Parliamentary representation for non-residential subjects
Non-residential subjects of Austenasia will henceforth be able to vote for Representatives in Parliament, following a new law passed this evening. This sees the culmination of efforts led by Prime Minister Lord William Wilson, whose campaign for the premiership included a pledge to see parliamentary representation for non-residential subjects (an idea originally proposed by his predecessor Lord John Gordon) finally arranged. No parliamentary representation for non-residential subjects was provided for by the Austenasian Constitution of 2011 or its subsequent amendments, due to their historically having made up such a small proportion of Austenasia’s population. However, in recent years the proportion of Austenasians who do not live within Austenasia itself has increased, with a notable jump in numbers happening in May earlier this year as a result of Honorary Subjects being able to apply for naturalisation. While still technically a minority, just under half of Austenasians – 47.3% – now hold non-residential subjectship as opposed to being residential subjects living in traditionally organised territorial Towns. The growing proportion of non-residential subjects has made it a pressing concern of the government to enable parliamentary representation for them, with the Constitution only allotting Representatives to Towns. Today’s Act of Parliament has changed the definition of Town to include a new entity known as a Division, into which Austenasia’s seventy non-residential subjects are henceforth grouped. Four Divisions have been established, grouping together non-residential subjects living in the British Isles, in the rest of Europe and Africa, in Asia, and in the Americas and Oceania. Parliament has appointed a prominent non-residential from each of these regions as Acting Representative of their Division on a provisional basis until elections are organised: Non-residential subjects will be contacted over the coming few days to inform them of these reforms, and to begin organising elections for the new Divisions. With the addition of the four above-mentioned Acting Representatives to Parliament, the House of Representatives now stands at 15 strong, the largest it has ever been.
Lord Charles Ross appointed new ATP Director-General
Tuesday 1st June saw a new Director-General appointed to run Austenasian Television Productions (ATP). Lord Charles Ross, Duke of Occidentia was appointed to the position on Tuesday by Emperor Jonathan I. His Imperial Majesty had served as Director-General himself since founding ATP in December 2008. ATP functions as Austenasia’s national public service broadcaster. Roughly analogous to the BBC, ATP is supported and promoted by the government but not controlled editorially. Lord Ross has experience in journalism, broadcasting, and video production, and will be looking to create a regularly published series of Austenasian news videos. He gave the following statement to the Times: “I’m proud to announce that with the Emperor‘s blessing I’ve taken over the reins of Austenasian television as the new Director-General. With this I plan a complete revamp of our nation’s broadcasting system. As well as a revamp of existing systems, I plan to also bring in new mediums to promote and spread broadcasting throughout the Empire. I will work with the governors of Austenasia’s territories and dependencies to create their own local media outlets and YouTube pages, and will also work on creating a regularly broadcasted Austenasian video news program airing Empire-wide stories from around our Empire. I see this as an extraordinary opportunity and thank the Emperor and all subjects of the Empire for placing their trust in me. I hope to serve everyone well!” Lord Ross previously served as Governor and then Governing Commissioner of Bregusland.