John Singleton, “It’s King Len, the Lionheart,”
Daily Mirror, June 11, 1980, p. 11.

For 10 years most Australians have looked on King Leonard of Hutt River Kingdom as a cross between a nut and a harmless tourist attraction.

King Leonard is certainly the latter and definitely NOT the former (yes, I know the king used to just be Prince Leonard, but the province became a kingdom after a referendum only a month or so ago).

It all started when the Wheat Board told the mild-mannered wheat farmer Leonard Casley he could grow only 100 acres of wheat instead of the 6000 acres he was growing before.

And he was no novice, either.

From 16 he had taken on and beaten the people from the Stamp Duties Office, the Apple and Pear Board and the Grape Growers’ Association, among others.

He was, and is, undefeated.

He applied for a revision to his quota on the very logical basis that obviously a mistake had been made because he, his family and his family company would be bankrupted.

All to no avail.

Burning the legal midnight oil, Leonard Casley found a way out.

He seceded his 29 sq miles from the Australian Government as a matter of self-defence.

Since then King Leonard has survived all legal challenges and his kingdom now attracts 60,000 tourists a year.

It’s the only kingdom in the world for which the Vatican has given permission for the sovereign (King Leonard) to appear on the same stamp as the Pope.

These stamps have now been declared legal in Australia.

King Leonard now plans international airports, shipping registrations and, most importantly, an international banking base.

With a 1c in the dollar tax structure there is no doubt that Hutt River Kingdom could become the Switzerland of Asia, even surpassing Hong Kong.

If King Leonard has succeeded in his quest for independence then surely he should be officially recognised by the Australian Government, as his kingdom is recognised by other nations.

King Leonard has just returned from a world tour, leaving and entering all countries, including Australia, on his Hutt River passport clearly marked with his name: King Leonard; occupation: sovereign; and place of residence: The Palace, Hutt River Kingdom.

What is good for Hutt River Kingdom will inevitably be good for the other country sharing this continent, i.e. Australia.

If, on the other hand, the Australian Government really thinks it can defeat King Leonard why has it done nothing effective for 10 years?

King Leonard has already officially declared war once on Australia through the then Governor-General Sir John Kerr.

If our Government doesn’t watch itself he could well do the same again.

And with our defence forces the way they are, he would probably win, which might be the best solution for all concerned.

That shorter week row …
One problem that doesn’t confront King Leonard is the 35-hour week, so effectively mooted by Metalworkers and shipwrights unions spokesman John Halfpenny.

The other night Max Newton, founding editor of The Financial Review and The Australian, declared John Halfpenny on.

It was a riveting confrontation and although it was not nice, it was real nice TV.

Halfpenny still made his point that “the trade union movement went through all these arguments when the 40-hour v the 44-hour week was mooted in 1947.”

Halfpenny’s point was that the 35-hour week was “inevitable.” It was just a matter of when.

Newton made the point that while the union debated semantics “between four and six million Australians were denied a pay increase as the wage case was postponed.”

Newton pointed out that “a 35-hour week was, in effect, a $40-a-week increase per workers as far as any employer was concerned.”

I believe the confrontation between Halfpenny and Newton bares close likeness to the confrontation between employer and employee throughout Australia this very day.

The REAL motivation between the two groups will determine Australia’s future in the next decade.