This file has been prepared by the office of the Colonial Governor (Sir James Hewitt) and Terrestrial Security/ExSec (Colonel Archibald Baker, Rt) in order to brief newly arrived BCA Department Managers on the colony's nature, history and present situation. Attached below is a geographic map of the Port Jackson peninsula and its surrounding environs. This document is to be considered accurate as of 29/11/819 SMT.
The below map is based on local-level Ordinance Survey chartering expeditions and orbital scans on the nearby countryside. More comprehensive details of the Lease Area's surrounding environs will be provided, upon such a date as official Bretonian agents being granted greater freedom of unimpeded movement in extra-Lease Area territory for the execution of professional duties.
Tap the image to enlarge.
Lease area: 50miles² / 80km² Current size of Port Jackson city: 24miles² / 38.6km². Current population inside lease area: 174,715. Population density inside lease area: 4,642 per mile² / 2,901 per km². Current population outside lease area: 57,385. Current Bretonian population on Gran Canaria: 232,100
i - Port Jackson Colonial Spaceport Facility.
ii - Port Jackson Harbour and Shipyard.
iii - Brian Harvey Colonial Hospital.
iv - Icarus Fusion Station.
v - Port Jackson Emergency Response Station.
vi - MacArthur Combined College.
vii - Port Jackson Regional Assembly and Local Government.
viii - Fort Payne.
ix - Little Ben.
i) Port Jackson Peninsula: the Port Jackson colony was founded on the Port Jackson peninsula, due to its isolated and defensible nature. The peninsula is temperate for the majority of the year, being covered in light forests and fertile plains. These areas are moderately favourable for farming and the collection of timber. Several canyons cut through the red rock of the peninsula's heartland, carved by a number of rivers that flow from the north. The northern regions of the peninsula (beginning near the utmost northern extremities of the Lease Area) lead into a region of tall plateaus and deep canyons carved by the planet's strong tidal forces. Canyon depth in the north begins at four meters at the settlement, and progresses north to canyons as deep as forty meters in the foothills of the Woronora mountain range. The southern and eastern shores tend to be rocky, boasting steep cliffs that make landings difficult. The peninsula's western shores are generally more forgiving, possessing ideal sites for deep water ports and maritime landing zones. The Lease Area's one sea border is bisected by the Toongabbie River, which flows from the west-heartland and is fed by Girraween River. A number of tributaries to the east merge with Toongabbie at Lake Golding, where the city draws most of its drinking water. During the transition from the summer to the winter months, typhoons from the nearby Gulf of Parramatta are common. Strong sea-defences exist around the Port Jackson seaport.
ii) Gulf of Parramatta: The Gulf of Parramatta is the body of water that borders the Port Jackson Peninsula to the north and east. Although the attached survey map does not explicitly illustrate this, the Gulf is closed by a coastline some 90 miles north of the map edge. The Gulf is freshwater, technically being an extremely large lake. The pictured expanses of the Gulf contains only one island of note, being Glebe Island. Several species of fish are present within the Gulf, with the Flatbacked Spindleel and Polyfinned Pike both being commercially caught by fishermen launching from Port Jackson. Several species of Cambridge fish are currently being genetically modified to adapt to life in Gran Canaria's seas, at which point they will be released en-masse into artificial fisheries throughout the Gulf. The Gulf is fed by several rivers leading from the Port Jackson Peninsula highlands, and mountainous regions of the surrounding continent. The system's dual suns lead to extreme tidal activity, occasionally leading to waves of terrifying proportions during certain seasonal high tides.
iii) Long Valley Bay: While geographically the same body of water as the Gulf of Parramatta, Long Valley Bay is distinguished as the relatively isolated portion of the sea directly to the peninsula's west and south-west. The Port Jackson Lease Area's one sea border leads directly to Long Valley Bay, which subsequently provides host to most of Port Jackson's fishing companies. Populations of edible species of fish are lower in Long Valley Bay than the Gulf of Parramatta, but the close proximity to port makes fishing there a profitable enough venture. The entire far western shore consists of the steep Woronora mountains, which range from the head of the Port Jackson peninsula to the bottom of Long Valley Bay. Artificial fisheries are in the process of being formed, but are progressing slowly. Due to the technicalities relating to construction projects outside the Lease Area, no government support has been or can be offered. It is believed that a number of Port Jackson's privately owned fishing boats offer unofficial ferry services to hunters and homesteaders who seek to cross to the southern shores of the Bushlands, below the Woronora Mountains. ExSec has been unable to ascertain the validity of these claims, as of yet.
iv) Plague Plains: The Plague Plains are the landmass to the Port Jackson Peninsula's immediate north. While geographically being a sub-region of the Bushlands, the Plague Plains are given distinction due to their unusual flora. This was the site of the very first Bretonian landing on the planet, and originally intended to house of the Port Jackson colony. After a cursory investigation, it was found that the yellow and purple grasses that carpet the Plain symbiotically host a deadly strain of bacteria (christened Staphylococcus effingo). While not immediately dangerous, exposure to this bacterium would be absolutely fatal if a victim possessed any open wounds (even as small as a paper cut). Colonial plans were rapidly shifted to the south, to the Port Jackson Peninsula. Fortunately the Plains and the Peninsula are geographically isolated from one another, being thoroughly separated by the Woronora mountain range. Although the narrower of the region's three major waterways, the Harper River (named after the captain of the BES Endymion), is currently the longest discovered by Bretonian surveyors. Several species of three legged bovine-esque creatures graze these grasses.
v) Glebe Island: Glebe Island is the only landmass of note within the Gulf of Parramatta. The other islets that dot the Peninsula and Bushland coastal regions are little more than sand-bars and rocky outcrops, too small to warrant an appearance on maps. Glebe is almost entirely fringed by cliffs, save for a single inlet 2.5 miles wide to the island's north. In effect, the island is a maritime fortress, with one safe landing zone for sea-faring vessels. The island has not yet been chartered or explored. A long range fishing boat from Port Jackson Harbour reported that unknown assailants fired several rockets at their ship when they passed within the 2 mile mark of Glebe's rocky coast. Fortunately, the munitions in question missed. An ExSec reprisal attack was briefly considered, then discarded due to the Lease Area Agreement limitations. Should Glebe ever be developed, it is considered to be in an opportune location for both a fishing port and penal colony.
vi) Bushlands: The continent surrounding the Port Jackson Peninsula and the Gulf of Parramatta is colloquially referred to as the Bushlands, simply for the lack of a better name. This territory is almost entirely unexplored and untouched, with only orbital scans to fall back upon for information. The term 'Bushland' itself is fairly misleading, due to the variations of terrain throughout the region. To the immediate south of Long Valley Bay are dense forests, similar to those found in the Peninsula's heartlands. These forests slowly thin into grasslands the further to the north-west one travels along the Woronora Mountains, until they merge into the Plague Plains. To the east of the Gulf of Parramatta, marshland is prevalent. This is the norm for the majority of the area surrounding the Hawkebury River. Bretonian scientists have yet to catalogue even a fraction of the Bushlands' fauna and flora; the majority of organisms that have been classified are specimens that have been shot by Bretonian poachers, and sold to the Port Jackson scientific community. It is believed there are unsanctioned settlements established by Bretonian citizens on the southern shores of the Bushlands, near the mouth of Long Valley Bay.
i - Port Jackson: Port Jackson is the capital of the Lease Area and the largest Bretonian holding on Gran Canaria. The city contains the vast majority of the Lease Area's infrastructure and is the most heavily populated Bretonian settlement on the planet. Port Jackson is administered by the Bowex Colonial Authority as a proxy government for the Kingdom of Bretonia. Policing is handled internally by civilian elements of ExSec. Border security is handled by retired elements of the HM Army, in conjunction with ExSec supervisors. The city itself covers a landmass of approximately 24miles² / 38.6km², not including the jetties and sea-walls that protrude into Long Valley Bay.
ii - Queenstown: Queenstown is a small outpost, located to the extreme north-west corner of the Lease Area. The town is a legal municipality of Port Jackson, and is consequently run from the city's local government hall. The settlement is the primary launching point for BMM expeditions to extract crystallized Deuterium from the walls of nearby canyon systems, while simultaneously sweeping for valuable ore lodes. Due to the town's potential economic value, Col Baker ordered the construction of a barrack house and deployed a detachment of the 2nd Jackson Fusiliers to see to the area's safety. Ever since this military addition was authorised, patrols of the north-western lease border have stepped up considerably, as has the upkeep of the region's automated border sentry guns. Much of the town's growth has been subsidised by the Colonial Authority, due to BMM's interest in its continued success.
iii - Prospect's Hope: Numerous weak comm signals from the Bushlands have been detected throughout the last four months by Port Jackson's radiological society. Rough decryption reveals the source to be masked Bretonian civilian transponders, probably transmitting on domestic frequencies. Numerous references are made to "Prospect's Hope", which is believed to be an unsanctioned frontier village. This settlement will not receive any government aid or backing, given Port Jackson's own precarious security situation. That said, expansion efforts will not be actively hindered so long as they do not bring undue attention to their mother colony. CA agents are attempting to trace the specific maritime firms that are offering covert passenger services, in order to investigate further.
i - Port Jackson Colonial Spaceport Facility: The Colonial Spaceport Facility (CSF) is one of the oldest pre-treaty structures in Port Jackson, and a nationalised asset. Constructed almost immediately after the site for the colony was picked, the CSF's initial form was as a ring of flattened and compressed earth, rigged with antigrav balloon moors for atmospheric drop-freighters. In the current day, the CSF is a sophisticated and complex facility, attached to the city and ringed with its own curtain wall. It contains numerous landing zones, a multitude of hangars for visiting freight shuttles and plentiful warehouses for storing inbound and outbound freight. The majority of traffic using the CSF consists of Bowex refugee shuttles, and skiffs carrying imported construction materials and sustenance goods. Ever since the signing of the Treaty of Port Jackson, Bowex assets have made use the Gran Canaria docking ring and mooring fixture to deliver goods, in lieu of orbital atmospheric drops. This has made the colony's supply considerably safer and cost efficient, as goods are shuttled from the Zoner capital of Port Canaria overland.
ii - Port Jackson Harbour and Shipyard: The Port Jackson harbour has officially existed for just over 5 months, with the completion of the sea walls of the Eastern and Western Docks. Despite this, harbour structures have existed for almost a year, established by private interests. Upon the discovery of large shoals of native fish that were edible for human settlers in Long Valley Bay and the Gulf of Parramatta, government funding was shunted to the harbour's development. As the city expanded, regular agriculture became less and less of an option due to the scarcity of land within the Lease Area. Due to this, maritime fishing operations were considered a desirable investment. The Harbour itself is divided by the Toongabbie River, separating it into the Eastern and Western Docks. The Western Docks are utilised primarily for commercial fishing operations and are for the most part privately owned. The Eastern Docks contain Port Jackson's nationalised maritime shipbuilding industries (administered by BMM), as well as a number of private fishing interests. The docks are located to the Lease Area's far south, on the only sea border.
iii - Brian Harvey Colonial Hospital: Port Jackson's primary hospital was established almost 1.5 years ago, during a period in which the colony was undergoing a time of accelerated development. The hospital currently has the capacity to treat most common injuries and illnesses. Patients suffering the most complex and/or unusual ailments must still be evacuated to hospitals on the core planets. The staff is comprised almost equally of doctors from the Bretonian core systems, and local settlers who have received medical training. Much of this training was provided by the noted Zoner, Doc Holiday. Mr Holiday and his teams still play an important role in the colony's medical care to this day, with many TAZ teams serving within the Brian Harvey. The hospital is located to the south of the Red District, near the border to the Blue District.
iv - Icarus Fusion Station: Icarus Fusion Station is responsible for powering the entirety of the Port Jackson city, and the surrounding farmsteads and border settlements. The facility is located underground for the most part, for security reasons. Electricity is generated by fusion reactions fueled by a deuterium-tritium hydrogen mix in its plasma state, utilising six high power commercial tokomaks. Due to this, the plant can be powered using refined H Fuel (standard fuel using a higher than normal proportion of deuterium). As one of the primary export centres of deuterium for south and western Sirius, Gran Canaria provides a more than ample supply of the commodity for Icarus' requirements. While the deuterium required for fuel refinement is currently imported from the planetary Zoner capital, Port Canaria, it is believed that Bretonian operations involving the harvest of deuterium from various canyon systems within the Lease Area's north could fulfil the local demand within the next year. Icarus' primary priority is the constant feed of power to the Little Ben Spire. Icarus Fusion Station is located underneath Lake Golding, within the Red District.
v - Port Jackson Emergency Response Station: The Emergency Response Station (ERS) was constructed shortly after the initial influx of settlers to the colony. The complex was originally designed to house Bowex's ExSec police forces and function as a local headquarters for civil and military security. With the establishment of Fort Payne, the the ERS became redundant as a provincial barracks, and re-purposed its military facilities to become a training academy for local ExSec contractors. As the city expanded, fire services had to be developed in tandem - in that respect, the ERS was recently expanded to house a Fire Brigade garrison, as well as a garage for their vehicles.
vi - MacArthur Combined College: The combined College is a monolithic structure, designed to house the entire colony's educational requirements. The complex contains a primary school complex for younger 6-11 groups, a secondary school for the 12-18 category, and a small vocational university, designed to provide limited higher education options to residents. The majority of the degrees offered pertain directly to industries and fields relevant to Port Jackson, such as maritime manufacturing, civic management and industrial theory.
vii - Port Jackson Regional Assembly and Local Government Hall: As Port Jackson's heart of political operations, the local government complex contains the Regional Assembly hall, the office of the Colonial Governor and an office for Port Jackson's Parliamentary MP when he is present. The complex also holds the local administration's offices, containing the clerks and minor political figures that ease the colony's day-to-day running.
viii - Fort Payne: Fort Payne holds Port Jackson's current ExSec military garrison. The colony's primary barracks is present within the Fort grounds, which also contains living accommodation sufficient for 3,000 soldiers. Currently, the Fort operates at minimal efficiency, being manned by a little under 1,000 troops. Port Jackson's military grade armoury is located within the Fort's walls, as its armoured depot. The armoured depot contains numerous land based vehicles designed both to ferry troops and launch fierce reprisals against hostile agents. Fortunately, the garrison has never had cause to utilise these vehicles in anger, having only to deal with lightly armed Corsair raiding parties. Under the guidance of Colonel Baker (Rt), the troops of Port Jackson have been divided into the 1st and 2nd Battalion, the Jackson Fusiliers. Fort Payne is located against the city wall of the Blue District, near the gate to the CSF.
ix - Little Ben: Little Ben is one of the single most obvious and prolific landmarks of the Port Jackson colony, being the tallest object within the lease area. Standing at 14 stories tall, the spire towers above the residential structures to the north. Fed by the Icarus Fusion Station, Little Ben is a shield spire designed to cast a protective dome over the city in the event of an attack or orbital bombardment. Due to this, local legislation prevents any building being constructed over the height of 11 stories. Printed around the structure's base are the Latin words, 'DOMINE SALVAM FAC REGINAM NOSTRAM CANARIAM PRIMAM', translated as 'O Lord, keep safe our Queen Canaria the First'. Plans to mount a digital holographic clock face part-way up the spire are currently being debated in the Regional Assembly. Little Ben is located on the furthermost southern shore of Lake Golding, in the Red District centre of the city.
i) Shortly after the original founding of the Port Jackson colony in 816 AS, a Colonial Governor was appointed to oversee the day to day running of the site. A Colonial Governor must be appointed by the House of Lords, then ratified by the Queen. The initial Governor was Sir Gregory Golding, an extremely distant relation of Her Royal Majesty. The Colonial Governor may be removed from their position by i) death, ii) resignation, iii) a ¾ dismissal vote by the Lords, iv) a single dismissal vote from Her Royal Majesty. It was clause iv that removed Sir Golding, after controversial claims were brought to light by the New London press, in regards to the initial deployment of ExSec forces (among other things).
ii) Port Jackson's Colonial Governor is currently Sir James Hewitt, the Division Director of Bowex's Colonial Authority. He was appointed roughly 24 months ago, after the retirement of Sir Arthur Golding. The Colonial Governor initially held supreme local executive and legislative powers relating to the colony. He could propose and pass bills into local Acts, in order to shape the policy and development of the colony. The Colonial Governor is a direct agent of the Crown, and consequently answers to the monarch. The Colonial Governor's executive powers were severely curtailed in light of the formation of a Regional Assembly.
iii) The Port Jackson Regional Assembly was formed roughly one year after the colony's foundation, when it was deemed stable enough to self-rule. The Regional Assembly works as a small-scale equivalent of the Bretonian House of Commons, consisting of 50 seats. Elections were held on a party-line basis, with the Royalists drawing a significant lead, obtaining 31 (72%) of the 50 seats. The Federalists came second, holding 19 (38%), with the Greens and the local Jackson Nationalist Party holding one seat each. Each assembly holds session for four years, at which point there is a new round of elections.
iv) The Chairman of Port Jackson's Regional Assembly is currently Arthur Saunders, the party leader of the Port Jackson Royalists. The Regional Assembly is designed to counterbalance the power of the Colonial Governor, due to the fact that they possess democratic legitimacy as an elected body. The Assembly acts in much the same way as the House of Commons, suggesting, debating and passing bills. While the Governor acts as an agent of the Crown, Members of the Assembly (MAs) act solely on the behalf of the population.
v) After the formation of the Regional Assembly, the Colonial Governor lost the ability to carte blanche implement legislation. While retaining the power to suggest bills, they must now be debated and approved by the Assembly or face a veto vote. The Governor holds an unelected '51st' voting seat within the Assembly. Similarly, the Governor and his advisors occupy the role of an 'upper house', reviewing and tweaking legislation as required. Theoretically, this could result in a political impasse, as both structures attempt 'legislative ping-pong', wherein a bill is repeatedly vetoed by both groups and forwarded back and forth with amendments. The Governor can bypass the Assembly in times of crisis using Emergency Bills. These do not require democratic approval, but can only be implemented during a State of Emergency.
vi) Port Jackson is currently entitled to one seat in the House of Commons, a number that is expected to grow in proportion to the colony's population. The election was held upon the minimum target voting population of 100,000+/- being achieved within the lease area. Retaining the popularity that was evident during the Assembly elections, the Royalist candidate won with a landslide victory of 71,000+/- (71%) votes. The Federalists came a long way behind with 22,000+/- (22%) votes. The Port Jackson Nationalist Party secured the final 7% of the vote. The election was notable for the absence of candidates standing for the other Bretonian mainstream parties, who had perhaps been dissuaded by the results of the local elections.
vii) The Member of Parliament (MP) for Port Jackson is currently George Stirling, a senior figure within the Port Jackson Royalist Party. MPs are employed to represent the views and desires of their constituents within the House of Commons. This allows for Port Jackson's position within Bretonia's global politics to be influenced. Port Jackson's MP does not actually reside within the colony, instead being posted on New London so as to ease access to New Westminster Palace and Parliament.
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