News From The PM's Desk

Day 674, 21:25 • Published in Australia Australia • by Melchizedek Smith

G'day eAustralia,

As my first week as Prime Minister of eAustralia comes to an end I thought this an appropriate time to update you on what has been achieved this term and where we stand on current issues.

The resignation of stewstoyc

Just over a week ago I was approached by the then Prime Minister stewstoyc who was at that time struggling with some real life issues and was unsure as to whether he would be able to fulfill his official duties. After much consideration it was agreed that real life must always come first and that unfortunately this would mean having to resign from office. I can honestly say that despite having aspired to the role of Prime Minister I would never wish upon anyone the hardship that he has endured and I continue to pray for him and his family and hope for the benefit of the nation that we will see him back in the spotlight again soon.

Missing Funds

Unfortunately I came into office during a time of scandal also and over the last couple of weeks I and many others have been busily investigating the disappearance of Gold from the National Bank of Australia. I want to assure you all that although this process has taken some time, it is coming to an end and will not go without notice. Expect to hear notice of our findings soon.

Cabinet Restructure

After much deliberation (perhaps a little too much) I officially appointed Timeoin Deputy Prime Minister. Resultantly Dean Kong was promoted to Minister of Information and I welcomed to the team Zangetsu Bankai as the new Deputy Minister of Information. I also would like to apologise to you at this time. As is relatively well known by now I was absent for most of last weekend during a time in which you were calling for a government response to various articles in the media (I will address these directly in a moment). Having not immediately appointed a Deputy Prime Minister there was confusion amongst the cabinet as to the appropriate action to take. I commend srg91 for his actions in making my view at the time clear. His article represented clearly my opinion on the matter based upon prior discussions that we had had. Regarding the manner in which this was done I have spoken directly to srg91 about my concerns and am assured that in future he will take a more appropriate course of action.

Queensland gets a hospital

Thanks to the generosity of eAustralian citizens through the work of the Hospital Drive, B-T Industries managed to raise the Gold needed to purchase a Q5 Hospital on behalf of the country.

Although the system would generally call for a proposal to be made or an executive order to be initiated in order to make the final purchase, I instead donated 1AUD to the treasury from my own account for the sole purpose of purchasing the hospital. The hospital was purchased with that money and therefore recognised as a donation meaning that the only decision that remained was where the hospital would be placed.

Technically being a donation we do not have a method for deciding on placement, and as a decision on the placement needed to be made at the time of purchase I made a decision based on the information before me. Based on previous discussions here and here regarding the placement of our next hospital and prior public sentiment I will proposed that the hospital be placed in Queensland. As of about 24 hours ago Queenslander's have been able to participate in wargames from their home region using the new Q5 Hospital. I will also be be discussing with the new Senate the possibility of placing our next Q5 hospital before the end of my term.

Operation Twofold Bay

The statements that follow are in response to the latest hype surrounding the articles Operation Twofold Bay and Operation Twofold Bay: We're Back!.

Can I start by pointing to what I agree with in the statements made in these articles. Over the past months we have clearly been going through a rebuilding phase with an internal focus. We have come a very long way since I joined the game just 6 months ago. From our humble rebirth we have grown to be a stable and prosperous nation. Rightly, during that time of growth and development we held to a position of neutrality, not willing to risk what we had been working so hard to attain. Unfortunately that neutrality appears to have grown into indifference and idleness. If we wish to remain neutral as a nation this is still an option, however the principle on which we base that decision must change. Our focus should no longer be solely self, but rather considerate of the global climate.

In considering our own nation, having built up we must now look to expand out, for each day that we remain idle we fall behind on a global scale. War is an important part of the game mechanics in eRepublik and without a regular pattern of war or wargames eAustralia fails to grow at the rate a country of our standing should.

The point should be noted in all of this is that if we wish to thrive in the New World, we need to be prepared to make some tough decisions and we cannot afford to make those decisions egocentrically. That said I understand the principle behind wanting to join EDEN from our perspective, but in order to fully understand the consequences of such a decision one must also consider how this would be viewed outside of our nation.

From the perspective of the eIndonesian Government, were we to ally ourselves with EDEN we would be officially placing their biggest threat right on their doorstep. Regardless of our own position, one cannot negate the fact that by siding with EDEN, we are opening direct access to eIndonesia's homeland. There are then three likely responses; the first is that both EDEN and eIndonesia hold back in their personal battle and that our nation remains as is, nullifying our hope of seeing WA returned; the second is that EDEN decide to use us as a front through which to access eIndonesia and they begin their march into eIndonesia territory; the final scenario is that eIndonesia act preemptively and launch an attack on our regions in order to remove the 'potential' danger.

So what if we do go to war with eIndonesia? At present eAustralia holds 6 regions. This can be translated into approximately a three day conquest, if not swifter. Perhaps EDEN do have the power to help us free our last remaining region and descend upon eIndonesia, however I have no doubt that eIndonesia is already aware of the strength of EDEN. The easiest way for eIndonesia to eliminate any threat present in our nation is to invade all of our regions. Without a region in which to house our government, an MPP with EDEN would be made void and we would be left only to go into hiding until the opportune moment should arise once more for us to rebel and once again rebuild.

It is my informed view that to side with EDEN at this time is a threat to national security. I have no concerns with diplomacy being dealt but any group or individual who should attempt to undermine the work of the government and of the men and women who have helped build our country should seriously consider the ramifications of their actions. eAustralia it is time to step out from amongst the shadows. We need to be courageous. We also need to be discerning. In the words of Winston Churchill:

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen."

Melchizedek Smith,
Prime Minister of eAustralia