Chapter 181 Australia and the Commonwealth of New Zealand

On March 20, 1904, officials from the Australian and New Zealand governments officially met in Sydney, Australia, and launched a period of more than ten days of peaceful discussion.

The so-called peaceful discussion period is actually the two governments discussing the process of forming a federation, and also discussing how much the two countries will have in the federation, as well as the relationship between the two governments in the future.

Although the formation of a federation between New Zealand and Australia has become inevitable, who will be in charge of the federation and how the two regions should be integrated together are issues worth discussing.

There were many people attending this meeting, the protagonists were the Australian Principality Government and the New Zealand Government, which was temporarily reformed from the New Zealand colonial government.

In fact, except for the change of 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 and regions, members of the upper and lower houses from Australia and New Zealand also attended the meeting.

But in fact, whether it is Australia or New Zealand, whether it is the government or the parliament, it is basically controlled by Arthur.

Therefore, this conversation between New Zealand and Australia on the formation of a federation can actually be seen as a conversation between Arthur's subordinates.

In fact, if Arthur wanted, this meeting would not even be necessary. After all, New Zealand's administrative power was also in Arthur's hands. General Pierce, who held 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 sent by Arthur.

Nevertheless, after the formation of the federation, the division of power between the two regions must be clear.

After all, a slight gap and mistake may cause the disintegration of a large country in the future, and Arthur's Australian base, which he has worked hard 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 of any possible situation in the federation in the future were made.

On April 11, 1904, Australia and New Zealand jointly issued a statement announcing the establishment of the Federation of Australia and New Zealand, with Sydney as the capital of the federation.

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

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

Australia is a monarchy 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 conferred by the British royal family, which means that the Principality of Australia and the British Empire have an inseparable relationship.

If one day, the Australian royal family where Arthur is located is extinct, then the title of Duke of Australia will return to the British Empire, because this is a duchy conferred 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 others.

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

It was also during this opportunity that Australia's administrative regions underwent a small change. The area of ​​dozens of kilometers near Sydney was separated and the Federal Capital Territory was established.

The Federal Capital Territory is an administrative unit with the same status as a state. The highest official of the territory is called the Governor-General, whose status and rights are equivalent to those of the governors of other states.

The Principality of New Zealand is also divided into two states, namely 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 Federation of Australia and New Zealand were completely divided. The Federation consists of three parts, namely the Principality of Australia, the Principality of New Zealand and the Colony of New Guinea.

Among them, the identity of the Colony of New Guinea is relatively special. It is directly under the royal family. The Governor-General is directly appointed by Arthur and has independent administrative power.

Officials of the Australian and New Zealand governments are elected by the Australian and New Zealand Houses of Representatives respectively. At the same time, the Australian and New Zealand parliaments jointly form the Federal Upper House (Royal House) and the Federal Lower House (House of Representatives).

The Royal House and the House of Representatives represent the rights of the royal family and citizens respectively. The former is directly appointed by Arthur, the monarch of the federation, and the latter is elected in all areas of the federation (including the colony of New Guinea). The scope of election is the people of the Australian and New Zealand federations who have legal federal citizenship and have lived in all areas of the federation for 20 years.

The new federation is a typical dual country. Australia and New Zealand have their own independent governments and 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 to hold some not very important positions.

The election model of the Australian government has also been basically transferred to the federal government. As long as New Zealand officials have the ability and confidence, they can run 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, they are basically the officials of the two state governments of North New Zealand and South New Zealand. They can choose the positions they want and serve until the next state government election.

This has indeed calmed the original dissatisfaction of some New Zealand officials. At least they also know that their competitiveness cannot be compared with Australian officials, at least in the short term.

An official of a state government can also 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 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 exceeding 20, and the total number of members of the House of Representatives exceeding 240.

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

At least before the next House of Representatives election, they can temporarily maintain their status.

In terms of functions, the House of Representatives is elected by each state. The six states of Australia occupy 198 seats, and the two states of New Zealand occupy 42 seats.

These members elected by each state make up the House of Representatives with a total of 240 people.

The House of Representatives has the power of legislation, supervision and impeachment of all officials of the non-cabinet government. At the same time, all positions of the cabinet government will be elected from the House of Representatives.

The members of the Royal House are composed of the current cabinet government officials, adult male members of the royal family, members appointed by the monarch, and governors of the colonies and territories. Except for adult male members of the royal family, the term of office of other members of the Royal House in the Royal House is equivalent to the term of office of their positions.

The term of office of the members appointed by Arthur himself is slightly longer, but no more than five years. Unless Arthur appoints them again, they will no longer be members of the Royal House after five years.

In other words, the prime minister and ministers of the cabinet government, the governor of the colony of New Guinea and the governor of the capital territory will automatically obtain the status of members of the federal Royal House.

But similarly, if they are no longer the prime minister and ministers of the cabinet government, or the governors of the colonies and territories, they will automatically lose their status as members of the Royal House.

The power of the Royal House is very extensive, with legislative power, judicial power, supervisory power, the right to impeach any official, and the right to reject the proposals of the House of Representatives.

Yes, although the power of the House of Representatives is very huge, all this also depends on one premise, that is, the proposals of the House of Representatives are successfully passed in the Royal House.

All proposals of the House of Representatives can only be implemented after being approved by the Royal House, and Arthur controls the Royal House in various ways.

First of all, the governors of the colonies and the governors of the capital territories, both of whom were appointed by Arthur himself, are 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 from a legal point of view, they cannot become formal cabinet members, either in name or in reality.

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

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

With the establishment of the federation, the Australian Constitution was officially renamed the Federal Constitution, which is applicable throughout the Australian and New Zealand Federation.

The Constitution stipulates that the monarch has supreme power and can dissolve the Royal House and the House of Representatives under special circumstances, dismiss the cabinet government, and form a temporary government appointed by the monarch.

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

But such a right can only be a trump card that will basically not be used, because once this trump card is used, it may face the country in deep crisis and the prestige of the royal family and the government will completely collapse.

But in fact, Arthur, who has mastered military power and has great prestige among the people, does not have to worry about the arrival of such a special situation.

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

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