Localised outbreaks

Moderate

Martial Coalition (CSIRA/Lifeboat Party)

40,000,000, stable. 7% retrofitted against ßehemoth.

Technology current. Local nets partitioned/manageably infected

Main generating capacity via solar and geosynchronous microwave; transition to nuclear ongoing as cloud cover increases. Forced-soil agriculture still common. Australia is unique in retaining significant stocks of meat and dairy animals, although recent containment culls have forced a greater reliance on cloned meats. Marine aquaculture practised on the west coast but heavilly controlled (multilayer semipermeable pens for all offshore farms); no aquaculture permitted in the Barrier regions due to the proximity to the New Zealand hot zone. Fresh water rationed; atmospheric extraction, desalination, and rainwater are principle sources.

Oceanographic conditions initially isolated Australasia from the spread of ßehemoth (which, at least in the Pacific regions, was originally limited to the northern hemisphere). The New Zealand hot zone, however, has since seeded ßehemoth along the East Australian Current as far north as the Halmahera Eddy, resulting in repeated incursions along the western reaches. These have been effectively controlled to date on mainland Australia, although the archipelago states (New Guinea in particular) have been somewhat less fortunate. Australia has over a century's experience with exotic infestations; this and their relative isolation has allowed them to weather the current crisis with fewer radical changes to social infrastructure than have occured elsewhere.