Imagine living in a country with no income tax, ocean sunsets over white sandy beaches \u2014 and enough natural resources to fuel half the world\u2019s industry.<\/p>\n
Nearly 100 years after Sandgropers voted to free themselves from the yoke of the Commonwealth and go it alone, WAxit talk is back on the menu with a fresh push by west to sever the umbilical cord with the \u201cbloated\u201d Canberra bureaucracy.<\/p>\n
A new book launching this week, Secession by Western Australia<\/a>, is billed as a 400-page, 15-chapter manifesto laying out a detailed case for the resource-rich region to walk out of its \u201cabusive marriage\u201d to the eastern states and become a sovereign nation.<\/p>\n Julian Gillespie, a former barrister who led challenges against Covid policies, is the principal author, joined by Professor Gigi Foster, an economist at the University of NSW, University of WA economist Michael Baker, and medical expert Professor Ian Brighthope.<\/p>\n \u201cThe principle of self-determination is reflected in the legal case Julian lays out,\u201d Prof Foster told news.com.au.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s only the people of WA [who can make that decision]. The abusive husband doesn\u2019t have to say, \u2018I agree that you should go away.\u2019 We do expect we\u2019ll be challenged by Canberra.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Gillespie said Western Australia had \u201calways suffered\u201d and it was \u201cclear WA has not received a good deal ever since federation\u201d in 1901.<\/p>\n \u201cWA only gets back 75 cents on the dollar in GST,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of Australians aren\u2019t aware that WA political leaders at the time were essentially strongarmed [into joining the Commonwealth]. They weren\u2019t listened to, promises weren\u2019t kept, they expressed that publicly. In the early 1930s there was a very clear majority by the WA population seeking secession, but the legal terrain wasn\u2019t clear.\u201d<\/p>\n The results of that vote were taken to UK Parliament seeking assistance to bring secession to fruition.<\/p>\n \u201cThe House of Lords stepped back and said, \u2018We can\u2019t get involved anymore, you have your own Constitution, you have to deal with it internally,\u2019\u201d Mr Gillespie said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was thought at the time [secession] needed a national referendum.\u201d<\/p>\n He argues, however, that Western Australia\u2019s constitution allows for unilateral withdrawal from the Commonwealth through a state referendum and legislation.<\/p>\n The book, which has been in the works since August, then lays out a \u201cblueprint\u201d for the newly independent Western Australia.<\/p>\n \u201c[We] unearthed all the evidence to show this is possible, legally, fiscally and monetarily,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is a very disciplined piece, it\u2019s to an academic standard but it\u2019s accessible by Joe Punter. They are the people that have to make the decision based on the evidence we put forward. It\u2019s 15 chapters covering defence, health, a new monetary system, a new currency, what happens to the miners, the North-West Shelf, the new corruption system, policing system. We\u2019ve turned over every stone. The final chapter is a full-blown draft new constitution which embodies all the prior 14 chapters.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u201cmeat and potatoes\u201d of the book lays out a vision for a new self-sufficient nation with virtually no taxes besides a \u201cstreamlined GST\u201d and land rates \u2014 all funded by a blanket 20 per cent royalty on the state\u2019s natural resources.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we cut out the no longer necessary commonwealth government layer, apply a 20 per cent universal royalty tax on the onshore and offshore miners, and reduce the size of government here, you end up with a neutral to surplus [position],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBig miners not paying income tax, payroll tax, tax compliance [costs] reduce greater than 95 per cent, they end up revenue positive. RIO, BGP, Fortescue and Hancock, they\u2019ll be $1 billion better off every year. They\u2019re still in a very good position.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Gillespie said an independent Western Australia would find itself in a similar position to Qatar, which has a population of around two million.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one pays taxes, it\u2019s got one of the great sovereign wealth funds globally,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s also reflective of what\u2019s occurred in Norway and other nations which have downsized their bureaucracy like Hong Kong, Singapore, Estonia.\u201d<\/p>\n While Western Australians like to grumble about secession \u2014 with separatist sentiment strengthened by \u201chard border\u201d closures during Covid \u2014 that feeling has failed to translate to votes.<\/p>\n The WAxit Party, a merger of the Small Business Party and the WA Republic Party, received just 0.34 per cent of the vote at the 2021 state election.<\/p>\n \u201cWAxit has all the right ideas but not the execution,\u201d Mr Gillespie said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey didn\u2019t get enough intellectual muscle behind the shared ideas we have with them. Without all that fine detail to show this is possible \u2026 there wasn\u2019t enough to attract the broad range of minds you needed to build momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Gillespie said the proponents of the 1933 referendum provided a \u201csimilar level of detail\u201d. \u201cThey all rose and voted in favour by a majority,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The effect on the remaining states of Western Australia seceding and taking its billions upon billions of mining revenue away would be dire, to put it mildly. <\/p>\n \u201cThe federal government would have to make up excuses to try to justify its continued existence, and impose further taxes,\u201d Mr Gillespie said.<\/p>\n Prof Foster added it was \u201cbasically inspiration for the eastern states\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cMost populations in the west feel they are serfs in a neo-feudal situation and don\u2019t know how to get out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n If history is any guide, though, chances for a WAxit revival are likely slim.<\/p>\n In the modern era, the handful of successful secession movements, from Bangladesh and Eritrea to East Timor and South Sudan, have only come about through bloody, sometimes decades-long conflict.<\/p>\n Still, WAxit is not alone in the west.<\/p>\n In Canada, the similarly resource-rich province of Alberta is on track for a potential independence referendum<\/a> as soon as this year.<\/p>\n In the United States \u2014 where the question was asked and answered 160 years ago \u2014 movements like Texit, Calexit and even Alask-exit are growing in popularity, although largely symbolic.<\/p>\n Prof Foster said there had been growing disillusionment with existing governments across much of the developed world since the Covid era.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you love the west, love freedom, love human thriving, it\u2019s all of the good things that come for people when their societies are set up to reflect their wishes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve seen the erosion of that reality in our societies, it\u2019s very troubling.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking to The Australian on Monday, Patrick Gorman, the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, rubbished talk of secession for WA.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the cheapest version of false hope,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople have been selling this dodgy product for 125 years. It is idiotic to see current global fractures, trade wars and conflict and think that secession is the answer for Western Australia. Australia should not waste our energy negotiating with ourselves. Our public services, our national defence and our economy are all stronger under our federation.\u201d<\/p>\n