Microstates strike roots in australia
sydney — Lounging on a sofa in his flowing robes, a gold crown resting on his snowy hair and a stuffed white toy tiger at his feet, Paul Delprat looks every bit a monarch.
Delprat, 76, is the self-appointed Prince of the Principality of Wy, a micronation consisting of his home in the north Sydney suburb of Mosman. Micronations — entities that have proclaimed independence but are not recognised by governments — have been declared around the world.
One of the latest is Asgardia, started by Russian scientist and businessman Igor Ashurbeyli, who in late June declared himself leader of the utopian “space nation”.
But the pseudo-states are particularly popular in Australia, with the island continent home to the highest number in the world, about 35, out of an estimated total of up to 200.
“For me, it’s a passion, it’s an art installation,” Delprat, a fine art school principal, says as a large painting of himself decked out in full regalia with his wife and children looms above his head.
“My favourite artist is Rembrandt, who loved dressing up. In a world where we haven’t sorted out our differences, art is the international language... the philosophy of Wy is live and let live and above all, laugh if you can.”
Delprat’s homemade kingdom, filled with monarchical and historical paraphernalia, is, like some mi- cronations, born out of a dispute with authorities. Blocked by the local council for more than a decade from building a driveway, Delprat seceded from Mosman in 2004.
Instead of drawing the ire of authorities, he became a local celebrity — even attracting adoring fans from Japan. The rise of micronations hasn’t just stemmed from the relaxed attitude of Australian governments willing to tolerate the tiny fiefdoms as long as they pay taxes.
Australians’ healthy disdain for authority — a source of national pride — has also fuelled the phenomenon, says constitutional law professor George Williams.
“In Australia, there’s a strong streak of people wanting to thumb their noses at authority,” Williams of the University of NSW said.
“There is a bit of a larrikin (maverick) streak here, a sense that this can be a bit of fun... and often they are hobbies that have got wildly out of hand.”
Establishing a micronation is not without its hazards.
John Rudge, the Grand Duke of the Grand Duchy of Avram in Australia’s southern island state of Tasmania, issued his own notes and coins in 1980 after writing a PhD thesis on setting up a central bank.
The government disputed his use of the word “bank” on the notes and took him to court, al- though the case was eventually dismissed, Rudge tells reporters.
The country’s oldest micronation, the Principality of Hutt River, 500 kilometres north of Perth, was set up by Leonard Casley in 1970 after a row with the Western Australia state government over wheat quotas.
Prince Leonard, who owns some 75 square kilometres of farmland, was last year ordered by a court to pay $2.2 million in taxes.
Even so, the property reportedly makes a tidy sum for the now-retired prince — who handed over the reins to his youngest son Graeme last year — as a tourist attraction. Other micronations use their realms to talk about good governance.—
In a world where we haven’t sorted out our differences, art is the international language... the philosophy of Wy is live and let live and above all, laugh if you can.
Paul Delprat, a self-appointed Prince
There is a bit of a larrikin (maverick) streak here, a sense that this can be a bit of fun... and often they are hobbies that have got wildly out of hand.
Williams, the University of NSW