Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand (1983: Doomsday)

From Alternative History

Back to Country Profiles

The Commonwealth of Australia formally remained the same as in OTL. As the capital Canberra remained untouched from nuclear attacks, the central government survived and maintained a basic degree of order and prevented the chaos and anarchy as happened in many other countries. As Sydney, Melbourne and Perth have been destroyed and many people died, the institutional powers were partly concentrated in the hand of the central government.

In the face of the catastrophical situation the long-lasting friendship and intense cooperation between the anglophonic neighbours Australia and New Zealand proved enormously precious. Very quickly the two Commonwealth members intensified their relationship aligning and combining key branches of government, especially military and other security forces, civil protection, agriculture/industry and transportation capacities up to a degree of practically unified government.

Under the impression of growing international cooperation and the beginning formation of new blocks and alliances Australia and New Zealand have declared their formal unification in 1995 as the "Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand", usually nicknamed ANZC or ANZ.

The main task of the Commonwealth is 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.

Some Areas in former Indonesia, Papua-New Guinea and Ost-Timor which since the late 1990's have increasingly been used economically by the ANZ are de facto protecorates/possessions though this word is not officially been used by any government.

Based on the intense and solid cooperation of two nations which have both weathered Doomsday comparably well, the ANZ is one of the key players in the post - doomsday world.

Especially the military is by far the most efiicient and well-equipped compared to other surviving nations/territories. The ANZ navy and army mostly rely on the remains of American military technology and capacities as e.g. the American aircraft carrier USS "Nimitz" (CVN-68)was found in 1997 floating off of the coast of Papua Newe Guniea by the Australian Navy. In a mission involving nearly the entire Australian and New Zealand naval capacities the Nimitz is towed to the new principal Australian Navy Base located in Cairns and formally integrated into the ANZ-Commonwealth Navy with Cairns becoming the new homebase. The Nimitz is now rechristened as ANZS "Commonwealth" (ANZ-01) and the new Flagship of the combined ANZ Navy, along with the American submarines 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, and the anti-nuclear movement centered on the green party grew more and more influential in the ANZ parliament, intiating a similar tendency in all surviving countries.

Nonetheless this allows the ANZ to operate worldwide and provide support, mainly humanitary aid.

The ANZ is a founding member and the initiator of the NUN (New United Nations) and host to the foundation ceremony scheduled for September 26, 2008 in Canberrra.