Bulletin. With the April 2024 citizenship audit nearing completion, the Commission of Demography has confirmed to this masthead that it expects the new citizenship tally to total four persons. The new number is said to include two existing citizens and two new citizens, while permanently suspending the citizenship of another thirteen persons. The final count is expected to be announced via Gubernatorial Decree at the end of the month. Quadrangle Gazette, 28/04/2024
New South Scotland
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Article. Citizens of the Crown Dependency are breathing a sigh of relief this Sunday as New South Scotland settles into a long weekend with the innaugural Monday celeberation of Constitution Day. New South Scotland will celebrate 22 April as the commerative date of the Constitution's promulgation in 2020, following the passage of Gubernatorial Decree #008. The 2024 Constitution Day coincides with what many observers would describe as a 'flurry' in New South Scottish activity, marking a symbolic end to the 2020-2024 period of inactivity. Full responsibility for the day-to-day administration of the Crown Dependency has passed to the Governing Commissioner, with the 2020 Legislative Assembly elections declared null and void. This has enabled a suite of new legislation to be passed by decree, including legislation to: confirm the results of the 2020 constitutional referendum; introduce a timezone, naming conventions, public holidays and an acknowledgement of country; review the citizenry; demarcate borders; and reform the Constabulary. In a statement released to the Gazette, Governing Commissioner Hugh McFarlane announced that his "intent is to reshape New South Scotland so that it can survive future bouts of inactivity, without expectations of consistent and active citizen participation. "Under the current legislative architecture, there remains a formally-stated desire to eventually proclaim a Legislative Assembly. However, this will only happen if there is a genuinely interested and large base of citizens to support such an institution. Until that time, my preference is to keep New South Scotland in the safe hands of my Office. "The legislation I have introduced, and will continue to introduce, is not intended to create expectations on New South Scotland to remain a consistently active place. Rather, they are designed to deliver a resilient and enduring territorial and political entity... one which can sustain itself, both as an idea and a physical place, into perpetuity." This masthead can confirm future legislation is tipped to announce the results of the April citizenry review and pave the way for engagement with other political entities in the region. However, with upcoming public holidays in New South Scotland and neighbouring Australia, legislative progress may be slowed temporarily. Quadrangle Gazette, 21/04/2024
New South Scotland In the wake of the 2020-2024 period of inactivity, the Office of Governing Commissioner McFarlane KCA has unveiled three new gubernatorial decrees addressing some of the key areas of concern within New South Scotland. According to a statement from the Governing Commissioner, "the overall intent of these refroms is to ensure that New South Scotland remains visibly active within the Empire of Austenasia, despite a reduced footprint". Following proclamation of the new laws, New South Scotland will remain under the full executive control of the Governing Commissioner until at least nine citizens are admitted to the Crown Dependency. Elections to fill the Legislative Assembly will be held once this threshold is reached. The decrees will also streamline New South Scotland's citizen base, ensuring inactive or uncontactable individuals are no longer counted as citizens of the Crown Dependency. The results of the 2020 constitutional referendum to lower the voting age to twelve have also been announced following the inactivity period, with the vote having been 70% in favour of the proposed change. Among more minor changes, the decrees clarify administrative coding of legislation and judicial decisions, in addition to clarifying timezones and time formatting within New South Scotland. The recent suite of decrees and amended constitution may be read here. Quadrangle Gazette, 07/04/2024
New South Scotland In a crowning moment for New South Scottish democracy, the Crown Dependency has successfully concluded its first elections, with 100% voter turnout. The groundbreaking territorial poll has seen four parties elected to fill the five-seat Assembly, with the Green Monarchist Party and Grand Alliance (PNRDNSS/CLANSS) holding two seats each, leaving the Assembly split. The elections come a full eight years after New South Scotland was first established as a Wessaxon colony in 2012 - a remarkable achievement for what was once a quiet, fringe territory. Under the new Legislative Assembly, the recently-formed Green Monarchist Party holds two seats, with its second member elected under a somewhat narrow second preference run-off. It stares off against Arcadius Tomson (PNRDNSS) and Silvia Paysais (CLANSS) of the 'grand alliance', which entered the elections as a joint ticket alongside the Behemoth Party. Whether Mr. Tomson and Ms. Paysais will look to transition their electoral alliance into a formal governing coalition remains to be seen. The resulting split leaves Citizen's Party MLA, Sophia Albina, in a kingmaker position, essentially having the choice of who enters government following the establishment of a legislative coalition. At present, there has been no indication by any of the party leaders as to possible coalition combinations. Once a government has been decided, the Legislative Assembly will need to turn its attention towards a number of pressing issues highlighted during the electoral campaign, including New South Scotland's international relationships, economic performance, cultural identity and activity-generating events. While the precise nature of the future government remains unclear, its monumental legislative agenda is abundantly clear. More to come. New honourable Members of the Legislative Assembly: Sophia Albina (Citizen's Party), Thomas Marios (Green Monarchist Party), Silvia Paysais (CLANSS - Grand Alliance), Remus Peroni (Green Monarchist Party), and Arcadius Tomson (PNRDNSS - Grand Alliance). Quadrangle Gazette, 13/05/2020
New South Scotland Scandal has swept through New South Scotland today, following failed attempts by territorial officials to establish informal ties with the Australian Micronational Council. The dispute marks a disappointing debut to the Crown Dependency's search for friends abroad. Despite having membership within the Empire of Austenasia, recent electoral debate has seen numerous New South Scottish political candidates express an interest in forging ties with the wider intermicronational community. As part of this push, Governing Commissioner McFarlane, KCA, is reported to have recently approached the Australian Micronational Council on an informal basis, hoping to arrange contact with other micronational entities in close geographic proximity to New South Scotland. Shortly after introducing the Crown Dependency to the Council, however, McFarlane was rebuked by the assembly's de facto leader, Etukara Emperor Zecheriah O'Hair, who is reported to have labelled New South Scotland as a colonial entity. O'Hair continued by saying that "for the sake of simplicity anything less favourable for you then an equal union [with Austenasia], we call a colonial relationship". McFarlane was quick to respond, by stating "I would passionately reject any charecterisation that our territory is a mere colony" before going on to say that "I think you would find that our population is entirely opposed to that charecterisation". Concerningly, in what some may identify as an outright threat, O'Hair responded by declaring "We don't want non-Australian countries in our council, nor do we want them on the continent". This dangerous comment has added credibility given O'Hair's prior use of the Council's Discord server to call on allies to "give diplomatic support or do damages" to the digital assets and Discord server of Matachewan, with which Etukan was involved in a dispute at the time of the remarks. Likewise, O'Hair has been observed musing over the benefits of micronational war in the Council chatroom, agreeing with the proposition that such warfare "can be both useful and useless". When viewed together, these comments provoke fear of future aggression by Etukan or other Council members, especially given New South Scotland's extremely close proximity to these nations, and the Crown Dependency's long history of occupation by Zealandian forces. Governing Commissioner McFarlane, KCA, has assured the New South Scottish public that neither the Crown Dependency nor the Empire at large would consider war with Council members, given Austenasia's long and proud membership in the Union Against Micronational War. That said, McFarlane has also issued a public reminder that the New South Scottish Constabulary will continue to provide for the territory's defence, claiming that the Crown Dependency is in "safe hands". Likewise, other New South Scottish citizens have issued their own remarks, with Citizen's Party Secretary General, Sophia Albina, issuing the following statement: "The Citizen’s Party denounces this slander of New South Scotland [and] wholeheartedly and without reservation calls upon all other parties and citizens to do so as well. Is there a relationship by which the Empire of Austenasia acts parasitically upon New South Scotland? If so, we ask these defamers to cite it, for the citizens of New South Scotland are not simply morons who would put up with such behavior. We also ask, are there not citizens of New South Scotland who were born Australians? Was the foundation of New South Scotland not the efforts of an Australian citizen?" Other micronational leaders such as Hrafnarfjallian High King, Thomas Bainbridge, have also confirmed that as a result of O'Hair's belligerency, the self-governing Hrafnarfjallian Barony of Eyrie will no longer seek out membership in the Council, despite being administered by a "born and bred Australian" in what few would describe as a colonial relationship. Finally, anonymous sources with prior experience in dealing with Etukan officials have joined the chorus of condemnation, stating that the nation "has always been aggressive to the greater micronational community", before further remarking that the Etukara Empire is known for trying "to divide nations through political conflict and rebellions". Regardless of the Crown Dependency's future relationship with the Council, the territory's fast-approaching legislative elections promise to deliver a government that will continue New South Scotland's engagement with the wider community. Despite the early upset, most expect future efforts to yield better results. Quadrangle Gazette, 05/05/2020
New South Scotland A spectacular twist has emerged less than twenty-four hours before the deadline for the submission of candidature lists with the establishment of the Green Monarchist Party (GMP) by Remus Peroni and Thomas Marios. Incorporating an interesting blend of green environmentalism and loyalty to the Austenasian Crown, the right-wing party now competes with the the PNRDNSS, CLANSS, Behemoth Party and Citizen's Party for election to the Legislative Assembly. Although the party's late establishment means that its leadership was unable to attend the recent election debate, the release of its official manifesto provides some key insights as to the organisation's legislative priorities. A keen focus on Austenasia's Christian and imperial heritage has been identified by the GMP as the key to the development of a strong New South Scottish identity. This differentiates the party from the PNRDNSS-CLANSS-Behemoth 'grand alliance', which has pushed for a more independent cultural identity and the Citizen's Party, which has hinted at secessionism in its manifesto despite encouraging "loyalty to His Imperial Majesty Jonathan I". Like the preceding four parties, the GMP has identified the formation of a New South Scottish economy as another major priority. To that end, Party Leader Peroni has stressed the importance of the establishment of a national bank, contrasting with the PNRDNSS' focus on the creation of an active stock market and the Citizen's Party's desire to promote economic activity via state-owned enterprises. These varying approaches to the creation of a territorial economy is likely to fuel a great amount of political discourse before and after the elections. Finally, the GMP has highlighted the possibility of leading an effort to deal with pollution on New South Scottish territory - an interesting proposal that has not been addressed by any of the preceding parties. Quadrangle Gazette, 04/05/2020
New South Scotland This article has been published by the 'Quadrangle Gazette' - the official journalistic wing of the Office of Governing Commissioner. With legislative elections having been scheduled a mere six days ago, the New South Scottish political landscape has well and truly roared into life. Already, the Crown Dependency has borne witness to the establishment of four political parties and the holding of an unprecedented election debate. A number of interesting political distinctions have emerged following the proclamation of the political parties - chiefly observed through the lens of the three party electoral alliance. This pact, known informally as the ‘grand alliance’, includes the territory’s first party, the Party for National Reconstruction and Development for New South Scotland (PNRDNSS), the Centrist Liberal Alliance of New South Scotland (CLANSS) and the Behemoth Party. Together, these parties are slated to face off against the much smaller but tenacious Citizen’s Party (CP), which was established shortly after the PNRDNSS. Despite CP leader Sophia Albina's absence from the debate, it nonetheless emerged during the proceedings that disagreements over the balance between ideology and pragmatism is the main factor driving the alliance/CP split. This emerged when each party leader of the alliance sought to highlight their individual party’s unique ideological bent, with Arcadius Tomson of the PNRDNSS touting his organisation’s status as a “a purely right-wing party”, Silvia Paysais of CLANSS underlining her party’s “center-right liberal” focus and Alejandro Whyatt of Behemoth claiming the status of a “third way party” for his organisation. This was contrasted by Ms. Albina’s remarks after the debate, which denounced the alliance’s collective ideological focus as “political grandstanding“, highlighting her party’s “technocratic pragmatism” as an alternative. THE ISSUES: Though united by a common interest in promoting New South Scotland’s cultural identity, international ties and economic performance, alliance party leaders also ventured to distinguish their respective party’s specific goals and aspirations from those of their counterparts. To that end, the PNRDNSS and CLANSS leaders each highlighted the importance of developing a unique territorial cultural identity, with Ms. Paysais mentioning the value of artistic engagement in particular. Mr. Whyatt of Behemoth, meanwhile, pointed to frequent debate between citizens on issues of macronational and ideological importance as the key to promoting domestic activity. Some differences within the alliance emerged over the question of outside engagement with the wider micronational community. This saw PNRDNSS leadership propose making formal contact with other micronations in the Crown Dependency's capacity as an autonomous Austenasian territory, identifying this as his party’s first priority, while Ms. Paysais of CLANSS said her party would focus first and foremost on using outside engagement to increase the population via immigration. This seemed to contrast with Mr. Whyatt’s rejection of the GUM and his resulting focus on domestic issues, possibly revealing a point of disagreement within the electoral pact over the motivations and necessity of New South Scottish engagement with the wider community. What unites all parties (including the CP), however, is an aspiration for the creation of a New South Scottish economy, although CP leader Ms. Albina rejected painting the issue in terms of the socialism/capitalism debate, instead suggesting drawing inspiration from Empire of Adammia’s example and using state-owned enterprises to forge an economy in her party's manifesto. Taking another approach, the PNRDNSS hopes to focus on the use of stock markets to drive growth, whereas neither Behemoth nor CLANSS appeared to offer a specific economic agenda (although their respective leaders both seem entirely committed to economic development as a matter of principle). Otherwise, the Behemoth Party and CP appear split on the matter of direct democracy, with Behemoth leader Whyatt seeming to place a focus on the use of referenda to solve the “most pressing issues” and settle disputes over the GUM, while the CP’s Albina remains resolute in her rejection of this method of public consultation. GOING FORWARD: At the time of writing, there are about twenty-four hours left for citizens to enroll as candidates on party (or independent) electoral lists, with submissions closing at 23:59 (UTC+10) 04/05/20. This leaves the door open for citizens to approach party leadership with candidate applications or start their own parties, as well as for non-citizens to apply for citizenship, join the Discord server, and do the same. Although the participating parties remain politically distinct, the grand alliance appears set on running on a single electoral list against the CP. This is expected to create tense negotiations in the coming twenty-four hours as party leaders negotiate for a favourable position on the list. This in itself may create an opportunity for the CP and other smaller parties in the near-future. Though electoral list submissions close in a day, there is still over a week before the elections themselves. According to the Office of Governing Commissioner, it is therefore hoped that a second, far more policy-oriented debate will be able to be held in the coming days. Quadrangle Gazette, 04/05/2020
New South Scotland As New South Scotland's political culture roars to life, concerns that politically-active citizens beneath the age of fourteen will be excluded from the electoral process have prompted the announcement of a minor referendum by Governing Commissioner McFarlane KCA to lower the voting age to twelve. According to the Office of Governing Commissioner McFarlane KCA, the original age limits stipulated under the territorial constitution (limiting the voting age to 14) were set rather arbitrarily. This has created a situation of political exclusion within the Crown Dependency, with a minority of citizens precluded from voting in elections or being democratically appointed to the Legislative Assembly despite their intense interest in New South Scotland's political future. Following the proclamation of the 'Gubernatorial Decree for a Constitutional Referendum to Lower the Voting Age', the second decree to leave the Governing Commissioner's office, the referendum to effect these reforms has been set for the 6th of May (six days prior to the legislative elections). Citizens unable to vote during the 6th of May (UTC+10) are encouraged to contact the Commission of Electoral Affairs in order to arrange for early voting. Under the new decree, citizens between the ages of twelve and fourteen will be eligible to run in the upcoming legislative elections on a tentative basis. Should the referendum fail, any lists with citizens in this age category will be automatically modified to reflect the maintenance of the current constitutional framework. Commission of Electoral Affairs, 29/04/20
New South Scotland A full eight years after its establishment as a Wessaxon colony, New South Scotland is finally on the verge of establishing genuine, democratic self-rule with legislative elections scheduled for the next fortnight. The announcement comes after the territory's population officially surpassed nine citizens - the threshold set by Governing Commissioner McFarlane KCA for the start of the election period. The election period shall see citizens aged 14 and above vote to fill the Legislative Assembly, which was established under the recently-promulgated constitution with the intention of assuming the vast majority of powers currently delegated to the Governing Commissioner. Members of the Legislative Assembly will be responsible for drafting bills, manning governmental departments and electing the Premier (the New South Scottish equivalent of a Prime Minister). Particular responsibility will lie with the territory's first Assembly, which will play the unique role of setting the course of New South Scotland for the foreseeable future. As of yet, only one law has been decreed by Governing Commissioner McFarlane KCA, leaving a significant legislative void for New South Scotland's future politicians to fill. This is believed to represent a deliberate attempt to afford the Assembly the maximum governmental flexibility possible going forward. Indeed, the first Assembly will need to decide on matters as diverse as cultural affairs, ministerial appointments, criminal law, official imagery use, language policy, community-building, media law, online sporting codes, territorial defence and perhaps even economic policy. It is likely that whatever precedent is set by the first Assembly will remain in place for months and years to come. The elections will be organised via a system of closed-list proportional representation, wherein parties and independent candidates submit lists to the Commission of Electoral Affairs eight days ahead of the election, allowing citizens to vote for entire lists as opposed to individual candidates on election day. This voting method was enshrined in the constitution on the assumption that it represented the best approach for electing multiple candidates from a singular voting district (that is, the entire Crown Dependency). According to the Commission of Electoral Affairs, the number of seats available for election will be announced at 21:59, 03/05/20 (UTC+10). The number shall be determined by dividing the Crown Dependency's population at the time of the announcement by three and then rounding up. Present calculations would see four seats put up for grabs. With many citizens having emigrated to New South Scotland expressly in the hopes of participating in the Crown Dependency's electoral process, a sense of keen anticipation has been descended across the territory in the run up to the historic poll. Official election timeline (courtesy of the Commission of Electoral Affairs):
This time frame leaves citizens willing to participate in the elections five days to organise into political parties and/or submit a list to the Commission of Electoral Affairs. These lists will not be modifiable after the closing date, at which point they will be released to the public. Due to the short distance in time between now and the closing period, it is expected that candidates and parties may want to wait until after they have submitted their lists before deciding upon the specifics of their electoral platform. Given that there are still several days before list submissions are closed, the Commission of Demography has issued a brief statement calling upon those interested in New South Scottish citizenship to "make the move and become a citizen before matters are decided for the next three months". It is believed that now might represent one of the most attractive moments at which to apply for citizenship. Further information shall be released in the coming days as political parties are formed and official election policies are announced. Office of Governing Commissioner, 28/04/2020
New South Scotland As New South Scotland's population continues to grow, full responsibility for the territory's administration remains in the hands of the Governing Commissioner (at least until a Legislative Assembly can be proclaimed). Today's declaration of 'Gubernatorial Decree #01' marks the first law put in place by the Governing Commissioner under the new constitution of 2020. Known more commonly as the Gubernatorial Decree for Governmental and Aesthetic Continuity 2020, the new law seeks to clarify a number of key details following the promulgation of a territorial constitution on Wednesday. The decree requires Governing Commissioner McFarlane to create a central directory of Austenasian laws applicable to New South Scotland, as well as to proclaim a Legislative Assembly once the Crown Dependency's population reaches nine. Beyond that, it also acknowledges the ongoing existence of the New South Scottish Constabulary, which shall continue to nominally function as a de jure political entity pending review by the Legislative Assembly. As far as aesthetics are concerned, the decree formally sets out the official design to be used on both the flag and coat of arms. Finally, following years of Zealandian administration over the Crown Dependency, the decree formally renounces any lingering Zealandian influence within the organs of New South Scottish government. This is understood to represent a quiet condemnation of the bellicose and manipulative methods used by the former Zealandian Government to maintain control over the territory between 2014 and 2016. There is an expectation that Governing Commissioner McFarlane may pass more decrees prior to the proclamation of a Legislative Assembly, although as the Crown Dependency's population continues to grow, it may not be long before an Assembly is put in place. Those interested in applying for New South Scottish citizenship are encouraged to do so via the Commission of Demography's online web page. Office of Governing Commissioner, 24/04/2020
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