Daniel Joseph

His Excellency Daniel Joseph OA LC
President of Australis
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 January 2023
Preceded by	Himself (as Grand Duke)
10th Chair of the Cupertino Alliance
Incumbent
Assumed office 31 January 2024
Lieutenant Chair	Liam Alexander
Preceded by	Tyler Mullins
12th Lieutenant Chair of the Cupertino Alliance
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 November 2023
Chair	Tyler Mullins
Preceded by	Tyler Mullins
Grand Duke of Australis
In office 28 May 2020 – 15 January 2023
Margrave	Liam Alexander Patrick Kenny
Prime Minister	Jared B. Patrick Kenny Abrams Wiucki-Dunswed Rory Leonard Tucker Gladden
Preceded by	Pentarchy
Succeeded by	Himself (as President)
2nd Minister of Asian and Oceanic Affairs of the Cupertino Alliance
In office 6 November 2020 – 28 July 2021
Chair	Jayden Lycon Simon Reeve
Deputy	Varuna Sriraya
Preceded by	Pun Watta
Succeeded by	Varuna Sriraya
3rd & 11th Minister of Membership Affairs of the Cupertino Alliance
In office 15 November 2023 – 31 January 2024
Chair	Sertor Valentinus Tyler Mullins
Deputy	Carson Snyder
Preceded by	Ezekiel Ensor
Succeeded by	Samuel S
In office 3 August 2021 – 9 September 2021
Chair	Varuna Sriraya
Preceded by	Leon Montan
Succeeded by	Matthew Xia
7th Statistics Secretary of the Grand Unified Micronational
In office 2 January 2021 – 2 July 2021
Chair	Jack Dean
Preceded by	Otto Gillespie Birch
Succeeded by	Maurice G
Personal details
Born	2006 United Kingdom
Citizenship	United Kingdom Australia Australis
Nationality	English
Residences	Australis Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Awards	(more...)

Daniel of Australis (born 2006), also known as Daniel Joseph, is a British-Australian micronationalist politician, statistician, and journalist. Founder and President of the Second Commonwealth of Australis, Daniel is a prominent member of the MicroWiki Community, formerly serving as a moderator on MicroWiki@Discord, and as a patroller on MicroWiki. He has been involved in the politics of several micronations, including Australis, New Holland, New Virginia, and Anthea, alongside his position as former CEO of Statistic-Dime, a highly regarded and publicised statistical research company, which he has held since December 2020. From December 2021 to January 2023, Daniel took an extended hiatus from the micronational community.

Daniel was the primary delegate for Australis in the Cupertino Alliance from July 2020 to September 2021. Daniel was a member of the CA cabinet from late September 2020 when he was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Asian and Oceanic Affairs by Chairman Jayden Lycon, and later as the Minister of Asian and Oceanic Affairs, eventually stepping down in July 2021 to become the Minister of Membership Attainment, which he resigned from on 9 September 2021. In January 2023, Daniel re-assumed his position within the Ministry for Asian and Oceanic Affairs, and also became Deputy Minister of Membership Attainment. Daniel has run for the position of Chairman of the Cupertino Alliance on two occasions - January and August 2021, however, he dropped out of these elections, primarily due to mental health concerns.

Among other positions, Daniel was the Statistics Secretary of the Grand Unified Micronational under Jack Dean's chairmanship from January to June 2021. As of January 2023, he has made nearly six thousand edits on MicroWiki, making him MicroWiki's 32nd most significant contributor.

After initial ridicule, Daniel quickly grew into a prominent member of the MicroWiki community, particularly in the Discord Era. Zed ranked him twenty-first in his list of the Top 25 Most Influential Micronationalists in the MicroWiki Sector of 2020, and Daniel had earlier been placed second in the MicroWiki's Top 25 a public survey in October. A co-founder and de-facto owner of The Fun Gang since early October 2020, he has also been a member of the Micropolitan Club and Lounge since December 2020.

Early life and personal

Daniel was born in the United Kingdom in 2006. He lived there until January 2009, when his immediate family chose to emigrate to Western Australia. He began school in 2010, and started high school in 2018.

Despite growing up in a non-denominational Christian family, Daniel identifies as an agnostic atheist, and has stated that he supports the simulation hypothesis, which states that all of reality exists in an advanced computer simulation.

Hiatuses

Daniel has become known for numerous hiatuses that he took within the micronational community during 2021 and 2022. During these periods, he resigned from all of his posts, except for his position as the leader of Australis.

2021 was marked by numerous brief periods of inactivity during June and November 2021, which often hampered his micronational career during these periods, such as his hiatus in June 2021 requiring him to drop out of the race for the 3rd Cupertino Alliance chairmanship election. In September 2021, Daniel, following a brief return to the community, once again went on hiatus, merging Australis with the Federal Republic of New Holland, which he also served as head of state of, in order to establish a more locally-based micronation. This decision was reversed two months later. Following nearly two years of involvement within the micronational community, in December 2021, Daniel announced that he would be taking a semi-permanent hiatus from the micronational community for an indefinite amount of time. On 3 January 2023, Daniel returned to the micronational community from his most recent hiatus.

Political beliefs

Daniel has not officially stated what ideology he supports, although a political compass test taken by him in December 2022 revealed that he falls within the authoritarian-left category, and scores as moderately progressive on the progressive-conservative axis. He has endorsed the Australian Labor Party. He is an outspoken critic of the capitalist system in its current form. He is a supporter of Australian republicanism and secessionism in Western Australia. Daniel publicly supports the universal adoption of basic rights and liberties for persons identifying as LGBT, and has condemned micronationalists in the past for transphobic and homophobic comments, and is a supporter of the Augusta Accord.

Micronational career

Australis

In early April 2020, Daniel discovered micronationalism via the Principality of Sealand and the Principality of Hutt River. Subsequently, on 8 April 2020, Daniel founded the Commonwealth of Australis (Later the Unified Royal States of Australis), with four other individuals, who would become the Pentarchy, a group of five rulers with equal power. However, throughout April and May, the other four members of the Pentarchy became less active, until Daniel remained the only active member of the Australisian Pentarchy.

On 28 May 2020, Daniel proposed a motion to dissolve the Pentarchy, with the goal of becoming the sole, absolute Monarch of Australis. The motion succeeded, with the rest of the Pentarchy agreeing to give up their power, making Daniel the Grand Duke of Australis. Since then, this position has been one of the most recognisable positions that he holds in the micronational community.

Throughout 2020, Daniel hugely developed Australis, overseeing its admission to the Cupertino Alliance and Grand Unified Micronational.

In mid-2021, Daniel conceived a plan to decrease the reliance of Australis on him. This involved the implementation of a democratically elected House of Commons, the establishment of a constitution, and the transition of Australis from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy, however this decision was gradually reversed with the dissolution of the Australisian constitution, a decision that was met with mixed views across the micronational community. Daniel stated that the reversal had taken place as a result of increased inactivity within the nation following "what was supposed to prevent it."

In late 2021, Daniel experimented with various union states, such as the Swannian Union, which would see Australis merge with the Federal Republic of New Holland, however these unions never fully came to fruition, despite their recognition in micronational organisations such as the CA and the GUM. The Swannian Union was dissolved completely in December 2021, for the duration of Daniel's hiatus, with Australis entering a period of dormancy.

In January 2023, Daniel announced that the Grand Duchy of Australis would become the Second Commonwealth of Australis. Following this, Daniel has overseen a growth in activity within the nation, with him authoring a new provisional constitution, and making a variety of vexillological changes to the flags of territories within Australis.

New Virginia

From 16 December 2020 to late July 2021, Daniel was a citizen of the Commonwealth of New Virginia since 16 December 2020. He was placed in the Canton of Roanoke, and shortly after, applied to join the Free Democratic Party of New Virginia, and was accepted as a member of the party.

Following the dismissal of one of the three Burgesses-at-large for the Roanoke Canton in late December 2020, and the subsequent announcement of a by-election to elect a new Burgess-at-large to fill the vacancy, Daniel announced his candidacy on behalf of the FDP on the same day. The following day, Aidan McGrath of the National Party also announced his candidacy for the election.

On 13 January 2021, Daniel withdrew from the Free Democratic Party, to join the newly formed Alliance 21/The Greens party, led by James Frisch. Following the by-election being terminated in favour of a general election, Daniel ran for office once again in Roanoke, in the hopes of winning one of the four seats available. Daniel was unsuccessful, winning 13.4% of the vote (15 votes), as the fifth most popular candidate in Roanoke.

In July 2021, Daniel renounced his New Virginian citizenship as a result of him taking a hiatus from the greater micronational community.

Constantia Pact

Daniel redesigned the logo of the Constantia Pact upon becoming Vice Chair for the second time in August 2021.

Daniel founded the Constantia Pact on 23 October 2020 alongside several members of the Constantia Pact, and was elected as the first Chair of the organization on 25 October 2020. The organization saw relatively little development throughout his term, due to other several other ongoing commitments. He appointed Liam Alexander as the first Vice Chair of the organization on 6 January 2021. On 13 February, Daniel resigned due to his inactivity, resulting in Alexander becoming the acting Chair.

On 16 March 2021, acting Chair Liam Alexander appointed Daniel as the Vice Chair of the Constantia Pact. He continued to serve in this role until Alexander resigned on 28 June, resulting in Daniel becoming the acting Chair of the organization. Following this, he called an overdue chairmanship election, which he stated he would not be running in. On 7 August, Sertor Valentinus was elected as the second Chair of the Constantia Pact, and appointed Daniel to serve as Vice Chair again.

During his second term as Vice Chair, Daniel created a new logo for the Constantia Pact, and commenced revolutionary reforms to the membership attainment process through the passage of the Membership Act, which allowed any micronation to be invited to the organization, causing significant growth in the organization. Daniel resigned on 9 September 2021, owing to him taking a semi-permanent hiatus from the online micronational community.

Work in the Cupertino Alliance

Daniel Joseph is a relatively well-known figure of the Cupertino Alliance, having written several pieces of key legislation and charter amendments, such as the Cabinet Reorganization Act, a charter amendment that established several new ministries and abolished redundant ones, the Main Region Act, which established processes for the organisation of regional ministries during transitions of power, and the Safeguarding Act, which established the position of Safeguarding Officer. Joseph was also an editor of the 2021 Cupertino Alliance Charter. He has also worked in close association with electoral campaigns within the Alliance, most notably in the Sriraya-Mullins campaign for the 3rd Cupertino Alliance chairmanship election, where he developed plans for sweeping reforms to the Ministry of Membership Attainment.

For his work and dedication to the Cupertino Alliance, he was awarded the first Lycon Citation, the highest honour bestowable within the organisation, on 15 February 2021, as the final act of the Lycon administration.

From July 2020 to September 2021, Daniel was the primary delegate for the Grand Duchy of Australis in the Cupertino Alliance. In late September 2020, he was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Asian and Oceanic Affairs by Jayden Lycon, the Chair of the Alliance, and made the Minister of Asian and Oceanic Affairs a month later, following the previous Minister stepping down. Daniel was the speaker for Asian/Oceanian Auxiliary sessions in the Cupertino Alliance for several months, before resigning in late July 2021. In August 2021, Daniel was appointed as the Minister of Membership Attainment, however, he stepped down as minister and as a delegate upon the dissolution of Australis on 9 September 2021. In November 2021, Daniel briefly became a delegate for the Kingdom of West Sayville, before resigning from the Alliance on 9 December to take an indefinite hiatus.

Joseph returned from his year-long hiatus in January 2023, rejoining the executive as Minister of Asian and Oceanic Affairs and Deputy Minister of Membership Attainment, before withdrawing from the organisation in March. In October, Joseph returned to the Cupertino Alliance once more. He swiftly rejoined the executive on 15 November 2023, succeeding Ezekiel Ensor as Minister of Membership Affairs, after calling for Ensor's resignation due to inactivity.

Daniel was appointed as the 12th Lieutenant Chair of the Cupertino Alliance on 29 November 2023, following the resignation of Sertor Valentinus as Chair. On this day. Shortly thereafter, he also returned to the office of Minister of Asian and Oceanic Affairs on 30 November.

Executive career

Lieutenant Chair

On 30 November 2023, Joseph was appointed as the 12th Lieutenant Chair of the Cupertino Alliance by Acting Chair Tyler Mullins, during the fallout of the resignation of Sertor Valentinus as Chair.

As Lieutenant Chair, Joseph initiated legislative reforms in December 2023, with his implementation of a one-week trial of a "global session" system. The system was drafted in order to convert the traditionally-used method of using scheduled sessions only lasting as long as the agenda for the session, to a static seven-day long session, in which proposals may be raised at any time, utilising Discord's "Forum" functionality. The Global Sessions Amendment Act was the culmination of further trials of the system, which formally legislated the new session format, and abolished regional ministries altogether.

Joseph later stood for the office of Chair alongside running mate Liam Alexander when nominations opened for the January 2024 Cupertino Alliance Chair eleciton. He won the election by default, owing to the absence of any other candidates standing for election. He is due to succeed the incumbent Acting Chair on 31 January 2024.

Ministry of Asian and Oceanic Affairs

On 30 September 2020, an Asian and Oceanic session was scheduled to be hosted by the incumbent Minister of Asian and Oceanic Affairs at the time, Orientian Delegate, however, he was not present. As a result, Daniel assumed the responsibilities of speaker for the session. On the same day of the session, then-Chairman Jayden Lycon appointed Daniel as the Deputy Minister of Asian and Oceanic Affairs. Daniel held this position until 22 October, when the Minister of Asian and Oceanian Affairs stepped down, resulting in Daniel becoming the Acting Minister.

Daniel succeeded Orientian Delegate as Acting Minister of Asian and Oceanic Affairs from 22 October to 5 November 2020, when Daniel was formally approved as the Minister of Asian and Oceanic Affairs. In this position, Daniel held the record for the longest tenure of any Minister of Asian and Oceanic Affairs, at eight months and three weeks. Throughout his tenure, Daniel was responsible for hosting dozens of Asian and Oceanic sessions of the Cupertino Alliance Parliament and oversaw the general growth of the Asian and Oceanic sectors of the Cupertino Alliance.

Over his tenure, Daniel appointed Varuna Sriraya as his Deputy Minister in November 2020 for a brief period of time, and again on 15 April 2021. On 28 July 2021, Daniel stepped down as the Minister of Asian and Oceanic Affairs and was succeeded by Varuna Sriraya, as a result of taking a hiatus from micronationalism, as well as wishing to be appointed as the Minister of Membership Attainment.

On 14 January 2023, Daniel was appointed Minister for Asian and Oceanic Affairs by Chair Chris Ramsay, and resigned on 13 March 2023. He returned to the Ministry again on 30 November.

Ministry of Membership Affairs

On 3 August 2021, Daniel succeeded Leon Montan as the Minister of Membership Affairs. Daniel announced several plans to improve the Ministry of Membership Affairs, such as monitoring session attendance to target inactivity, the creation of a new application form, and a revived and reimagined remarks system for applicants. Daniel created a new and updated membership list and implemented basic frameworks to implement inactivity monitoring within the Alliance. He unexpectedly resigned on 9 September 2021, citing personal circumstances resulting in his inability to perform his role as a Minister.

On 14 January 2023, Daniel was appointed as Deputy Minister for Membership Affairs, serving under James Murray, and Chris Ramsay as Chair, and resigned on 13 March 2023.

On 15 November 2023, Joseph was appointed as Minister of Membership Affairs again. He oversaw a reform to the process of membership applications, with a new membership receipt system to communicate vital details of applications to prospective applicants. He also passed the MoMA Reform Resolution, which formally codified the responsibilities and duties of the Ministry, which had not been updated since early 2020.

Ministry of Statistical Affairs

On 5 November 2021, Daniel was briefly appointed as the Deputy Minister of Statistical Affairs, prior to resigning the position in December 2021.

Electoral Bids

January 2021 bid for Chair

Main article: 2nd Cupertino Alliance chairmanship election

Logo of the Roscoe 2021 Campaign for Cupertino Alliance Chair

On 19 October 2020, Daniel announced his intentions to run for Chair of the Alliance, the first delegate of the Alliance to do so. Shortly after, he launched a campaign website, titled Vote Roscoe 2021, and released a campaign logo. He promised that his major policies as Cupertino Chair would be running more charity/fundraising events, modernising the Cupertino Alliance MicroWiki page, and increasing the size and activity within the Asian/Oceanian Sector of the Alliance.

In an early opinion poll undertaken from 4–8 November 2020 by the Micronational Gazette, in a partnership with the Cupertino Alliance electoral commission, CESE, found Daniel to be leading the pre-polls, with a 7.1 point lead, totalling 35.7% of the popular vote, followed by competitor Liam Alexander with 28.6% of the vote.

On 4 January 2021, Daniel dropped out of the election, due to the stress of the campaign having an unforeseen impact on his mental health. Daniel formally released a statement announcing his intent to drop out of the race;

I regret to inform the delegates of the Cupertino Alliance Sertor Valentinus and I have come to the conclusion that it is for the best interests of the Cupertino Alliance and our mental health that we drop out of the race for Chair and Lieutenant Chair.

I have had people come to me after a video call with friends, saying that I looked like I haven't slept in days. This is due to the constant stress. Valentinus also stated that he had slept very poorly in recent days as a result of this election.

This election, which originally was perfectly civil, has recently become rather toxic, with a lot of drama occurring between both parties. This is not what an election should look like. It is because of these two reasons above that we have come to the conclusion that dropping out of the race is the best option for us.

I will be taking to time to work on other projects I have planned within the micronational community, such as the upcoming MicroWIki Virtual Summit, working on Australis, running in the upcoming New Virginian by-election, and also working in my new position as Secretariat for Statistical Research in the GUM. Maybe I'll run again in the future.

Thank you to all those who I have gone up against in this election, and those who have helped as members of my campaign staff. You have helped me grow as a person and as a micronationalist. These people are Sertor Valentinus, Liam Alexander, David Hawthorne, Simon Reeve, Matthew Xia, Jamez, Patrick Kenny and Casper.

I wish all the best in the future to the Chair-elect, Simon Reeve. I have no doubt that you and your Lt. Chair candidate will make the Alliance a better place.

— Daniel R, 4 January 2021

August 2021 bid for Chair

Main article: 3rd Cupertino Alliance chairmanship election

Logo of the Daniel-Bornstein 2021 campaign

On 2 May 2021, Daniel R announced in the Cupertino Alliance Discord server that he would be running for Chairman in the next election. It was later confirmed that Liam Alexander would be joining the campaign as Daniel's running mate, however, Alexander was replaced by James Bornstein after he withdrew from the campaign.

Daniel campaigned on a base of returning activity to the Cupertino Alliance, through the implementation of session attendance monitoring and by introducing new programs for delegates to participate in. Daniel's campaign also pledged to commence significant cabinet reforms, which would involve dissolving and merging several ministries and adopting a democratically elected cabinet. He also pledged to write a new Charter for the Cupertino Alliance by the end of 2021.

In late July 2021, following personal issues and his announcement that he would be taking a hiatus from micronationalism, Daniel withdrew his candidacy and endorsed the Sriraya-Mullins campaign for the August election.

January 2024 bid for Chair

Joseph announced his candidacy for the January 2024 Cupertino Alliance Chair election on 23 December 2023. He has declared Liam Alexander to be his Lieutenant Chair candidate.

Work in the Grand Unified Micronational

Since 14 October 2020, Daniel has been one of three delegates for Australis in the Grand Unified Micronational, the others being Jared B. and Patrick Kenny. Daniel's commitment to Australis and the GUM was noted when Australis won the "Most Improved" category in the February 2021 GUM awards ceremony.

He was actively involved in the campaign team for the Banks-Sertor chairmanship campaign during the June 2021 chairmanship election, proposing policies for the campaign, as well as campaigning on their behalf.

It is known that Daniel has considered running for the position of Vice Chairman of the GUM since early 2021. He announced that he would not be seeking election in June 2021, due to his wish to focus on the Cupertino Alliance.

Secretarial career

Daniel served as Statistics Secretary of the GUM from 2 January 2021 till the end of Jack Dean's term as Chairman.

Statistics Secretary

Main article: Statistics Secretary of the GUM

On 2 January 2021, Daniel was elected by the Grand Unified Micronational Quorum as the 7th holder of the position of Statistics Secretary under the chairmanship of Jack Dean.

Daniel created the first GUM-based member positivity survey, which showed that several newer nations in the Grand Unified Micronational, such as Australis had achieved considerable influence within the organization in a short period of time. He also researched the demographics of former Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen, as well as working to gather information about the size and population of GUM member states.

At the conclusion of Dean's term as Chairman, Daniel announced that he would not be seeking another term as Statistics Secretary, citing that he wanted to focus on working in the cabinet of the Cupertino Alliance.

Work in Statistic-Dime

The logo of Statistic-Dime.

Daniel has been the chief executive officer (CEO) of Statistic-Dime since December 2020, succeeding its founder Zabëlle Skye. He has since hugely developed Microcode, the largest two-letter code standard in the community. Before that, he founded Roscoe Statistics on 26 October 2020, and created the user survey MicroWiki's Top 25 – a survey asking participants to rank the 25 most active people on MicroWiki@Discord from a scale of one to five – and the Micronational Influence Survey, which after various delays was canceled. Roscoe Statistics also provided pre-polling for the 2nd Cupertino Alliance chairmanship election. It was integrated into Statistic-Dime on 2 December, and Daniel simultaneously became CEO.

2021 saw Daniel largely forget about Statistic-Dime, leading to the company becoming dormant and inactive, until Statistic-Dime was seized by a board member, Liam Alexander. In January 2023, Daniel was re-appointed as CEO of Statistic-Dime. Following this, Daniel organised the 2022 Micronationalist of the Year award, revived MicroCode again, and oversaw the resumption of production of Dime Magazine. Daniel stated that he planned to release a variety of surveys and launch new products during 2023. On 18 May 2023, Joseph resigned as CEO, opting to hand power to Carson Snyder.

Activity and journalism

On MicroWiki@Discord, Daniel was noted for his large level of consistent activity within the server. He was made a Moderator on the server on 1 December 2020, however resigned in early 2021. Daniel is also a journalist, and is the editor-in-chief of the Australis Times and the Jarrahview Post. He founded MicroWeekly and served as its editor-in-chief between 8 October–18 November 2020, when it merged with Home-made Crown Journal. Through his position as CEO of Statistic-Dime, Daniel also oversees the production of the Dime Magazine.

Honours

Throughout his career as a micronationalist, Daniel has been recognised several times for his contributions to micronationalism by being awarded honours. Notably, Daniel is the sole recipient of the Cupertino Alliance's highest honour, the Lycon Citation, awarded for exceptional services to the Cupertino Alliance.

National honours

• Australis:
  • Protector of the Order of Australis (31 July 2020)
  • Protector of the Order of the Greyhound (1 January 2021)
  • Protector of the Order of the Grand Duke (1 January 2021)

Foreign honours

• Atiera:
  • Officer of the Royal Order of Munroe (5 April 2021)
  • Knight of the Order of Atiera (30 May 2021)
  • Gold Grand Cross of the Order of the Crowned Star (25 December 2020)
  • Recipient of the Medal of Atieran Independence (30 May 2021)

• Ebenthal:
  • Knight of the Royal Ebenthali Order (4 December 2020)

• Ikonia:
  • Knight of the Order of the Heart (25 December 2020, later revoked)

• Indradhanush:
  • Knight of the Order of Dinesh I (30 July 2021)
  • Recipient of the Coronation Medal of Dinesh I (30 July 2021)

• Misberia:
  • Knight of the Most Illustrious Order of the Star of Maria (1 January 2021)

• Monmark:
  • Stranger Knight Companion of the Order of Crimson (2 February 2021)
  • Knight of the Order of the Crowned Lion (11 November 2020)

• Naveria:
  • Knight of the Order of Varconia (15 January 2021)

• Oskonia:
  • Grand Commander of the Order of Tucker I (11 June 2021)

• Waterside Park:
  • Officer of the Most Honourable Order of the Quernmore Cross (2 March 2021)

Organizational honours

• Cupertino Alliance:
  • Lycon Citation (16 February 2021)
  • Recipient Delegate Class of the Cupertino Service Ribbon (10 August 2021; revoked 11 August 2023)

Other honours

• Statistic-Dime
  • 21st Most Influential Micronationalist in the MicroWiki Sector (2020)
  • Micronationalist of the Month (February 2021)

External links

• Vote Roscoe 2021