Rise of Australia

Chapter 181 Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand
On March 1904, 3, officials from the Australian and New Zealand governments formally met in Sydney, Australia, and launched a period of more than ten days of peaceful discussions.

The so-called peaceful discussion period is actually a time when the two governments are discussing the process of forming a federation. At the same time, they are also discussing how much power the two countries will have in the federation, and how the two governments will get along with each other in the future.

Although the formation of a federation between New Zealand and Australia has become inevitable, it is a question worth discussing who should be in charge of the federation and how the two regions should be integrated.

There were many people participating in this meeting, and the protagonists were the Chinese government of Australia and the government of New Zealand, which were transformed from the temporary New Zealand colonial government.

In fact, apart from changing a title, there is basically no difference between the current New Zealand government and the New Zealand colonial government, except for Arthur's identity.

In addition to the governments between the two countries, the meeting was attended by members of the House of Commons from Australia and New Zealand.

But in fact, whether it is Australia or New Zealand, whether it is the government or the House of Representatives, Arthur is basically in his hands.

Therefore, this conversation between New Zealand and Australia to form a federation can actually be regarded as a conversation of Arthur's subordinates.

In fact, the meeting wouldn't even have been necessary if Arthur had wanted to.After all, the administrative power of New Zealand is also in the hands of Arthur. General Pierce, who holds military power, returned to the British Empire after the New Zealand referendum. The current New Zealand garrison has been renamed the New Zealand Defense Force, and the commander was also dispatched by Arthur.

Even so, after the federation is formed, the division of power between the two regions must be clarified.

After all, slight gaps and mistakes may lead to the disintegration of the big country in the future, and the basic market of Australia, which Arthur has worked so hard to manage for so long, may also be affected.

This meeting lasted for more than ten days, during which various detailed divisions of power including the House of Representatives and the government were discussed, and some analysis and imagination were carried out on any situation that might happen to the Federation in the future.

On April 1904, 4, Australia and New Zealand jointly issued a statement announcing the establishment of the Federation of Australia and New Zealand, with Sydney as its capital.

It was also on that day, under the petition of a large number of New Zealand people and the requests of many senior New Zealand officials, Arthur agreed to become the Duke of New Zealand and rule the Principality of New Zealand as an elected Duke.

Although Australia and New Zealand are both principalities of monarchy, there are still great differences in some aspects such as the system.

Australia is a monarchy principality like a territory, and the whole of Australia can be regarded as Arthur's private property.

But at the same time, the title of Duke of Australia is also entrusted to the royal family of the British Empire, which means that the Principality of Australia and the British Empire have an inseparable relationship.

If one day, Arthur's Australian royal family dies out, then the dukedom of Australia will return to the British Empire, because this is a duchy separated from the British Empire.

But New Zealand is different. The Duke of New Zealand can be said to be an elected title.This title comes from the public opinion of New Zealand, not from other people's enfeoffment.

As long as Arthur does not lose the support of New Zealanders, the title will always exist, and it can also be inherited by people outside the family.

It was also on this occasion that Australia's administrative regions underwent a small change.An area of ​​tens of kilometers near Sydney was divided separately to form the Federal Capital Territory.

The Federal Capital Territory is an administrative unit equal in status to a state.The highest official of the territory is called the Governor, and his status and rights are equal to the governors of other states.

The Principality of New Zealand is also divided into two states, North New Zealand, which is composed of the North Island of New Zealand, and South New Zealand, which is composed of the South Island of New Zealand.

In this regard, the specific scope and administration of the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand were thoroughly divided, and the Commonwealth consisted of three parts, namely the Principality of Australia, the Principality of New Zealand and the Colony of New Guinea.

Among them, the New Guinea colony has a special status, directly belonging to the royal family, and the governor is directly appointed by Arthur and has independent administrative power.

Officials of the Australian and New Zealand governments are elected by the House of Commons of Australia and the House of Commons of New Zealand, respectively. Meanwhile, the Houses of Parliament of Australia and New Zealand are composed of the Commonwealth Upper House (Royal House) and Commonwealth House of Commons (House of Representatives).

The Royal House of Representatives and the House of Representatives represent the rights of the royal family and citizens respectively. The former is directly appointed by Arthur, the federal monarch, while the latter is elected in all areas of the Federation (including the New Guinea colonies). People of the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand who have lived in all Commonwealth territories for 20 years.

The new federation is a typical dual country, Australia and New Zealand have their own independent governments, but also have a unified federal government.

The current federal government is basically composed of the Australian government, and only a small number of New Zealand government officials have entered the federal government and held some insignificant positions.

The election model of the Australian government has basically been transferred to the federal government. As long as New Zealand officials have the ability and confidence, they can stand for election in the next government election. At that time, they may even become the prime minister of the federal government.

In order to comfort the officials of the New Zealand government, the two state government officials of North New Zealand and South New Zealand are basically held by them. They can choose the positions they want and serve until the next state government election.

This has indeed calmed down some New Zealand officials' dissatisfaction. At least they also know that their competitiveness cannot be compared with Australian officials, at least in a short period of time.

A state government official can satisfy their appetite. After all, while retaining their original positions, they also obtained some state government positions and rights.

The least changed are actually the Royal House of Representatives and the House of Representatives.These two houses are actually a combination of the upper and lower houses of Australia and New Zealand.

This has also led to the current total number of members of the Federal Royal House of Representatives exceeding 20, and the total number of members of the House of Representatives exceeding 240.

All members of Parliament in Australia and New Zealand have joined the current House of Representatives.

They will be able to maintain their position, at least for the time being, until the next House election.

In terms of functions, the House of Representatives is elected by each state. Six states in Australia occupy 190 eight seats, and two states in New Zealand occupy 42 seats.

These members, elected by each state, make up the 240-member House of Representatives.

The House of Representatives has legislative power, oversight power and the power to impeach all officials not in the cabinet government, while all positions in the cabinet government are also elected from the house of representatives.

The members of the Royal House of Representatives are composed of cabinet government officials at the time, adult male members of the royal family, members appointed by the monarch, governors of the colonies and governors of the territories. The tenure is equivalent to the tenure of their position.

Members appointed by Arthur himself serve slightly longer terms, but not more than five years.Unless Arthur is reappointed, he ceases to be a member of the Royal Council after five years.

In other words, the Prime Minister and Ministers of the Cabinet Government, the Governor-General of the Colonial New Guinea and the Governor-General of the Capital Territory automatically receive the status of members of the Federal Royal Council.

But likewise, if they cease to be Prime Ministers and Ministers in Cabinet Government, or Governors of Colonies and Territories, they will automatically lose their status as members of the Royal Council.

The powers of the Royal House of Commons are wide-ranging, with legislative, judicial, supervisory powers, the right to impeach any official and the right to reject proposals from the House of Commons.

Yes, although the power of the House of Representatives is huge, all of this also depends on a prerequisite, that is, the proposal of the House of Representatives is successfully passed in the Royal House of Representatives.

All proposals of the House of Representatives can only be implemented with the approval of the Royal House of Representatives, and Arthur controls the Royal House of Representatives through various means.

The first is the Governor of the Colonies and the Governor of the Capital Territory. These two Governors were all appointed by Arthur himself, and they were naturally loyal to Arthur.

Secondly, although the members of the cabinet government are elected by the House of Representatives, they actually have to be formally appointed by Arthur before they can take office.

Without Arthur's appointment, at least jurisprudentially, they cannot become official cabinet members, whether in name or in practice.

Therefore, no matter how ambitious they are, they have to be loyal to the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand where autocratic monarchy prevails, and they have to be loyal to the monarch with unlimited prestige.

What's more, in addition to the Royal House, Arthur also has a hole card, that is, the monarch has the ability to overthrow everything.

With the establishment of the Commonwealth, the Australian Constitution was officially renamed the Commonwealth Constitution, which is common throughout the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand.

The Constitution stipulates that the monarch has the supreme right to dissolve the Royal House of Representatives and the House of Representatives under special circumstances, recall the cabinet government, and form an interim government appointed entirely by the monarch.

This is equivalent to Arthur being able to dissolve the Royal House of Representatives, the House of Representatives and the cabinet government with great power in an emergency, making the Federation a complete dictatorship.

But such a right can only become a hole card that will not be used at all, because once this hole card is used, the country may be faced with a deep crisis, and the prestige of the royal family and the government will completely collapse.

But in fact, Arthur, who has mastered the military power and has a great reputation among the people, does not have to worry about this special situation at all.

Not to mention the present, even in the next few decades, it is basically impossible to produce an opponent within the Federation who can fight against the royal power. This is Arthur's confidence in his future experience.

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(End of this chapter)