#thomson river

A breakaway micronation in the Australian state of Victoria, the Independent State of Rainbow Creek was declared on July 23, 1979, by the first governor, Thomas Barnes, a retired police officer who took up arms (figuratively) against the bureaucracy of the state when it became apparent that the state and its myriad of governmental agencies were willing to levy charges against farmers for land that had been subsumed by an offshoot of the Thomson River at Cowwarr due to mismanagement of the existing (state-built) road bridge over the river.  The farmers were being levied in triplicate for a situation not of their making, and in emulation of the micronation at Hutt River in Western Australia, Barnes and his neighbors seceded from the Commonwealth of Australia (but not from the Commonwealth of Nations - QEII is still their declared sovereign).  The situation at Rainbow Creek that spurred independence is, alas, still unresolved.

Stamp details:
Issued on: July 23, 1980
From: Independent State of Rainbow Creek
MC #N/A

Recognized as sovereign states by the UN: No
Claimed by: Commonwealth of Australia
Member of the Universal Postal Union: No