The Australia Project
First published in 1974, The Australia Project is a comedic look at the history of the Commonwealth of Australia, especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries, by the noted political pundit Liam Jacobson. It was one of the best selling books of the year; later revised editions published in 1979, 1983, and 1991 accrued further sales and literary awards. Liam's blunt approach to his subject matter and occasional screed about his politics have admittedly not been without controversy, but all this resulted in was the removal of the book's subtitle. The text remains a strong national symbol for many Australians. A hardbound copy can be purchased for A$14.95 at most book retailers.
Celebrities on The Australia Project:
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"Australia was always the most ambitious country in the Commonwealth." - Albert Windsor, Prince of Wales
"Liam's right about one thing, at least. We may have turned them into a melting pot." - Alex Nasution, bassist in the Javanese grunge band Boulder
"What? We were never that aggressive in Indonesia! Some of my best friends are Dutch!" - Christine Smith, Minister for Immigration 1982-1985
Author notes:
Liam Jacobson was born in 1941 to Gregory Jacobson and Cynthia Kamilaroi in Perth, although they moved to Brisbane when he was 4. He started performing in local comedy clubs in 1963, while simultaneously working as an accountant for Bush Metallurgy. His 'big break' came in 1966, when he first appeared on a variety television show hosted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Soon afterwards, he began writing opinion pieces for the Brisbane Courier-Mail. Some of these were later compiled in his early writings, including How To Build A Community (1969) and Letters From London (1972). He still performs at venues throughout Australia, and has a net worth estimated at A$25,000,000.
Table of Contents
Prologue To The First Edition
Chapter 1 - The Kalgoorlie Gold Rush
Chapter 2 - Seversky's Democracy
Chapter 3 - Independence Through War
Chapter 4 - Prosperity Through Independence
Chapter 5 - Australian Integration
Chapter 6 - The Australian Culture Wars
Chapter 7 - New Nation (In Moderation)
Chapter 8 - The Context Of The World
Chapter 9 - There's No Escaping Context
Chapter 10 - Wearing The Whig
Chapter 11 - Another Chapter About International Relations
Chapter 12 - Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Chapter 13 - Afterglow
Chapter 14 - How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Conquer New Lands
Chapter 15 - Nothing Stops The Freedom Train
Chapter 16 - Complacency Is The Seed of Communism
Chapter 17 - War of Hegemony
Chapter 18 - The Calm After The Storm
Chapter 19 - Looking Outwards Again
Chapter 20 - Australian Adventures for the New Century
Chapter 21 - The Art of Negotiation
Chapter 22 - Rise and Fall of the Crimelord
Chapter 23 - The Breaking Point
Chapter 24 - The Peripheral Years
Chapter 25 - The Rising Tide
Chapter 26 - The Editor Wants Me To Stop Starting My Chapter Titles With "The"
Chapter 27 - Endgame
Chapter 28 - The Victory
Chapter 29 - Imperialism is A-Ok!
Chapter 30 - Imperialism Isn't So Great
Chapter 31 - Boarding Up The Doors
Chapter 32 - Jumping Out From The Windows
Chapter 33 - End of Another Era
Conclusion - Liam Jacobson's Afterword
Reference 1 - A Handy Guide To Australian Prime Ministers And Other Notables
Reference 2 - The Socioeconomic Conditions of Australia From 1828-1928
Notes From The Actual Author
Note to readers: The country of this AAR was decided by a vote. Archived below is my initial post broaching the concept, as well as the votes of the people.
Ladies, gentlemen, simulated POPs, I'm back in AARland after a period of semi-dormancy. I had the idea of writing a Victoria 2 AAR with one of the releasable nations, and I figured that since the British Empire starts with several colonies that have become rather significant in their own right, why not free one of them and lead it to what would hopefully be a glorious destiny? I've narrowed it down to three choices, but I figured I should let the community decide which country I play as.
Some important information:
- I will be playing with all expansion packs and POP Demand Mod 3.0.6.
- I've decided in advance what my gameplay approach for each country will be - see each description for details.
- Expect a mixture of history, narrative, and comedy elements, with some gameplay notes if I feel they are needed. What mixture you get depends on what country I play as. This thread's title will be changed once a decision is reached.
- This poll was approved by Avindian on February 21st, 2014.
- I plan to run this poll until February 23rd, 2014, giving everyone about 48 hours to vote.
Without further delay, I present to you my three choices.
Australia
"The Australia Project" - Experimental Australian autonomy goes rampant. Plenty of opportunities to create a Pacific empire, particularly at expense of the Netherlands. Relations with the UK could go either way. Australia also has relatively good RGOs and ridiculous (ahistorical?) migration potential due to multiple gold rushes. This would probably have the silliest tone of all the proposed AARs here.
Canada
"Shield of the Empire" - Canada is released as an independent, but loyal ally of the United Kingdom. Canadian RGOs aren't as good as Australia's, but they're not bad. Pure colonial conquest would be discouraged; instead the emphasis would be on influence and industrial power. Likely to have a relatively serious tone.
Ireland
"An Earnest Proposal" - All of these AARs would rely on some measure of devolution/decentralization to be historically possible, and Ireland is perhaps the greatest example. While it starts with much higher population, weak RGOs and very limited potential for migration would make this a significantly more difficult AAR in the long run. The solution may very well be colonization, making things play out similarly to Portugal or Belgium. Less serious than a Canadian AAR, most likely, but probably not as goofy as an Australian one.
"The Australia Project" - Experimental Australian autonomy goes rampant. Plenty of opportunities to create a Pacific empire, particularly at expense of the Netherlands. Relations with the UK could go either way. Australia also has relatively good RGOs and ridiculous (ahistorical?) migration potential due to multiple gold rushes. This would probably have the silliest tone of all the proposed AARs here.
Canada
"Shield of the Empire" - Canada is released as an independent, but loyal ally of the United Kingdom. Canadian RGOs aren't as good as Australia's, but they're not bad. Pure colonial conquest would be discouraged; instead the emphasis would be on influence and industrial power. Likely to have a relatively serious tone.
Ireland
"An Earnest Proposal" - All of these AARs would rely on some measure of devolution/decentralization to be historically possible, and Ireland is perhaps the greatest example. While it starts with much higher population, weak RGOs and very limited potential for migration would make this a significantly more difficult AAR in the long run. The solution may very well be colonization, making things play out similarly to Portugal or Belgium. Less serious than a Canadian AAR, most likely, but probably not as goofy as an Australian one.
I definitely want to hear from you guys, so any commentary is appreciated.
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