration, Bush announced the creation of the American Provisional Administration (APA), located out of the American embassy in Canberra. The goals of the organization were twofold: first, to gather intelligence on the situation, both in the USA and across the world; and secondly, to provide cohesion for the community of American survivors. One of his first acts as president was to order American troops and supplies to Hawaii to prevent the deteriorating condition there.

In June, the famous "Gathering Order" was issued.

U.S. equipment and ships made the combined US/Australian/New Zealand Navy the most powerful of all of the surviving nations, far away more efficient and well-equipped than any other. The USS Carl Vinson, which incredibly survived Doomsday, was the capital ship of the fleet.

1984-1994

More to come...

1995: The unification of Australia and New Zealand

Hawke's drive to unite Australia and New Zealand saw its fruition in 1995; as the United States of America was formally ending its existence, a new alliance uniting Australia and New Zealand with the remaining assets of the APA came into existence: the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand. Later in 1995, Hawaii and Alaska both voted to become associate states of the Commonwealth.

While the member nations voted to maintain their political independence, all saw more benefit in a common military and economy. A government, complete with a Secretary General and a Parliament, would be formed that would govern Commonwealth issues, while leaving local and national issues to the respective member nations.

The Australian dollar would be renamed the ANZC dollar and become the new currency for the Commonwealth.

The four member states formally merged their militaries into the new Commonwealth military division, which was further strengthened by the assets of the United States Naval ships and military units that had responded to the Gathering Order.

Of course, there was criticism of the new Commonwealth, mainly by far-right groups concerned about national identity being swallowed up by a more homogenous group, as well as the extra layer of bureaucracy that came with the establishment of the Commonwealth. Conspiracy theorists even suggested the ANZC was the precursor to a one-world government, a theory that died out around the turn of the century but regained steam when the League of Nations was formally announced.

One purpose for the Commonwealth was to give the region a united voice and front to the rest of the world, which served the ANZC well in relations with southeastern Asian countries and, later, with South America.

The USS Carl Vinson and controversy

The USS Carl Vinson was rechristened as the ANZS "Commonwealth" (ANZ-01) and the new Flagship of the combined ANZC Navy, along with American submarines and other ships already operating under Australian command.

This step caused intense political debates among the population of Australia and New Zealand concerning the reusage of nuclear fission in any way, especially for military purposes. Although a majority agreed to the government plans in a popular vote in both countries, the anti-nuclear movement spearheaded by the Green Party grew more and more influential in the CANZ parliament, inspiring similar movements in other nations.

Still, the addition of the American ships allowed the CANZ Navy to operate on a global scale and provide humanitarian support in other nations.

South America

Initially, the Australian/New Zealand allliance and the South American countries were glad to see each other having survived the cataclysm of Doomsday.

Pledges to work together on numerous fronts were given by leaders on both sides, and in the 1980s joint scientific and medical projects showed a promise of helping the Southern Hemisphere get back on its feet.

Influential politicians and military leaders on both sides, however, saw the opportunity for their respective regions to succeed the US and USSR as the world's sole superpower...and saw the other as a potential threat.

While the Commonwealth and South American militaries lobbied for bigger budgets to strengthen their forces, politicians in both regions gradually raised rhetoric to bolster their own status, at the expense of the "enemy" (and often the truth). Australian politicians claimed Communist influence in Brazil and Argentina, while politicians in many South American countries (starting with Venezuela) claimed America nearly destroyed the world and that - in the words of one leader - "its lackeys in Australia are anxious to finish the job."

Their voices were countered by more temperate ones who just as fervently called for peace between both sides, and that they must work together as one, given their status and responsiblity as the world's new superpowers.

What nearly no one counted on, however, was the distaste of the public in both regions for the increasing rhetoric and the fear that another world war may start over what amounted to pride and rhetoric.

Even as political tensions rose, and the two sides argued over nearly everything, the people were calling for peace.

In August 1994 Australian and UAR ships faced down one another in a virtual stand-off on two fronts: the Pitcairn Islands and French Polynesia. While diplomats in Canberra and Montevideo sought to quickly resolve the dispute, popular protests in favor of peace arose overnight. Large numbers of people gathered from Caracas to Buenos Aires, from Darwin to Canberra, Rio to Lima, Brisbane to Auckland, in non-violent protests calling for peace and for both parties to work together.

No one wanted a second Doomsday - not even those in charge. Cooler heads on both sides prevailed politically and militarily.

Starting with negotiations ending the tense standoffs in the Pacific, the predecessors of the ANZC and the South American Confederation began working to end their mutual disagreements.

A dispute over the Panama Canal a few years later threatened to undo all progress and bring both entities to all-out war.

In 1996, the ANZC informed Colombia that, as the legal successor to the United States government, it had proper rights to the formerly U.S.-administered canal zone. For the next few years the dispute never went beyond political debate.

In 2000, the ANZC naval flagship - the ANZS Commonwealth supercarrier - visited the Gulf of Panama, retracing the route the USS Benjamin Franklin had peacefully taken a few years before.

This time, however, things turned violent. A party was allowed to land to speak with the military commander in Panama City, but a dispute arose when he refused to allow the ANZ officers to take a boat up the canal. The argument became heated, and shots were fired. The ANZ crew returned to their ships under fire; bypassing Colombia and Ecuador, they did not stop until they reached Lima.

Relations between the ANZC and the canal powers just got worse from there.

In 2001 the canal was opened to commercial traffic. Because of its ongoing claim to the Canal Zone, the ANZC and its ships were specifically excluded. This was a clear violation of the 1977 treaty; the idea that their ships would be essentially cut off from the Atlantic trade was unacceptable to commercial concerns in Australia and New Zealand, and most of the people agreed with them.

Meanwhile, protests continued on both sides of the Atlantic, dying down largely as threatened conflicts died down, only to reerupt whenever conflict became possible.

In 2003 the ANZC government dispatched a naval squadron to Panama. Officially it was only going to defend the country's trading rights, and there was no formal declaration of war. However, its intentions were clear. The ships anchored off the Pearl Islands in the Gulf, where marines landed and began constructing a makeshift base. Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela sent their own ships to attack their position. They were joined by a small force from the United American Republic that happened to be in the region. The ANZC squadron fought fairly brilliantly and held its own. However, it was running short of supplies and was unable to force a landing on the mainland. It had no allies in the region: neutral Costa Rica said that if it landed in the Gulf of Puntarenas, Costa Rica would not protect it. So the ships were forced to retreat. They returned to the Commonwealth having achieved nothing except alienate the entire continent of South America.

The ANZC had alarmed South Americans since it had come to be eight years earlier. The attack on Panama only confirmed the common assumption that the Commonwealth was merely the latest incarnation of the infamous Anglo-American imperialism. The incident galvanized the South American nations into going forward with plans for a military and economic alliance of the entire continent. Whereas before the attack several countries had refused to discuss the alliance until certain issues were resolved, afterwards they had no choice but to bow to political, military and (somewhat) popular demands. Diplomats and presidents met in May 2004, and on June 2 they declared the formation of the South American Confederation. The status of the Panama Canal was one of the issues discussed at the first meeting. It was agreed that control of the Canal Zone would be handed to the SAC at a future date, but that Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador, as the canal's builders, would have guaranteed seats on a five-seat commission to govern it. This model would later be adopted by the League of Nations for administering its international territories.

The following year, the ANZC tried again. This time, however, it had laid some groundwork by discussing the canal with the one other power that really stood to benefit from open access: the USSR. The Siberians would not commit to a full-fledged joint military action - "imperialism", they called it - but they agreed that it was in their interest to keep the canal open to everybody, not just South America and its allies. Rather than a naval squadron, Australia-New Zealand agreed to send a "trading convoy" with a heavy-armed naval escort to Nicaragua, where it would be joined by Siberian ships for the trip to Panama.

In September 2005, a most peculiar fleet came cruising into sight of the Pearl Islands, which they had been annexed to the Canal Zone and now housed a small base. The fleet was heavily armed and consisted mostly of naval vessels, but in the middle of the formation were several humble-looking cargo ships. Most peculiar, though, to the observers on the islands were the flags: the Southern Crosses flew alongside a few Hammers and Sickles - both sides of World War 3 were bearing down on Panama. The Siberians and the Oz-Kiwis gambled that South America would not risk war with both powers.

The gamble paid off. The ANZ-Siberian fleet avoided open conflict. Diplomats traveling with the fleet demanded free passage through the canal and offered to re-negotiate the 1977 treaty that was causing so much trouble. In the new treaty, the ANZC recognized South America as the legitimate successor to the Panamanian government, not an external threat. In return, South America dropped the ban against ANZ ships and agreed in principle never to exclude the Commonwealth or Siberia from using the canal for commercial purposes. However, the ANZC could not be persuaded to drop its claim of a permanent right to defend the Canal Zone. The treaty was only temporary, with a term of only five years. But it successfully prevented a disastrous war.

Relations between the blocs improved after that. ANZC voters, tired of imperialistic grandstanding, elected the Commonwealth's first Green parliament in 2006. The same year saw the election of Juan Manuel Santos, who had been educated in the United States and Britain, to the Colombian Presidency. Santos downplayed his US connections during the campaign, but they may have helped him be more receptive to Australia-New Zealand's friendly overtures. ANZ military policy shifted from competition with South America to cooperation. Australia-New Zealand forces joined with the newly united South American armed forces to establish new regimes in North America (the Municipal States of the Pacific) and South Africa (the RZA). And talk was beginning on a new forum for international diplomacy: the League of Nations.

When the LoN was founded in September 2008, relations between Oceania and South America were at a high point despite growing economic competition. Within weeks of the LoN's founding, they began to renegotiate the 2005 treaty. This time, a new power bloc had emerged in the Atlantic in the form of the Atlantic Defense Community, an alliance of states in Europe and North Africa, together with Canada. The ADC states joined with Siberia and Australia-New Zealand in pressuring South America to adopt a more expansive policy toward other countries' rights in the canal. Accordingly, the 2008 treaty states that the SAC may not discriminate against the ships of any nation passing through the Canal Zone, except in case of war. SAC nations and France are also allowed to keep their privileged status, since their treaty rights predate the 2005 settlement. In addition, the League of Nations was allowed to station a "supervisory" commission in the CZ. It has no actual power in the Zone's governance, but was put in place to monitor the CZ and make sure the treaty terms are carried out. Unlike the 2005 agreement, the Treaty of 2008 has a term of fifty years.

While the divide between both sides has significantly cooled down, both sides grew to see each other not as enemies but as rivals, competing for dominance in the post-Doomsday world. They also recognized the need to work together, in ways that would be for their own benefit as well as that of the globe. This led to the formation of the LoN, as well as the re-establishment of joint scientific, technological and medical projects.

The emergence of the successor to the Soviet Union in Siberia, plus the uncertainty regarding potential threats in Africa and Asia, have led the ANZC and the SAC to join together to help police the world and end the next global threats before they can grow.

This flag was used between the CANZ's formation in 1995 and the adoption of the current flag in 1996.

The 21st century

One of the main tasks of the Commonwealth was defined to secure the survival of as many citizens of the two countries - and to a certain degree all survivors - in the rest of the world as possible.

Some regions in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and East Timor operated as de facto protectorates/possessions since the founding of the ANZC, and would eventually formally join the Commonwealth.

Based on the intense and solid cooperation of the two nations which both weathered Doomsday comparably well, the ANZC has become one of the key players in the post-Doomsday world.

As the Commonwealth became known around the world, many outside the region erroneously saw it as one nation covering the whole of Oceania. Only the militaries of the various nations were one - politically, they were very separate entities, though they worked closely together and had strong relations with one another.

Occasional actions by the Commonwealth's political arm - such as sending a single representative to the League of Nations, and receiving dignitaries on behalf of all members - have sent contradictory messages to the rest of the world on whether the Commonwealth is truly unified in all respects or not.

With that in mind, the Australian and New Zealand governments have taken steps to confirm their political independence and assert it in the post-Doomsday world.

Australia's current Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, is becoming a major voice on the global political scene. A strong advocate for Australia, Abbott has rankled his counterparts in South America with his pro-Commonwealth and pro-Australia views. New Zealand's current Prime Minister, John Key, has taken a less rancorous profile, and as a result his country currently enjoys somewhat more favorable relations with South America than Abbott's Australia.

The single ANZC representative in the LoN, at its founding in 2008, was soon replaced by the representatives of Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Fiji, Alaska, Hawaii and other Commonwealth-associated nations.

All member nations continue to designate and send separate ambassadors to the various global nations, and Australia and New Zealand's governments are actively promoting themselves as "independent but allied friends" in the business world and travel industry.

In popular culture, television shows and movies are being marketed increasingly as Australian, New Zealander or Tongan, while musicians are referred to by their country of origin rather than the "ANZC" or "Commonwealth" designations they had in the 1990s and the 2000s. In most sports the various members retain national sides; only in association football (soccer) is there one unified team; while the Commonwealth will again field a unified side in qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, the sport's governing body, FIFA, has encouraged separate federations for the member nations.

The League of Nations

The CANZ was a founding member and the initiator of the League of Nations and hosted the foundation ceremony on September 26, 2008 in Canberra. It enjoys good relations with all nations and has no "enemies", although the South American Confederation acts as more of an economic and political rival than an enemy

The 2010 Earthquake

On September 4, 2010, a major 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch at 4:35 am local time, causing an estimated total cost of ANZ$4 billion in damage. The epicentre was located approximately 40 km west of the central city, ten km southeast of Darfield. The earthquake occurred at a depth of ten km (6.0 mi).

Sewers were damaged, gas and water lines were broken, and power to up to 75% of the city was disrupted. Among the facilities impacted by lack of power was the Christchurch Hospital, which was forced to use emergency generators in the immediate aftermath of the quake.

A state of emergency was declared at 10:16 am on 4 September for the city, and evacuations of parts were planned to begin later in the day. People inside the Christchurch city centre were evacuated, and the city's central business district remained closed until September 5. A curfew from 7 pm on September 4 to 7 am on September 5 was put in place. The ANZC Army was also deployed to assist police and enforce the curfew. All schools were closed until September 8 so they could be checked.

Christchurch International Airport was closed following the earthquake and flights in and out of it cancelled. It reopened at 1:30 pm following inspection of the main runway.

The earthquake was reported to have caused widespread damage and power outages. 63 aftershocks were also reported in the first 48 hours with three registering 5.2 magnitude. Christchurch residents reported chimneys falling in through rooves, cracked ceilings and collapsed brick walls. Total Earthquake Commission, insurance and individual costs may reach as high as ANZ$4 billion.

The 2010 Queensland floods

A series of floods hit Australia, beginning in December 2010, primarily in the state of Queensland including its capital city, Brisbane. The floods forced the evacuation of thousands of people from towns and cities. At least 70 towns and over 200,000 people were affected. Damage initially was estimated at around ANZ$1 billion. The estimated reduction in the ANZC's GDP is about ANZ$25 billion.

Three-quarters of the state of Queensland was declared a disaster zone. The 2010–2011 floods killed 35 people in Queensland. As of January 26, an additional nine persons are missing. The Queensland floods were followed by the 2011 Victorian floods which saw more than 50 communities in western and central Victoria also grapple with significant flooding.

Territory

The Commonwealth spans a large part of the Pacific Ocean.

Integral territory

These regions are part of the Commonwealth proper. They each have self-government and send members to the ANZC Parliament.

• Australia
• New Zealand
• Samoa
• Micronesia

External territories

These islands have limited or non-existent 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 so far been unable to enforce its claim over the Cocos.

• Chatham Islands
• Kermadec Islands
• Tokelau
• Marcus Island
• Ashmore and Cartier Islands (uninhabited)
• Christmas Island (Indian Ocean)
• Coral Sea Islands (uninhabited)
• Cocos Islands (claimed, disputed)
• Heard Island and McDonald Islands (claimed, uninhabited)
• Okinawa   (claimed, uninhabited)
• Howland Island
• Baker Island
• Lord Howe Island
• Miscellaneous 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.

• Free State of Alaska
• Belau
• Cook Islands (includes Pitcairn Islands)
• East Timor (de facto)
• Hawaii
• Kiribati
• Nauru
• Norfolk Island
• Niue
• Papua New Guinea
• Tuvalu
• Vanuatu
• The Yukon

In addition, the ANZC jointly occupies the Cape of Good Hope along with South American Confederation forces, and with the SAC manages the provisional RZA 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.

Adelaide, in South Australia, has a population of 1.3 million. Adelaide is home to numerous governmental and financial institutions, and is noted for its many festivals; sporting events; its food, wine and culture; its long beach fronts; and its large defence and manufacturing sectors.

Auckland, on the North Island of former New Zealand, has a population of 1.4 million. It is noted for its cultural and leisure activities, and its port is the third-most active port in the region behind Brisbane's and Singapore's.

Brisbane, located in Queensland, with a population of just under 2 million, is the largest city in the ANZC and its leading cultural and business area. The Port of Brisbane is the nation's most important port. Darling Downs processes grain and livestock from western Australia for consumers in the eastern half.

Canberra - the former capital, located in New South Wales - 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 sizable minority being Papua New Guineans and Asians who resettled there for business, work and/or school.

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.

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 center after Doomsday, has taken Perth's place as the key city in western Australia. Its population is currently 500,000, including sizable 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, modelled after the Sydney Opera House landmark and concert hall destroyed on Doomsday. It also serves as one of the Commonwealth's most important ports and industrial hubs (including its steel works).

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 (which was severely damaged by an earthquake on September 4, 2010, and farther damaged by another earthquake on February 22 2011, with numerous fatalities); Pago Pago, Samoa; and Hilo, Hawaii.

Government and politics

Organization

The organization of the ANZC basically is divided into four levels.

The highest level is the federal level, where national sovereignty is superseded in certain areas by the ANZC itself. The military is the best-known example, as all member and associated nations are protected not by their national militaries, but by the respective branches of the ANZC military. The ANZC also controls and oversees economic and trade policy for the respective member nations in such matters as establishing a common currency and clarifying rules on trade. The ANZC has also tended to send a single ambassador to various nations representing the entire Commonwealth (as opposed to sending one ambassador from each of the member and associated states. However, some states do send separate ambassadors and establish separate embassies).

All of this has contributed to misunderstanding over the years that the ANZC is in effect one unified nation. While in some respects it is a single entity, in others it is more of an alliance of nations. Where the ANZC has not been granted specific authority over a member or associate nation's affairs, that nation is responsible for governing itself.

That leads to the next level of the ANZC: the national level, represented respectively by the governments of Australia, Micronesia, New Zealand and Samoa, as well as the respective nations associated with the Commonwealth. Each governs its own political and economic affairs, and has limited authority regarding military activities within their own borders.

The third level is the state level. This is not universal to each nation, which subdivides itself politically according to its own laws and constitutions. For example, New Zealand has a national government, and is subdivided by the various towns and cities that make up the country (the local level). Australia on the other hand is subdivided into states and territories, which set policies for their respective territories.

The final, and lowest, level is the local level, consisting of city, town and village governments. Depending on the member nation, those governments may be subject only to the national government and laws, or to both the national government and the state it resides in.

Politics

At the federal level, the ANZC is dominated by three strains of political thought: Conservative, Labour, and Green. These are in fact coalitions of local parties which go by different names in the different nation-states of the Commonwealth.

Political parties of the ANZC

Federal	Conservative	Labour	Green
Australia	Liberal Party	Australia Labor Party	Australian Greens
New Zealand	National Party of New Zealand	New Zealand Labour Party	Green Party of Aotearoa
Samoa	Liberal Party of Samoa	Human Rights-Labour Party	Fanua Party

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 nonpartisionship.

As a result of the influx of immigrants into the Commonwealth in the aftermath of Doomsday, a number of nationalist parties were founded by politicians 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 various state parliaments.

Executive branch

The Governor-General is in effect the head of state for the entire ANZC; the current holder of the office is the former Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard. The ANZC Governor-General exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth. The functions and roles of the Governor-General include appointing ANZC ambassadors and ministers, giving assent to legislation, issuing writs for elections and bestowing honours. The Governor-General is Commander-in-Chief of the ANZC military, and also the symbolic head of state for both Australia and New Zealand.

The title of Governor-General is a carryover from the offices of the same title formerly part of the Australian and New Zealand governments. There, the governor-general was his or her respective country's head of state and the representative of the monarch of the former United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Although the ANZC no longer has ties to the British monarchy, the title of Governor-General was chosen to for the holder of the top executive branch in the new Commonwealth.

The Governor-General is elected every three years in all ANZC member and associate nations.

Parliamentary branch

The Parliament of Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of the ANZC. It is bicameral, largely modeled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress.

The lower house, the House of Representatives, currently consists of 250 members, who represent districts known as electoral divisions (commonly referred to as "electorates" or "seats"). The number of members is not fixed, but can vary with boundary changes resulting from electoral redistributions, which are required on a regular basis.

Radio broadcasts of the former Australian Parliamentary proceedings began on 10 July 1946. They were originally broadcast on ABC Radio. Since August 1997 they have since been broadcast on ANZBC NewsRadio and its affiliates throughout the ANZC. ABC is a government owned network of radio stations that exist solely for broadcasting Parliamentary proceedings. It operates 24 hours a day and broadcasts other news items when parliament is not sitting.

More to come...

Judicial branches

The Commonwealth per se does not have a judicial branch, preferring to leave such things to the respective member nations. Nevertheless, the member and associate nations have coordinated efforts in regards to cases that extend beyond the national level to the "Commonwealth level". Some have long advocated a Commonwealth judicial branch, and numerous pundits are predicting this will eventually come to pass.

The ANZC military does have its own courts, subject to itself and the Commonwealth government.

International relations

The ANZC is a founding member of the League of Nations 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 South American Confederation have often worked together since the solution of the Panama Canal-question, especially with the formation of the RZA and the Municipal States of the Pacific. Recently, however, intense economic competition and differing positions over the ongoing civil war in India, have led to cooler relations between the two power blocs.

Military

See main article: Commonwealth Armed Forces

The CAF was first established by order of ANZUS in 1989 to serve Australia, New Zealand, and the territories under the American Provisional Administration. 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

Sport throughout Australia, New Zealand and Oceania was suspended for a time after Doomsday, but not for long. Sport was deemed necessary by the Australian and New Zealand governments to maintain morale, even at a limited level. By the time the Commonwealth came into existence, professional and amateur competition in each of the various sports had fully resumed, and two new leagues - the then-American Football gridiron league, and the Australian Rugby League, had been formed.

Whether the Commonwealth is represented in international competition as one entity or as its constituent member nations depends on the sport. For example, in association football/soccer, the Commonwealth competes as one side. In rugby union, Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea have their own federations, while the various nations and islands of Oceania (including Tonga) compete under their own federation; Samoa has its own federation, and has been allowed by the Commonwealth Rugby Board to include players from the Free State of Hawaii. In ice hockey, Australian and New Zealand players compete under the ANZC banner, while Alaska has its own national federation.

Commonwealth athletes will compete in the upcoming winter and summer Olympic Games as one entity, similarly to Great Britain pre-Doomsday.

The various 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:

• 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)

Second-tier leagues exist in each of the Australian states, as well as in New Zealand and Hawaii.

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:

• New South Wales (Newcastle)

• Victoria (Geelong)

• Queensland (Brisbane)

• Western Australia (Bunbury)

• South Australia (Adelaide)

• Northern Territory (Darwin)

• Tasmania (Hobart)

• New Zealand North (Auckland)

• New Zealand South (Christchurch)

• Samoa

• Tonga

• Fiji

The ANZC sends three sides, Australia, New Zealand and Samoa/Hawaii to compete in the Six Nations Series against the United American Republic, Fiji and Tonga. 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 respective 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 (ARL). The ARL was established in 1995 and is headquartered in Auckland. The league is based on a franchise model - like the old National Football League gridiron league in America and its successor, the Oceanic Football League. The franchises are:

• 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)

There is talk of expansion to Singapore, Fiji and/or Samoa by 2016.

Association football (soccer) is rapidly growing in popularity, especially among youth. The Football Federation of the ANZC (FFANZ) 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 FFANZ 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, East Caribbean Federation and the Union Interim Parliament 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. A men's domestic premier league exists, with eight clubs playing in the large cities. But average attendance is around 2,500 per match, and Basketball ANZC (the sport's sanctioning body) faces an uphill battle in building basketball as a major national sport.

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. The national netball league, the ANZ Championship has drawn crowds upwards to 12,000 spectators.

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:

• Adelaide Rams
• Auckland Raiders
• Brisbane Cowboys
• Canberra Colts
• Darwin Bears
• Newcastle Giants
• Pago Pago Dolphins
• Tasmania Browns

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 2009. The next month, the owners voted to maintain the league headquarters in Pago Pago but revisit bids from Auckland and Canberra in 2011.

The OFL also is seeking to build ties with recently discovered gridiron leagues in the former United States, as well as to help sponsor the relocation of a Professional Football Hall of Fame to Green Bay, Superior.

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 (13,000), the American Football League (12,000) and the ANZ Championship (8,500).

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

Culture

Ethnic culture

The islands of Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand are home to many Aboriginal people. These people are different from the Whites in every way from religion, one of which is "dreamtime", to clothing and language. Many of these aboriginals, unlike the Native Americans have preserved their culture and way of living.

Arstar: More will be added soon.

Ballet/dance

More to come

Cinema

More to come

Art

More to come

Literature

More to come

Music

One ANZC band is The Griffin's Doom.

Music

The ANZC is a global leader in all facets of popular music, from production to promotion to equipment.

The most popular forms of music include adult contemporary, lite rock, electronica, folk, punk, country and a genre known as "Christian praise". The American diaspora has been influential in the redevelopment of the national music scene, particularly in the country and adult contemporary fields.

The ANZC has produced several of the world's most popular music acts. One of them is Keith Urban, from Brisbane, the leading adult contemporary/pop star in the country. Another is Darren Hayes, formerly of the pop duo Savage Garden, and now in the midst of a solid solo career. Silverchair, from Newcastle, is one of the top rock acts in the world.

Popular music

More to come...

Rock music

More to come...

Country music

More to come....

Classical music and opera

More to come....

Many of the performing arts companies throughout the ANZC receive some form of government assistance, although fund-raising is also an important part of their budgets. Each state in Australia has its own symphony; opera in Australia and New Zealand is governed by Opera ANZC.

The Newcastle Opera House - a near-identical copy to the famed Sydney Opera House - was completed in late August 1997, and opened with much fanfare two weeks before Christmas. Great care was taken to replicate the famed opera house as much as possible. The home for numerous concerts and performances of classical music, opera, and pop and rock music, the Newcastle Opera House is also considered an important cultural symbol for the entire Commonwealth, linking its pre-Doomsday past with its post-Doomsday future.

Indigenous music

more to come

Other forms of music

More to come...

Media

Radio/television

Radio and television broadcasting within Australia and New Zealand is governed by the ANZC Broadcasting Authority, an organization jointly created by the Australian and New Zealand governments after the Commonwealth was established in 1995.

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 the Commonwealth's 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.

The Australian government operates an Australian Broadcasting Channel for government purposes; the ANZBC provides similar services for the New Zealand, Samoan and Micronesian governments, giving those respective governments total editorial and programming control (as mandated by law) while providing equipment and studios.

ANZBC Radio

The ANZBC operates numerous local radio stations, in addition to seven national networks and international service Radio ANZC.

ANZBC Local Radio' is the Corporation's flagship radio station in each broadcast area. There are 66 individual stations, each with a similar format consisting of locally presented light entertainment, news, talk back, music, sport and interviews, in addition to some national programming such as AM, PM, The World Today, sporting events and Nightlife.

ANZBC Radio National broadcasts more than 60 special interest programs per week covering a range of topics including music, comedy, book readings, radio dramas, poetry, science, health, the arts, religion, social history and current affairs.

ANZBC NewsRadio, previously known as the Parliamentary and News Network, is a rolling news service. The service was established to broadcast federal parliamentary sittings, to relieve the local Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio affiliate from this intermittent task, and to provide a news service at other times. The network broadcasts news on a 24/7 format with updates on the quarter-hour. Much of its news content is produced by the ANZBC itself. Some programming comes via tape from the Celtic Alliance's RTE network.

ANZBC Concert FM came from the merger of ABC's Classic FM and Radio New Zealand's Concert network. It broadcasts classical music and opera, along with regular news updates. Its format borrowed heavily from community stations that eventually founded the Fine Music Network in Australia, as well as the BBC Radio 3 radio station in the former United Kingdom.

Triple J is the national youth radio network, and broadcasts contemporary alternative and independent music; it is targeted at people aged 18–35. While the network plays music from around the world, it has a strong focus on local artists.

Dig Music is aimed at fans of popular music from PNG, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines.

ANZBC Jazz carries different styles of jazz music.

ANZBC Country broadcasts country and western music, including pre- and post-Doomsday varieties from America.

ANZBC Television

Within Australia and New Zealand, the ANZBC operates four channels.

ANZBC1, the Corporation's primary television service, receives the bulk of funding for television and shows first-run comedy, drama, documentaries, and news and current affairs. In each state and territory a local news bulletin is shown at 7.00 p.m. nightly.

ANZBC2 shows repeated programs from ABC1, as well as some original content including news programs, children's shows, animation, and music shows.

A children's channel, named ANZBC3, launched in December 2009.

ANZBC4, also known as News24, is a free-to-air news dedicated channel.

SBS, Seven, Nine commercial television networks

More to come

Capital Radio, SBS radio, Star FM and other commercial radio broadcasters

More to come

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.