SONGS OF THE HUTT RIVER PROVINCE (aka PRINCIPALITY OF HUTT RIVER)
– a Micronation within Western Australia -

In the very early 1970s, Perth folk band “The Ranting Lads” released an EP record entitled “BROKEN SERENITY” which included the story in song of the beginnings of Australia’s first (white) Micronation at Hutt River,
almost 520kms north of Perth in Western Australia, and declared by secession on 21st April, 1970.

It wasn’t a joke; the West Australian wheat farmer (and his neighbours) were being shafted by the Fraser Govt over wheat quotas, which was to end in bankruptcy for them and so, Leonard Casley decided to take a stand - with the Govt getting more than it had bargained for. The clever Prince Leonard Casley was “not so green as he's cabbage-looking” as the saying goes, and his Principality lasted 50-odd years!!! It had, of course, its own flag, anthem (see below), stamps, currency, passports and so on – and became a very popular tourist destination and O/S merch provider! [I still have my old Oz passport with the Hutt River Province visa stamp!]

The Principality’s motto with its coat of arms was “While I Breathe, I Hope”. Well, Prince Leonard died in 2019 at the grand age of 93, owing a small fortune in taxation to the Aust'n Govt - but with his point made, and so, his son (Prince Graeme) ended the protest his father had begun those long years before and ceded their property back to its place in the Commonwealth of Australia, on 3rd August, 2020.

Worth watching is the PHR’s Media Liaison Officer, Naomi Brockwell, explaining the interesting history of this secession in more detail : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBEqFQ3IHUU
And here is a very short travelogue from 2016 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tQuUTMsktc


The PHR Anthem is being sung here by the late Jon English & the Foster Brothers and which clip also includes a map of the locality : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfZCaoWMhWI

IT’S A HARD LAND (aka PHR Anthem)

Keith Kerwin, 1984

It’s a hard land, but it’s our own land
Built with love and dedication
Self assured is our small nation
One man’s dream of independence.

God bless the Prince of Hutt River Province
God bless the man whose dream has come true
God bless this land where dreams can come true.


”….. He was an adherent of hermeticism, a subject on which he privately published a number of research papers and books……” /
”….. But he says the point of the secession is not about power but about principle: that a small man can stand up to a bully and prosper…… “

The Pandora Archive of the PHR website : http://www.principality-hutt-river.com/ and the WIKI page : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Hutt_River


Below are the lyrics of the original song - which, though I still have my EP record, I can’t find uploaded to the internet yet :(

BROKEN SERENITY (aka THE BALLAD OF HUTT RIVER)

R. M. Müller (aka Mrs Rita Pope) & Dobe Newton / RANTING LADS

1. Well I’ll tell you a tale of a farmer’s long fight
A man who could not rest until he’d won his right :
To work on his land and to live a good life
With his four strapping sons, his three daughters, and the wife.

Chorus:
   Tis of the rebel Casley a story will be told
   A man who valued freedom more than any sum of gold
   He settled in Hutt River, it was his chosen land
   Was there the rebel farmers will fight and make a stand.

2. Well the government decreed with one wave of its hand :
We don’t want your wheat, but we will take your land
“Never!” cried the farmer “This action is unjust
You have betrayed the honest folk; you’ve broken your trust.”

3. “Well listen, my family, to what I have to say :
Under this tyranny, our land it will decay
Our own separate land for us will be the need
We’ll wait thirty days – and then we’ll secede.”

4. Well the politicians muttered. He did what he meant.
“We’ll raise your wheat quota twelve hundred percent!”
“Too late” said the farmer “Too long you did lag
It’s Hutt River Province – we’ve raised up our flag.”

5. Well the tale of his battle, it was spread far and wide
He would not be beaten nor run off and hide
Let others take example of this courageous man
They said we can’t make it. We showed them we can.


In case you think this is/was Australia’s only Micronation, check this out :
https://www.monsterchildren.com/meet-emperor-smallest-country-in-australia/        Empire of ATLANTEUM (in NSW)

Apparently, Australia has one of the largest number of Micronations in the world : https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-06/hutt-river-commonwealth-micronations-in-australia/12521668

Perhaps it could be argued that prior to colonisation (aka invasion) by the British, the continent was always comprised of Micronations? Checkout this map : https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/map-indigenous-australia

And there have been numerous proposals for new Australian States since colonial times : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_proposed_states_of_Australia

And also a number of proposals for West Australian secession! : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secessionism_in_Western_Australia


CRIKEY!!!


R-J