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PM hosts online charity fundraiser Christmas event
Yesterday saw the Prime Minister, Lord William Wilson, hold an online Christmas celebration to raise money for charity.
The event – the second of its kind – was held on the instant messaging platform Discord, taking the form of a video and voice conference.
Lasting an impressive length of eleven hours, and with a total of thirteen Austenasian and foreign dignitaries taking part, the event was held to raise awareness and encourage donations for the Red Cross relief efforts in Ukraine.
A total of £78 in declared donations was reported.
The conference call saw a Christmas-themed quiz, as well as other online games, and friendly discussion among those taking part.
The fundraiser was held as part of 2022’s annual December charity drive by the Order of Saint Constantine – Austenasia’s Christian philanthropic order of chivalry – which this year is focusing its efforts on Ukraine.
New Town claimed in Colorado
A new Austenasian Town has been founded after a family of three in Colorado claimed their home for the Empire.
The Colquhoun family contacted Emperor Jonathan I with a request to join Austenasia, and after supplying the necessary information their house was formally annexed earlier today as the Town of Chandler.
The now Lord Michael Colquhoun has been appointed Baron of Chandler, as well as its Acting Representative.
A local election for Chandler – as well as for the similarly young town of Valens – is expected to be held early next year to secure a democratic mandate for parliamentary representation.
With Parliament being in recess for the festive period, the annexation was enacted through an Imperial Decree, which will be put before the House of Representatives to be formally ratified after the holiday season.
This marks the first time that Austenasia has had eleven towns. The Empire previously held a record number of ten towns from January 2015 to September 2016, a number briefly reached again in February 2020, and again since May this year.
Emperor chairs GUM summit in London
Yesterday saw an international summit organised by the Grand Unified Micronational (GUM) held in London, chaired by Emperor Jonathan I.
The GUM, founded in 2009, is the oldest and largest international organisation for small unrecognised independence movements and “micronations”.
The Emperor took office as Chair of the GUM on 6 September earlier this year – the fourth time he has held the position – after winning a snap election called after the resignation of the previous Chair following a chaotic time in the organisation.
Jonathan I was elected on a platform of restoring order to the GUM – a task which it is fair to say has been achieved – as well as on several specific pledges, foremost of which was organising an in-person summit before his term ended with the New Year.
The GUM ordinarily conducts its meetings – formal sessions of official business being called Quorums – online, and has only held two in-person summits in its history.
The first took place in July 2012, immediately following the famous PoliNation summit in London. Representatives of several GUM member states were gathered in one place, and took the opportunity to hold a physical Quorum.
The second was a less spontaneous affair, held in Birmingham in 2019, and was organised by Adam I, Emperor of Adammia, the then Chair.
It had been proposed for the Birmingham summit to inaugurate a tradition of annual meetings, but this hope was dashed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
With life now returning to normal, Jonathan I was able to organise yesterday’s summit, and chair the third in-person GUM Quorum.
The summit was held at Grove Vale Library in East Dulwich, London. Four GUM member states were represented in person: Austenasia (by Jonathan I), Adammia (by Adam I), and also the Serene Beaconite Republic (by James Frisch) and Elmwycke (by Larry Martin).
Also in attendance was Lord Mike Lewis, Prime Minister of Lundenwic, a nation which is no longer a GUM member but has been in the past and is interested in re-applying for membership.
A higher turnout was expected, but some prospective attendees had to drop out, including the Emperor’s Vice-Chair, Newton von Uberquie.
The minimum number of delegations required for a Quorum meeting to take place is eight; with only four member states present, a “hybrid” Quorum was held, with the summit meeting being livestreamed and delegations able to participate online.
The formal Quorum meeting held during the summit addressed some routine votes on membership issues, and also discussed a possible replacement for Diplomabear (a toy animal posted between different countries on a “diplomatic tour”) and campaigning regulations for future GUM elections.
The summit also saw two presentations, one on early Adammic history and its legacy, and one on the flag of Elmwycke.
Emperor Jonathan I is the only person to have been present at all three in-person Quorums, and Adam I and Lord Lewis the only other two people to have been present at more than one.
Territorial changes see population increase
The population of Austenasia has reached 110 upon various changes made to its territorial make-up.
Thursday 1st December saw an Act of Parliament passed which annexed a new town, Valens, as well as a new Crown Dependency, Ganapati Vihar.
Valens, annexed from Montreal in Canada, has a population of six, making it the Empire’s joint most populous land claim alongside Chalcedon. It is comprised of a three-floor apartment building, all the inhabitants of which have signed a request to joing Austenasia.
Ganapati Vihar, annexed from Kolkata in India, is uninhabited, and consists of a currently uninhabited residential property claimed for Austenasia by its owner, Soumyadip Sengupta.
Three other changes were also made which affected the demographic and administrative make-up of the Empire.
First, New Flat Rock, which was founded as a Town in December 2020, has been transitioned into a Crown Dependency. This is primarily due to none of it residents wishing to serve as an active Representative, while at the same time they wish to retain Austenasian nationality. It will therefore be governed autonomously by its former Representative, Lord Hunter Prater, as Governing Commissioner.
Second, Oberfalcer – a Territory annexed from France in August 2019 – has been dissolved after its founder and governor, Lord Paccard, dropped out of contact with the government last year.
Lastly, Austenasian subjectship was removed from Lord Paccard, together with another Austenasian non-residential subject who is likewise believed to have no desire to retain nationality, while also being granted to the Empire’s newly appointed Ambassador to the Philippines, Manuel Salta.
Although the cession of Oberfalcer has resulted in a net loss of territory, the annexation of Valens and the grant of subjectship to Mr Salta has raised the total number of Austenasians to 110, 76 of whom live in Austenasian land claims.
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