Principality of Hutt River

Principality of Hutt River Micronation
Flag Seal
Motto: Dum Spiro Spero "While I Breathe, I Hope"
Anthem: "It's a Hard Land" by Keith Kerwin
Status	Current
Location	28°4′28″S 114°28′14.5″E / 28.07444°S 114.470694°E / -28.07444; 114.470694
Capital	Nain
Official languages	English (official language) French, Esperanto (per constitution)
Ethnic groups	Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australian Aborigines (Nunda Tribe)
Demonym	Hutt Riverian
Organizational structure	Principality
• Prince	Prince Graeme I
Establishment
• Declared	21 April 1970
Area claimed
• Total	75 km2 (29 sq mi)
Purported currency	Hutt River Dollar, tied 1:1 with Australian Dollar
Time zone	UTC+08:00

The Principality of Hutt River is a micronation in Australia. The principality claims to be an independent sovereign state and to have achieved legal status on 21 April 1970, although that claim has been rejected by both the Australian Government and the High Court of Australia. The principality is located 517 km (354 mi) north of Perth, near the town of Northampton in the state of Western Australia. It has an area of 75 square kilometres (29 sq mi), making it larger than several independent countries.

The Principality of Hutt River is a regional tourist attraction, and issues its own currency, stamps, and passports (which are not recognised by the Australian Government or any other government). The micronation was founded on 21 April 1970 by Leonard Casley, who declared his farm to be an independent republic under the name Hutt River Province. He attempted to secede from Australia over a dispute surrounding wheat production quotas. A few years later, Casley began styling himself Prince Leonard and granting family members royal titles, although he did not include the word "principality" in his country's official name until 2006.

On 1 February 2017, at the age of 91 and after ruling for 45 years, Prince Leonard announced he would shortly be abdicating the throne, handing over to his youngest son, with his youngest son Prince Graeme taking over the throne on 15 February 2017.

The Principality of Hutt River was declared an independent province in 1970 by Leonard Casley, in response to a dispute with the government of Western Australia over what the Casley family considered draconian wheat production quotas. The Casley farm had around 4,000 hectares (9,900 acres) of wheat ready to harvest when the quotas were issued, which allowed Casley to sell only 1,647 bushels or approximately 40 hectares (99 acres). Initially, the five families who owned farms at Hutt River banded together to fight the quota, and Casley lodged a protest with the Governor of Western Australia, Sir Douglas Kendrew. The Governor did not assist. Casley believed that because the Governor acts as the Queen's representative, this made Her Majesty liable, in tort, for applying an unlawful imposition as the quota had not yet been passed into law. Casley lodged a claim under the law of tort for A$52 million in the belief the claim would force a revision of the quota. Casley also makes claims to have used the law of unjust enrichment to successfully seize government land surrounding his farm which he hoped would increase his quota, though it is unclear how the law of unjust enrichment could have assisted him to achieve this.