Editing Australia

{{Status|Canon}}

|image=[[File:Flag of Australia (2553).svg|100px]]<br>[[Flag|Australian flag]]{{Ref/Note|The flag featured here is a fan-interpretation of the flag based on a description found on Page 27 of ''[[Halo: Glasslands]]'', which reads as following; ''"... the white stars of the Southern Cross on a deep blue ground, with a single gold Commonwealth star on green ground in the canton."''}}

'''Australia''', officially the '''Commonwealth of Australia''',{{Ref/Site|Id=wp unsc|D=01|M=6|Y=2020|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/factions/unsc|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=UNSC}} is a densely populated [[National government|country]] in [[Earth|Earth's]] Southern Hemisphere, sitting between the [[Pacific Ocean]] and [[Indian Ocean]].{{Ref/Book|Id=ENC|Enc09|Section=Earth|Page=284-285}}{{Ref/Book|Id=enc11|Enc11|Section=Earth|Page=296-297}}

Australia, in the time before the [[Created uprising]], held the headquarters of the [[Unified Earth Government]],{{Ref/Reuse|wp ueg}} the [[United Nations Space Command]],{{Ref/Reuse|wp unsc}} and the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]].{{Ref/Book|Enc22|Page=19}}

Australia has tropical and desert environments.{{Ref/Reuse|ENC}}{{Ref/Reuse|enc11}} [[List of animals|Jellyfish]] were known to swarm tide lines on Australian beaches.{{Ref/Novel|GoO|Chapter=26}}

**[[Perth]]

***[[Swanbourne]]

****[[Beta-5 Division Ordnance Testing Facility]]

[[File:Sydneynight.png|thumb|250px|Sydney prior to its devastation at the hands of the Covenant]]

The Unified Earth Government became a full-fledged governing entity in 2170 and gained full autonomy and authority over Earth and her colonies in 2204. As a nation on Earth, Australia has been directly subordinate to the [[United Nations]] ever since. Australia has a long history as a stable economic powerhouse. Because of this, it has become home to many [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] military installations and technological sites.{{Ref/Reuse|ENC}} The most prominent include [[HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6]], where the members of the [[UNSC Security Council]] gather, and the [[Sydney Synthetic Intellect Institute]] in [[Sydney]], as well as the [[Office of Naval Intelligence|ONI]] [[Beta-5 Division Ordnance Testing Facility]] at [[Swanbourne]], Perth. The latter, also known as Ordnance Testing Facility B5D or the B5D Ordnance Testing Facility, oversaw the development and testing of [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/S variant|SCOUT]] and [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/R variant|RECON-class Mjolnir]] for the [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark V|Mark V]] platform, and later the upgrading of the [[SCOUT-class Mjolnir]] for [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark VI|Mark VI]] (the prototype version for the Mark VI [[RECON-class Mjolnir|Recon armor]] was developed right alongside its Mark V version). Prior to this, it had also collaborated with [[Chalybs Defense Solutions]] to produce [[OPERATOR-class Mjolnir]].

===Human-Covenant War===

The [[Human-Covenant War]] had been well underway for years by the time [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor]] variants were being developed and tested at the B5D Ordnance Testing Facility. During the war, the [[UNSC]] supplanted the UEG's civilian government provisionally as an emergency measure. After the [[fall of Reach]], the [[UNSC Security Council]] convened at Bravo-6 to hear what transpired from Lieutenant [[Wagner]] and to plan for the defense of Earth, its discovery by the [[Covenant]] having been deemed not only inevitable but imminent as well. [[UNSC Fleet Command]] had previously maintained headquarters in two locations: [[New Alexandria (location)|New Alexandria]], [[Reach]], and Sydney, Australia, Earth. With the utter destruction of the HQ on Reach, the one in Sydney took over as the definitive headquarters for all of FLEETCOM.  

When the Covenant did finally arrive in October of [[2552]], Australia was one place that came under attack. It was apparent that the Covenant understood the importance of Australia to the UNSC. The country was heavily bombarded.{{Ref/Reuse|ENC}}

Following the cessation of war with the Covenant, governing power was transferred back to the Unified Earth Government in full, at least officially. Dr. [[Ruth Charet]] was inaugurated as the new president, and the primary UEG headquarters in Sydney saw this transition come to pass. As the only FLEETCOM HQ out of the two to survive the war, Sydney's Fleet Command headquarters continued to oversee all of FLEETCOM. Bravo-6 continued to serve as the headquarters for the security council and [[UNSC High Command]], where many important decisions were made in the next few years. It was there that [[Kilo-Five]] was formed, it was there that the security council decided to launch [[Operation: FAR STORM]], and it was there that Captain [[Thomas Lasky]] and Commander [[Sarah Palmer]] appeared after the [[Requiem Campaign]]. The Beta-5 Division Ordnance Testing Facility in Swanbourne was used as a testing site for the [[Materials Group]]'s GEN2 iteration of [[EVA-class Mjolnir]].  

 

Following the Created uprising in [[2560]], the UNSC returned to Sydney in some form.{{Ref/Map|HI|[[Streets]]}}

 

==Government and society==

Sydney currently serves as the capital of the [[Unified Earth Government]],{{Ref/Site|Id=wp ueg|D=01|M=6|Y=2020|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/factions/ueg|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=UEG}} the headquarters of [[UNSC Fleet Command]], and [[HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6]], the headquarters of the [[UNSC High Command]] and the [[UNSC Security Council|Security Council]].{{Ref/Reuse|wp unsc}}  

 

By 2553, the national [[flag]] features the white stars of the Southern Cross on a deep blue background, with a gold [[Wikipedia:Commonwealth Star|Commonwealth Star]] on a green field in the [[Wikipedia:Canton (flag)|canton]].{{Ref/Reuse|chapter1}}