Australia

Australia is the largest country located within Oceania. It occupies not only the Australian continent, but numerous other small islands including its island state of Tasmania, the Solomon Islands, the Torres Strait and Papua New Guinea as security and protection. By 2077, Australia had annexed nations within Oceania in a manner similar to the United Kingdom, that is, under the guise of providing security and other benefits to their peoples.

1990s - 2000
In 1901, the Australian colonies became known as the Commonwealth of Australia, a self-governing federation which retained the monarch of Britain as its formal head of state. Increasing non-white immigration to Australia caused backlash from white Australians, leading to a series of laws designed to curb the flow of Asian immigrants. These laws were gradually repealed during the Second World War, which coupled with increasing contact with other countries, led to the transformation of Australian society into one of a multicultural nature. The generally prosperous conditions not only encouraged immigration but also helped people from an otherwise antagonistic culture to co-exist peacefully. Life was prosperous for all, until the Crash of '94.

Australia was hit hard by the crash. The economy took a severe hit on top of the steady decline since the 1980s, making much of the country's assets easy pickings for foreign investors. Australia's financial collapse was far more rapid than standard economic decline. Although one of the world's largest primary providers of resources, Australia couldn't compete with the world's new economic climate. Australian mineral resources became more expensive than those from the newly opened Russia, which was much closer to the European market. To make things worse, textile sales had been declining for decades due to cheaper synthetics; another blow to the already damaged economy.

In 1997, Australian oil saw a larger market share gain after the Middle Eastern Meltdown. However, the profits were mostly claimed by foreign investors, who had bought the country's energy corporations during the early days of the Crash of '94.

In 2002, Australia's vast agrarian market was all but wiped out by the Food Crash of the same year. Most Australians, by this time and after these various coincidental disasters, believed that the Crash of '94 had been deliberately created to destroy their country financially.

Throughout the second half of the twentieth century, the nation had began to question its ties to the United Kingdom. The two nations had already grown apart for decades. The war against Japan in the 1940s had caused Australia to move more towards an American sphere of influence. The dissolving ties between Australia and the United Kingdom caused some to ponder the appropriateness of having the British monarchy as heads of state. Debates on being a republic versus remaining under a monarchy, and the design of the national flag, went on until 2001, where progress was eventually made - although these issues were not fully resolved. The dissolution of the British monarchy, however, removed the final impediment to the formation of the Federal Republic of Australia.

2000s - 2020
In the 2000s, there were many groups of monarchist Australians who refused to accept a republic, swearing fealty to the Commonwealth. Relocating to Outback properties, these individuals had isolated themselves from the Australian government, claiming that the government illegally usurped power from the rightful King. When the British monarchy was disbanded, it was widely theorized that the House of Windsor was liquidated to prevent a royalist uprising in the future. This concerned the fanatical Australian monarchists, with some claiming that Prince William, son of King Charles III, was living under an assumed name on a property in Queensland, surrounded by several other peers who escaped the purges of a Republican post-coup.

During this time, Western Australia seceded from the Federal Republic, declaring itself to be the Republic of West Australia. Sales of mining rights and vigorous expansion, in conjunction with Indonesia and the Arasaka Corporation's assistance, of the North West Shelf oil fields made the Republic of West Australia quite wealthy over the decade. However Federal Australia refused to recognize West Australian independence, declaring a trade embargo against the new nation. In 2001, brief naval encounters on the North West Shelf oilfield between Australian, Indonesian and Arasaka-backed West Australians occurred.

In 2002, the Food Crash wiped out most of Australia's grain crops. In New South Wales, Angus Youngblood, anticipating the development of resistant strains, bought vast areas of farmland at bargain prices.

Australia in the 2020s is very much a confused and divided country. The state of Western Australia, never really comfortable with being in the Commonwealth, seceded from the Republic of Australia not soon after it was formed and is now known as the Republic of West Australia. As for the majority of Australia, the country has become divided between wealthy foreign-owned investors and the slums of regular society. Feuding gangs are divided along ethnic lines. Modern-day Australia is a disaster, as are many other nations affected by economic and social collapse and corporate corruption, but it can still be considered in better shape than most neighboring states in the Asia-Pacific region.

2020 - 2077
By 2077, most of Oceania is occupied by the Federal Republic of Australia's military forces, either diplomatically, as peacekeepers, or forcefully against Indonesian threat. The Federal Republic of Australia remains at war with the Republic of West Australia, which is still routinely reinforced by the Arasaka Corporation's private security contractors.

A major bushfire in 2068 wiped out all but one of Australia's remaining wild koala population. The last surviving koala was found on Sydney's outskirts, and was appropriately named "Omega," meaning "last" or "the end" in the Greek alphabet. Authorities originally planned to euthanize Omega, but this was countermanded in response to citizen protests. Omega became a popular tourist draw, and was allowed to stay in the wild under careful supervision.

In 2073, DTR tripled the amount of airship fuel consumption to satisfy Australia's growing need for plastic. Being an island nation, but just as wasteful as all First World nations in 2077, necessitated this following all naval shipping being no longer considered safe.

In 2077, Omega died of natural causes, making the koala species effectively extinct.

Geography
The geography of Australia encompasses a wide variety of bio-geographic regions, being the world's smallest continent, but the sixth-largest country in the world. The population of Australia is concentrated along the eastern and southeastern coasts. The geography of the continent is extremely diverse, ranging from the snow-capped mountains of the Australian Alps and Tasmania's lush forests in the south to vast deserts and tropical jungles in the north.

The countries that govern nearby regions include Indonesia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea to the north, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and the French dependency of New Caledonia to the east, and New Zealand to the southeast, almost all of which Australia has "peacekeeping" forces on standby at all times. Constant antagonism by the Arasaka-backed West Australia has led the Federal Republic of Australia to be aggressively prepared for further assault.

Australia is a continent and an island located in Oceania between the Indian Ocean and the South Pacific Ocean. It shares its name with the country that claims control over it. Properly called the Commonwealth of Australia, its territory consists of the entire continent and smaller outlying islands. This makes it the sixth largest country in the world by area of jurisdiction, which comprises 7,686,850 square kilometers (2,967,910 sq mi) (including Lord Howe Island and Macquarie Island), which is slightly smaller than the 48 states of the contiguous United States and 31.5 times larger than that of the United Kingdom.

Mostly low plateau with deserts, rangelands and a fertile plain in the southeast; mountain ranges in the east and south-east. The geography of Australia encompasses a wide variety of biogeographic regions being the world's smallest continent but the sixth-largest country in the world.

Weather
Australia's climate is governed mostly by its size and by the hot, sinking air of the subtropical high pressure belt. This moves north and south with the seasons. The climate is variable, with frequent droughts lasting several seasons, thought to be caused in part by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Australia has a wide variety of climates due to its large geographical size. The largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid. Only the south-east and south-west corners have a temperate climate and moderately fertile soil. The northern part of the country has a tropical climate, varying between tropical rainforests, grasslands and desert.

Brisbane
Brisbane is the coastal capital for the northeastern Australian state of Queensland. The northern part of Queensland is run by the megacorporation Orbital Air, and a major regional office for the International Electric Corporation is based in the Brisbane area. The armored hovercraft known as Panzer is also nicknamed "Queensland Thunderbolt", suggesting that it was perhaps initially built in the state of Queensland.

Melbourne - 5 Million
Melbourne is the coastal capital of the southeastern Australian state of Victoria. At the city's center is the modern Federation Square development, with plazas, bars, and restaurants by the Yarra River. In the Southbank area, the Melbourne Arts Precinct is the site of Arts Centre Melbourne – a performing arts complex – and the National Gallery of Victoria, with Australian and indigenous art.

Sydney - 6.8 Million
Sydney, capital of New South Wales and one of Australia's largest cities, is best known for its harbour front Sydney Opera House, with a distinctive sail-like design. Massive Darling Harbour and the smaller Circular Quay port are hubs of waterside life, with the arched Harbour Bridge and esteemed Royal Botanic Garden nearby. Sydney Tower's outdoor platform, the Skywalk, offers 360-degree views of the city and suburbs.

Timeline
The Australian timeline as stated from the Cyberpunk universe.

1990s

 * 1993-4
 * The Australian government announces intention to recognize Aboriginal ownership of traditional lands. Pressure from mining and farming interest prompts the Government to give priority in land claims to holders of existing leases. While most Aboriginals protest peacefully some begin quest for foreign recognition and aid for their cause.
 * 1994
 * World stock market crash. While most national economies collapse, the Australian view is of a steeper part of the decline that has been happening since the mid-80s.
 * 1997
 * Mideast Meltdown. Australian economy rallies slightly as oil prices drastically rise. In Europe, border skirmishes as Greek troops try to stem the flow of Turkish refugees fleeing the spreading fallout of the nuclear exchange. In suburbs of Melbourne, Greeks and Turks riot as protests get out of hand and several square kilometers of inner city suburbs are burned to the ground by a fire started during the riots.

2000s

 * 2000
 * Sydney's attempt to stage Olympic Games fails due to bankruptcy and boycotts by nations supporting Aboriginal cause. New Zealand is one of the boycotting countries.
 * ESA/Orbital Air purchase large portion of Cape York Peninsula for construction of a spaceport. Environmental activists violently protest the destruction of vast areas of rainforest.
 * 2001
 * Collapse of the British monarchy and the imposition of martial law in England removes the last objection by Monarchists to the formation of the Federal Republic of Australia. The new Republic's constitution does little to address Aboriginal land problems. Koorie Nationalist-Front becomes the first of several native groups to take up arms to fight for an independent Aboriginal homeland and the return of sacred lands to their traditional owners.
 * Western Australia secedes from the Federal Republic declaring itself to be the Republic of West Australia. Sales of mining rights and vigorous expansion (in conjunction with Indonesia) of the North West Shelf oil fields makes West Australia quite wealthy over the next decade.
 * Federal Republic of Australia refuses to recognize West Australian independence and declares a trade embargo against the new nation.
 * Brief naval encounter at North West Shelf oilfield between Australians, Indonesians and Arasaka backed West Australians.
 * 2002
 * Food Crash wipes out most of Australia's grain crops. In New South Wales, Angus Youngblood, anticipating the development of resistant strains, buys vast areas of farmland at bargain prices.
 * Tasmania quarantined in an effort to keep a virus from spreading there.
 * Neighboring New Zealand begins its self-sufficiency programs, and stops exporting or importing any food.
 * 2003
 * Hong Kong refugees start flooding into New Zealand.
 * 2007
 * New Zealand legalizes marijuana, and starts using hemp for textiles, fuel, and many other things.
 * 2008
 * During Euro-American orbital conflict, Tycho mass driver fires rocks at strategic US targets on Earth. Besides the much publicized Colorado Springs hit, several other sites vital to US space communications network are obliterated. In Australia's Northern Territory, the near miss at Pine Gap destroys the town of Alice Springs, which leads to the loss of nearly 25,000 lives.
 * 2009
 * Indonesia invades Papua New Guinea, and the government in exile sets up in Wellington, New Zealand.

2010s

 * 2010
 * The Ecoterrorist group EcoAction starts a campaign against spaceports and other large construction projects in the region.
 * 2011
 * Experimental nanotech package designed to clean up radioactive contamination grows out of control at Maralinga in South Australia. European nanotech engineers go back to the drawing board, but don't offer any solutions to the massive and potentially dangerous growth in the desert.
 * 2013
 * Youngblood family sells its land holdings to Petrochem in exchange for much Petrochem stock, a place on the Board of Directors, and more cash than you've ever seen. Petrochem begins mass purchasing of farms and unoccupied land in the outback of New South Wales for CHOOH2 production.
 * 2014
 * Cape York Spaceport Stage 1 completed.
 * Amnesty International is bombed out their London office. They move and set up shop in Christchurch, New Zealand.
 * 2016
 * Water Riots in Adelaide as drought, industrial pollution, and river salinity reduce the city's water supply to a brackish, muddy trickle. Construction of desalination plant financed by Arasaka bank.