Aurelia (Australia)

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Aurelia was a proposed state that would have be formed out of the south eastern portion of the colony of Western Australia in the early twentieth century, and would have joined the newly-formed Commonwealth of Australia. The name, meaning 'golden' in Latin, denotes the gold industries that were alive at the time - and which helped ferment succession.

The proposed state would have comprised of the Goldfields, the western portion of the Nullabor Plains and the port town of Esperance. Its capital would have been Kalgoorlie.

The push to succession was prompted by perceptions that the remainder of the West Australian colony under Sir John Forrest was parochial and self-serving, and was dragging his feet towards federating the state with the emerging Commonwealth. A large portion of inhabitants in the goldfields had came to Western Australia from the other states in the past decade when Kalgoorlie experienced a gold rush, and their loyalties were thus not usually directed towards Perth. Sir John Forrest was however demurring on federation in order to secure better concessions.

Eventually the proposal was dropped when Western Australia joined the federation in 1901. When Western Australia threatened to succeed from Australia in the 1930s the Aurelia movement was revived and helped scuttle any such moves.