Secessionism in Western Australia
Secessionism has been a recurring feature of Western Australia's political landscape since shortly after Federation in 1901. The idea of self-governance or secession has often been discussed through local newspaper articles and editorials. On a number of occasions secession has been a serious political issue for the State, including in a successful but unimplemented 1933 state referendum.
Secessionist how-to-vote card, 1933
Record board of the West Australian showing results for the Popular Referendum on Australian Federation, 31 July 1900.
Keith Watson (left) and James MacCallum Smith (right), showing a page of the 1933 secession petition.
Public launch of the Dominion League at His Majesty's Theatre, Perth on 30 July 1930
Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession. A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal is the creation of a new state or entity independent of the group or territory from which it seceded. Threats of secession can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.
Hashim Thaçi (left) and then-US Vice President Joe Biden with the Declaration of Independence of Kosovo
Northern Cyprus
September 1999 demonstration for independence from Indonesia
A girl during the Nigerian Civil War of the late 1960s. Pictures of the famine caused by Nigerian blockade garnered sympathy for the Biafrans worldwide.