Mark McGowan, the new Prince Leonard

Keen observers of Australian politics will recall that on January 31 last year, by decree of His Royal Highness, Prince Graeme, the Principality of Hutt River closed its borders.

More and more it appears that after the death of the great Prince Leonard, Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan decided that if 75 square kilometres of the state could be a hotbed of ratbaggery, why not the entire 2.646 million km².

We’re noted in these pages before that McGowan was a submariner. Perhaps he once rose to the surface too swiftly or something, as he’s never quite got it. The Hutt River Province, Prince Leonard and his heir have always conducted the principality’s affairs with a sense of good humour. McGowan has not only lacked…