Chapter 112 Meeting with the Alliance Party (Please subscribe!)

On April 11, 1902, after basically understanding the situation in New Zealand, Arthur finally made the next decision, which was to meet with the Alliance Party, now the largest party in New Zealand.

Among the two major political parties in New Zealand, the Alliance Party is actually the younger one.

However, until this party was established, it is the party with the most influence and the most say in New Zealand.

Thanks to the background of New Zealand's self-governing colony, the Union Party has also gained certain positions in New Zealand. For example, the current leader of the Union Party, Grant Wilson, is a typical representative.

Grant Wilson, born in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1853, is one of the representatives of New Zealand native officials.

Grant's early political career was not successful. The highest official he ever held was just a small commissioner in the Wellington city government, and his responsibility was only to visit and investigate the public sentiment in Wellington.

Although the commissioner sounds very noble, in fact, it is a very common position in New Zealand. To put it bluntly, he is just an ordinary small official.

But Grant Wilson is not an ordinary person. Through his contact with the Labor Party, Grant Wilson became interested in the party but looked down upon the Labor Party, which was made up of workers.

So when Australia became an independent duchy, Grant Wilson united with a group of his friends to establish the Alliance Party, promoting his purpose of "uniting Australia and building a new New Zealand", and soon gained support from some small officials and Veteran support.

With the gradual development of Australia, New Zealanders have gradually changed their views and impressions of Australia, and they no longer refute the idea of ​​​​union or joining Australia.

The opportunity for the Alliance Party to become the largest party in New Zealand was Queen Victoria's appointment of Arthur as Governor of New Zealand.

From that moment on, people in New Zealand saw the hope of uniting Australia, and Grant Wilson also saw the hope of the rise of the Union Party, so he launched a large-scale propaganda campaign and successfully attracted some people to join the Union Party and won the election. He won the position of Mayor of Wellington.

Yes, because New Zealand is an autonomous colony, although its electoral system has not been fully developed, it can be regarded as having its own system.

Except for colonial government officials who need to be appointed by the governor and political parties cannot intervene for the time being, other positions, including city government, are appointed through elections.

After becoming the mayor of Wellington, Grant Wilson could no longer hide his political intentions and began to vigorously incite New Zealand's independence, and became one of the advocates and leaders of the New Zealand independence movement.

The place Arthur chose to receive Grant Wilson was the original New Zealand Governor's Palace, which had been vacant and uninhabited since the previous New Zealand Governor left.

However, the sanitation of the Governor's Mansion is still cleaned from time to time. Although it cannot be guaranteed to be spotless, it can still be used after simple tidying up.

In the conference hall of Government House, Arthur met Grant Wilson, leader of the Union Party and mayor of Wellington.

At this time, Grant Wilson was already over 50 years old. In this era when the average life expectancy in the world is only 40 years old and the average life expectancy in Western Europe is only 46 years old, he is indeed considered to be old.

It can be seen that Grant Wilson made full preparations before meeting Arthur.

Not only was he wearing very formal-looking clothes, he was also dressed up and down, and he walked in respectfully.

"Dear Governor of New Zealand, His Royal Highness the Duke of Australia, on behalf of all members of the Alliance Party, I would like to express my heartfelt greetings to His Highness." Grant Wilson said respectfully.

Arthur nodded and said with a slight smile: "Please take a seat, Mayor Grant."

Upon hearing this, Grant Wilson sat down cautiously while tentatively observing Arthur's face.

After waiting for several minutes, Arthur made no move to speak. Grant Wilson couldn't sit still, and asked a little cautiously: "His Royal Highness summoned me to come over. What's the matter?"

After hearing this, Arthur stopped flipping through the information in his hands, raised his head and looked at Grant Wilson with a slight smile.

Feeling a little flustered by Arthur's stare, Grant Wilson twisted his body, adjusted his posture, and lowered his head at the same time, not daring to look at Arthur again.

"The Alliance Party is now the largest party in New Zealand, right? Mayor Grant has done a good job. New Zealand's electoral system seems to be more advanced than Australia's." Arthur finally spoke, but what he said was that Grant Wilson seemed to understand Unintelligible content.

"This also relies on the support of New Zealanders and the good relationship between New Zealand and Australia since their establishment." Grant Wilson replied.

Before figuring out Arthur's true intentions, answering the question honestly was the only way Mayor Grant could think of.

After all, in addition to being the Duke of Australia, Arthur was also the Governor-General of New Zealand.

It was very easy for Arthur to understand something, and Grant Wilson was definitely not qualified to deceive him.

"What does Mayor Grant think of Australia?" Arthur asked with a smile.

Grant Wilson sat up straight again, but his eyes were fixed on the floor. After thinking for a while, he solemnly said: "Australia has a vast land area. After opening up the immigration policy, the population will increase rapidly. In addition, Australia's rich mineral resources allow it to successfully establish a large number of factories and industrial systems."

"More importantly, Australia has shown great potential under the leadership of His Highness. I believe that given Australia some time, its development speed and results will definitely not be weaker than those of European countries, and can even rival the great powers." Grant When he said the last sentence, he looked at Arthur's face specifically.

Although he was flattered, Arthur's expression did not change, and he just nodded calmly.

While Grant Wilson was thinking about whether he was right, Arthur continued to ask: "Mayor Grant, how do you think the relationship between Australia and New Zealand will develop?"

This question was not a simple one. Grant Wilson understood that this question was what Arthur really wanted to ask, so he did not dare to answer immediately. Instead, he carefully organized his words before speaking slowly.

"I think the best outcome for Australia and New Zealand is to move toward union. Whether it is in terms of the history of the two regions or the ethnic makeup of the two regions, I think union is the best outcome for New Zealand and Australia."

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