A Response to the Comments
Chris Stanwick
In my earlier article, I explained the duties of Congress members in regards to game mechanics. However, in doing so, I did not explain my own opinions regarding those duties and how they apply to Australia, as several have commented upon. I will rectify that to an extent, as well as comment on a few of the discussions that occurred over the weekend on the forum.
The Western Australia Situation: Aus-Indo Relations
I understand the contention that Indonesia's occupation of Western Australia causes in most Australian citizens. No one wants to see any region of their nation occupied by another, especially not one as rich in resources as WA. However, it is infeasible to assume that Australia could forcibly retake WA from Indonesia. Firstly, they outnumber Australians 5 to 1. Secondly, they have a stronger, better organized military that currently is not being utilized directly in the battles of the current world war. If Australia attempted to retake WA, either through a formal declaration of war or a resistance war, the full might of Indonesia would be turned against us. Therefore, I cannot support such an action and stand by the government's decision not to act on the recent suggestions.
Prime Ministerial Line of Succession: Forum Debate
Being the President of a New World nation can be very demanding. At times, the incumbent will need to take a short breather over a weekend to recover from the stress of the office. This occurred this past weekend, with Prime Minister Melchizedek Smith taking a brief period offline. Nothing urgent occurred during this period that warranted the PM's immediate attention or that could not be easily handled by the Cabinet Ministers, however, before a full day was complete, there were no less than three discussions on the forum regarding his absence and who would replace him. Unless a nation is at war, there really is no reason to worry about a president's absence unless it continues past 72 hours. Past that point, there is already a system in place in-game to replace the president - impeachment. This might not be a favored method, but if president becomes inactive, it is necessary for continuity. Only a player who in-game is considered president can fulfill the functions and duties of the office. Deputy Prime Ministers and temporary replacements do not have the powers of the office and can therefore not fulfill the duties. Follow the game mechanics rather than inventing lines of succession that hold no meaning in-game.
Free Trade vs. Protectionism: Import Taxes
I have always been a staunch believer in free trade throughout the New World. Several nations have absurdly high minimum wages that effectively destroy their companies' ability to compete internationally, resulting in a forced protectionist economy that cannot always supply all the goods needed for a nation to prosper. Minimum wage in every nation should remain 1 unit, with low import taxes (preferably under 10😵
set to encourage foreign competition. Governments should do what is best for their citizens by allowing low priced goods into the local market. Domestic companies will simply need to learn how to manage their affairs to compete.
Q5 Hospital Placement: Infrastructure
There are currently two Q5 hospitals in Australia - in New South Wales and in Victoria. With a population as small as ours, we do not need another Q5 hospital. Citizens living in the other four regions should be encouraged to move to New South Wales or Victoria rather than spending extra gold for a few players' benefit. I will vote against the placement of any further hospitals in Australia - use the gold for other projects.
Tanking vs. Weapon Distribution: Military Organization
There is much debate regarding how the world's militaries should operate, either through tanking or through equal weapon distribution. Tanking is an incredibly expensive system of fighting that produces a lot of damage, but at a much higher cost than slowly building up the damage capabilities of the entire nation. Australia is a neutral nation, which means that we have time to build up the entire military's damage capability, rather than that of just a few soldiers. The military should donate Q1 weapons during each war game battle to every soldier, no matter their strength level. Over time, Australia will become a powerhouse of damage production, able to inflict large amounts per player, rather than relying on the handful of tanks the government can support.
Transparency: Congressional Votes
As the only votes that truly matter are those done in-game, Congressional transparency should extend to those alone. I am a great believer in government transparency - the citizens should know how their Congress members and President vote and why. Since voting is anonymous in-game, it is the responsibility of each individual Congress member to report on their own votes. I personally prefer using the wiki for this, and use my own record as an example. Because I display my voting record publicly, I can be held accountable for every vote I make. Accountability keeps Congress members honest.
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Not every issue I have discussed here requires voting in-game, however, they are some of the most important issues facing Australia today and need to be addressed. I play according to game mechanics and will not propose any legislation on the forum that cannot be voted upon in-game. I promise to maintain my voting record after each vote for all citizens to see. I will consider each proposal seriously before voting, weighing the pros and cons of each decision. Every decision and vote I make will be in the best interest of the citizens of Australia. Remember to vote for Chris Stanwick in Tasmania on 25th September!
Comments
españaxxx
I found nothing in your "record" link.
It works now.
Voted
If you allied yourself with EDEN you could have back WA, thats gaurenteed.
Gofarman, how, is it even possible to make the statement you just made? Please, explain how an EDEN alliance guarantees Western Australia. If you can prove it, then please, do so.
I assume Gofarman thinks that EDEN will send troops to the battefield of WA to assist the Aussies in taking it back.
You have a good position economically, ever thought of joining the ANP?
Which will fail miserably. Indonesia is the strongest nation in erep and WA is probably the non-indo region that they want most. It has companies worth a total of aprx 10,000G there and it is the second region they ever conquered. Plus it would also mean that aus was completely independent of them and we wouldn't be doing whatever they want all the time.
nice man
I buy 5 Q1 weapons every wargame, its really worth it.
You'd have my vote if I were in eTasmania.
Amongst the best articulated positions I have read. I like that you are willing to nudge the status quo on a couple of points (e.g. hospitals and military spending), not that I necessarily agree with you on all points. For example, if we don't provide some infrastructure to other regions how do we ever cultivate populations? and doesn't the senate system get undermined for those states were there are only a handful of residents? not expecting an answer, just musing.
There are a lot of reasons that favor placing Q5 hospitals in every region. However, looking at it strictly from a financial point of view, understand that to place four more Q5 hospitals, Australia would have to spend up to 1200 gold; gold that could be used for other purposes. It is true that elections are not truly representative due to the disproportioned population, but shouldn't the gold be better used on another project?
Queensland needs that Q5 Hospital we have built and undeployed. Queensland now has 393 citizens compared to 75 a month ago. That's quite a babyboom! And I suspect it's all due to the eColonization effort getting RL Queenslanders to join up on eRepublik. Asking a RL Queenslander is move their virtual self over to Sydney or Melbourne would be like taking a ball-peen hammer to their egos. They take great pride in their home state. And more importantly, they don't get along well with those big city folk.
Strategically, how does this work out for us? Let's look at eUSA. Their last remaining state was Florida. It had a Q5 Hospital. Florida only has Medium Grain. Their other Q5 Hospitals were in Kansas and New Jersey. Kansas and New Jersey were conquered. Kansas because it has most of their Weapons Companies. New Jersey because it had Medium Iron. Florida was left as their remaining territory not simply because it had such a huge population living there on account of the Hospital, but because it didn't have any resources vital to their war effort. Queensland is our Florida. Not just because it's half swamp, but because if they're going to leave us with one region, that'll be the one. It has enough Grain that we could barely survive but not so much resources that we could bound back.
This has been a public service announcement from CQL, Congresswoman from Queensland. Just one thing I will strive for for the people of Queensland if re-elected. So vote CQL for QL. My policy helps me helps you. Generocity helps me helps you. Ideology helps me helps you. Put your trust in me I'll help you to.
@Keegan Knoll - It is possible for any ally to help Australia make an invasion. But to do so they would have to issue Moving Tickets to their soldiers and have them move over to NSW. That's quite a ways to go to help. I don't think EDEN trusts eAustralia enough yet to reduce their defensive capabilities to help us out. We would have to earn thier trust first by helping in their defense.
You forget that we should have more allies than indonesia...
@ Sir David Newton - You forget that we already do have allies other than Indonesia, that being Allies here in SE Asia which are relevant to developing eAustralia's interests, as opposed to a pack of EDEN/FORTIS Trolls who want us to intervene (rea😛 commit suicide) by opening up another front on eIndonesia in a hope of saving their own skins.
Lurk more, take a bit of a look around. 🙂
I would agree with you on most points but the thing that really gets me the most is the placement of Q5 Hospitals in which i mus agree with CQL. Im relatively new to eRepublik, i joined in the hope of living in my home state, Tasmania but soon realised it was almost impossible to sustain myself starting out. So i got a friend to send me a travel ticket to NSW where there was a hospital for when i reached the level of doing battle. I have not moved from NSW since. But i would dearly love to go home But im not prepared to do that when i don't have basic infrastucture there to back me up. And what "OTHER" projects do you speak of? At least with hospitals we have the potential to get by and not force new comers to move from a place they would love to be. 🙂