A quick lesson in history

Day 1,597, 03:56 Published in Australia Australia by Arfman

Greetings Australians,

I was eBorn on an island off the coast of Indonesia. Most of us know this island as Australia. Then, it wasn’t just too long since it was allowed to be free, with the exception of WA. And that was when Operation Two-Fold Bay was carried out. I remembered srg91 being the MoD then, and Patti11 led one of the most successful military campaigns ever.



Cue a year later. December 2009.

Australia lies in ruins due to the successive invasion by Indonesian forces. I remember Bowen handing me the reins after he said he had to leave. It was no easy choice to accept it. Our CP today, Larni, was my adversary then. It was hard to imagine that now that I am in her cabinet but Australia was split as to who should be in charge. She was a very good military liason, having liberated Australia twice in that month under Bowen. But at what cost? Australia was imploding with each successive defeat and liberation. Glory and honour seemed to carry so much weight. With Colin Lantrip, a big American tanker at the time, we had to negotiate peace with Indonesia, leaving us with a rump state, in time for the CP elections and paving the way for Australia’s first elected CP in 3 months, Sir_c0nstant.

It was a tough choice but it left us with a country. I had a small rump of a cabinet then. Having being PTO’ed months before, and then liberated only to lose the country to conquest, we have lost too many babies, and many more young players left, feeling demoralised by our country’s then poor form. Times were changing too. Alliances rise and fell, and who were our friends then became enemies today, and enemies, friends. You only had to see that one of our good friends now such as Brazil were one of our biggest opponents.

Today, we have peacetime. After successive leaderships, Australia has done well, retained its babies, and some in our society has put in the effort to get our population growing.



Australia, however, now stands in the crossroads again. While we are in a bubble of peace in our part of the world, the world out there doesn’t stand stand. Alliances are changing again. Just recently you saw both Bulgaria left EDEN and join forces with some of EDEN’s former enemies. At the same time, our one time friend, Chile, just on our doorsteps have gone to war with a stalwart such as Argentina. As we speak there is uncertainty in our former allies. ONE is regaining foothold again, and the tides are changing. If this continues, we will soon see the part of the cycle where our allies start losing. Where do we stand then? Once we were in EDEN, we were still no match to the relentless assault of our enemies. Now that we are neutral, does that mean we will be spared? Or does that mean that we will be conquered once again? It is important to know where we stand in the global scheme of things.

It felt like not too long ago that I’ve had the opportunity to be in the hot seat. It was not so much by choice then as it was more as a sense of responsibility. Today I call upon the people of Australia to give me another opportunity to take up that responsibility in leading the country. It is not for glory, and neither is it just for the sake of the medal. Leading the country is a big responsibility, one that is not to be taken lightly. This will take a lot of my RL time and effort.

As half of Greenman, I would like to share some thoughts with you. I realise that people are pointing out that my partner greenimp has been doing much of the campaigning work and wish to explain this.

People should not take this level of campaigning as indicative of my usual levels of activity in the game. Despite real life problems, I have remained connected to eRep and know exactly what has happened and have worked to respond as much as I was able to. Because of these problems, greenimp has graciously taken on most of the campaigning work but rest assured, I will be back to normal operations very soon.

This is an example of how greenimp and I make a great team - we rely on each other to fill in any gaps where one is not able to do so and step up where our partner is not able to. This is not to allow us to shift blame (when’s the last time you heard of me pushing the blame on others?); this is to allow the both of us together to remain accountable to you, eAustralia, in every aspect of our presidency.

I believe that we must streamline processes, as time is limited. I believe we have to sit down and discuss these things to make it work. That is why my colleague greenimp and I have been planning this dynamic duo presidential run for more than a month now. Just as the way I had a high level of communication with Madcow (aka Koyaanisqatsi Max) through my RL mobile phone, I will extend this level of communication with my cabinet team. I will be connected to them 24/7, and at the same time, we will have a cabinet that will serve the country 24/7. At any one point, someone will be available to speak to the members of the public.



I stress also that I push forward both my policies, and that of my supporting party, the APP. I have always have a strong emphasis on immigration and helping our new players, as do the APP. I would like to see a significant increase in our population and a retainment of our players.

I will also be increasing the size of the Foreign Affairs team. I believe many of our people do not know too much about what is happening beyond our borders, and even then, in our immediate vicinity. As part of my around the clock policy, my FA team will consist of people who are active in different timezones in the world. I would like to stress the importance of keeping in touch with our neighbours.



I have also put Arolia and Roboa in charge of my DoE team. Their work has been extensive in helping new players start up and getting up on their own two feet, and they have done this in their private time, without government support. Imagine the work they will be able to put out with government support.

And lastly, with the help of Henry the 8th and srg91, I would like to help revive #aus-hit. I invite the leaders of other MUs, local and foreign, to join in. Henry has had the vision to lead this the first time, and with it, we were able to change the tide of battles. I have seen it first hand, and many of you have too. Not only will we be able to help out our allies in this times of uncertainty, we will also help our new born soldiers in gaining experience and learning how proper coordination will make every cog in this wheel able to function as a very efficient war machine.



Peace out,

Arfman