The ACMA (the Australian
licensing authority) has recently reviewed its amateur radio
callsign policy.
One outcome of this review is that Heard Island is no longer VK0; it
is now VK9, same as Australia's
other External Territories such as Cocos-Keeling Islands &
Christmas Island.
Two other DXCC entities are also likely to be similarly affected,
namely Lord Howe and Macquarie,
since neither are External Territories. Rather, Lord Howe Island is
part of the state of New South Wales
(VK2) and Macquarie Island is an outlying part of the state of
Tasmania (VK7).
The document also states that the ACMA will now only assign
Antarctic callsigns to licensed amateurs
actively serving with the Australian Government's Antarctic Program.
In other words, anyone contemplating
a future private DXpedition to Heard or Macquarie may as well forget
it.
All done behind closed doors by Government lawyers with little
regard for amateur radio tradition or
history.
