Independent Religious State of Freedom
From Lomwiki, the micronation encyclopaedia
The Independent Religious State of Freedom was an Australian micronation that existed on a 6.88 km2 rural acreage at Warragamba, on the western outskirts of Sydney, during the mid 1970s. It was created by Ronald Grafton Sarina on 28 August 1975 as a protest against a $100 (Australian Dollars) fine issued to him by Australian taxation authorities, for failing to lodge a tax return for the preceding three years.
In 1977 it became the subject of unrelated proceedings brought against him in the Parramatta Court of Petty Sessions, by Parramatta City Council. According to a letter dated 13 September 1977 from the Council's solicitors, John J Cotter & Co, to the Secretary of the Australian federal Department of Foreign Affairs, in Sydney, Sarina was claiming immunity from council rates on the basis that his property was an independent sovereign state - a claim which the solicitors were hoping to disprove with the aid of a definitive statement to the contrary from the Department.[1]
The Department of Foreign Affairs responded in a letter dated 7 October 1977, which stated, in part: "...the Australian Government does not recognise "The Independent Religious State of Freedom" at Warragamba in New South Wales, as a separate foreign sovereign state.".[2]
As of February 2010, the outcome of the court case and the subsequent fate of Sarina and his micronation are unknown - although the apparent lack of any public record about them beyond the two pieces of correspondence cited above is suggestive of neither success nor longevity.
References
- ↑ National Archives of Australia|Title: Issue of passports - Casley, Prince Leonard G - Hutt River Province|Series: A1838|Control Symbol: 1622/2/78/2306 PART 1|Barcode: 1869689|p 17|accessdate=2010-02-17
- ↑ National Archives of Australia|Title: Issue of passports - Casley, Prince Leonard G - Hutt River Province|Series: A1838|Control Symbol: 1622/2/78/2306 PART 1|Barcode: 1869689|pp 15-16|accessdate=2010-02-17
