Who are we?
About Us
The New Nation Project is an initiative working to create a Free Private City: a model for self-governance built on individual freedom, personal responsibility, and voluntary cooperation.
Seasteading is integral to our vision. By combining land-based development with floating, ocean-based communities, we aim to unlock new opportunities for sustainable living, secure property rights, and resilient growth beyond the limits of traditional nation-states.
Our mission is to pioneer a new framework for how cities can thrive: transparent, free, and future-ready.
Partnering with Pacific Island Nations
The New Nation Project is committed to working hand-in-hand with Pacific Island Nations to address the existential challenges they face, including rising seas, climate risks, limited resources, and economic vulnerability.
By bringing in new funding, logistical support, and opportunities for increased economic activity, our proposals aim to strengthen resilience and create shared prosperity.
Our Current Proposals
The New Nation Project is advancing two pioneering Free Private City initiatives, each designed to work in partnership with host nations and address unique regional challenges:
Pacifica (Tuvalu)
Proposed for development on the western side of the Funafuti reef in Tuvalu, Pacifica is envisioned as a resilient, high-density community that integrates seasteading and land reclamation. It aims to demonstrate how innovative design can expand living space, create new economic opportunities, and regenerate marine ecosystems.
Meliora (Bougainville)
Proposed for the south-west of the Carteret Islands atoll in Bougainville, Meliora seeks to provide a sustainable, self-governing city that brings investment, infrastructure, and livelihood opportunities to one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions.
Together, these projects serve as living examples of how Free Private Cities can help host nations build resilience and prosperity in the face of 21st-century challenges.
Our Structure & team
We started as a network-state originally, with virtual citizens joining to make up our community. In 2024 we incorporated a legal entity as a non-profit in Australia, The Confederation of Eleutheria Inc. This incorporated association is responsible for managing our project, and being an association, has members rather than shareholders.
Our AGM was held in November 2025.
The current association board is comprised of:
Steve Clancy (President & Secretary)
Steve lives in Melbourne, Australia, and has spent 20 years in the Financial Services industry, chiefly in general insurance broking. He is also a company director of a family printing business, and is involved in an agri-tech startup. Married, with a young daughter, Steve also serves as an Elder in his Presbyterian Church.
Eric Belarbre (Vice-President)
An accomplished engineer with a passion for decentralized systems, Eric has applied his strategic and technical expertise from startups to researching the governance and economic potential of free cities, network states, and special economic zones. With a diverse international background and hands-on experience across multiple countries, his deep knowledge of these emerging frameworks is informed by years of work in innovation-driven environments.
Kristin Silitonga (Treasurer)
Kristin is an insurance underwriter with 15 years of industry experience and holds an Agribusiness degree from Indonesia. Now based in Melbourne, she is married and a proud mother to a young daughter. Alongside her professional work, Kristin is actively involved in ministry within her Presbyterian church and the local Indonesian Batak community in Melbourne.
Jonathan Weinert (Committee Member)
Nova Nicaea was founded by Jonathan, a Finance Specialist based in Germany. With bachelors and masters degrees in Engineering, Jonathan has published two books, God & Money, and Nova Nicaea – Let’s build up a Christian-libertarian Polity. He is married, has 3 young children, and is actively involved in his local church.
Carly Jackson (Committee Member)
Carly Jackson is the Operations Manager for The Seasteading Institute, which works to enable floating societies on the ocean which will allow the next generation of pioneers to test new ideas for government.. She has worked in community building for 10 years in startup, nonprofit and political spaces.
Andy Starr (Committee Member)
Andy Starr has been imagining new countries since childhood, blending a love of maps, history, and global travel. Coming from a creative, intellectually rich family, he grew into a strategic thinker with a lifelong fascination for why some nations thrive. Today, he uses the world map as his canvas to design bold, sovereign nation-building projects.
If our proposal(s) obtain approval from their host nations, then new legal and political entities will be created via treaty to govern the free private cities.