Chapter 181 Commonwealth of Australia and 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 peace discussions.

The so-called peace discussion period is actually a discussion between the two governments on the process of forming a federation. It is also a discussion on how much voice the two countries have in the federation, and the future relationship between the two governments.

Although it has become inevitable for New Zealand and Australia to form a federation, who is in charge of the federation and how the two regions should be integrated together is a question worth exploring.

There were many people attending this meeting. The protagonists were the government of the Principality of Australia and the government of New Zealand, which was the temporary reform of the colonial government of New Zealand.

In fact, apart from changing the 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, the meeting was also attended by members of the House of Lords and Lower Houses from Australia and New Zealand.

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

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

In fact, this 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, Commander It was also sent by Arthur.

Even so, after the formation of the federation, the division of power between the two regions must still be clear.

After all, slight gaps and discrepancies may lead to the disintegration of this large country in the future, and the fundamentals of Australia, which Arthur has worked so 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, the government, etc. were discussed, and some analysis and imagination were conducted on any situations that might occur in the federation in the future.

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 federal capital.

It was also on that day that, under the petition of a large number of New Zealand people and the requests of many high-ranking 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 monarchies, they are still very different in some aspects such as their systems.

Australia is a monarchy-like principality like a territory, and the entire 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, the Australian royal family where Arthur belongs becomes extinct, then the Australian dukedom will return to the hands of the British Empire, because it is a principality carved out 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, rather than from someone else's enfeoffment.

As long as Arthur does not lose the support of New Zealanders, the title will always exist and can 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 ​​dozens of kilometers near Sydney was separately divided and the Federal Capital Territory was established.

The Federal Capital Territory is an administrative unit with status equivalent to a state. The highest official of the territory is called the Governor, and his 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 consists of the North Island of New Zealand, and South New Zealand, which consists of the South Island of New Zealand.

In this regard, the specific scope and administration of the Federation of Australia and New Zealand were thoroughly divided. The Federation 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. It belongs directly to the royal family. The governor is directly appointed by Arthur and has independent administrative power.

Officials of the Australian government and the New Zealand government are elected by the House of Commons of Australia and the House of Commons of New Zealand respectively. At the same time, the houses of Australia and New Zealand jointly constitute the Federal House of Lords (Royal House) and the Federal 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, and the latter is elected within all areas of the federation (including the colony of New Guinea). The scope of election is to have legal citizenship of the federation, and People of the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand who have resided in all areas of the Commonwealth for twenty years.

The new federation is a typical dual country, with Australia and New Zealand each having 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 and held some less important positions.

The electoral 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. They may even become the prime minister of the federal government by then.

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

This did allow some New Zealand officials to calm down their original dissatisfaction. At least they also knew that their competitiveness could not match that of Australian officials, at least in the short term.

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

This has also resulted in the current total number of members of the Federal Royal House exceeding twenty, and the total number of members of the House of Representatives exceeding two hundred and forty.

All MPs from 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 of Representatives elections.

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

These members, elected by each state, make up the House of Representatives, which has a total number of 240 members.

The House of Representatives has legislative, supervisory and impeachment powers for all non-cabinet government officials, and all cabinet government positions are elected from the House of Representatives.

The members of the Royal House are composed of current cabinet government officials, adult male members of the royal family, members appointed by the monarch, and colonial governors and territorial governors. In addition to adult male members of the royal family, other members of the Royal House are in the Royal House. The term of office is equivalent to the term of their position.

Members appointed by Arthur himself served slightly longer terms, but no more than five years. Arthur ceased to be a member of the House of Commons after five years unless reappointed.

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 Royal House of Commons.

But equally, if they cease to be prime ministers and ministers in the cabinet government, or governors of colonies and territories, they will automatically lose their status as members of the Royal House of Representatives.

The power of the Royal House is very broad, 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, it all depends on a prerequisite, that is, the proposals of the House of Representatives are successfully passed by the Royal House of Representatives.

All proposals in the House of Representatives could only be implemented if approved by the Royal House of Representatives, and Arthur controlled the Royal House of Representatives through various means.

The first is the governor of the colony and the governor of the capital territory. These two governors were all appointed by Arthur himself and 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 from a legal point of view, they could not become official cabinet members, either 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 monarchy prevails, and they have to be loyal to the monarch with unlimited prestige.

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

With the establishment of Federation, the Australian Constitution was officially renamed the Federal Constitution, which is common throughout Australia and the Commonwealth of 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, remove the cabinet government, and form a provisional government all appointed 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, which have huge powers in an emergency, turning the federation into a complete dictatorship.

But such power can only become a trump card that will rarely be used, because once this trump card is used, the country may be 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 a huge reputation among the people, does not have to worry about the arrival of this special situation.

Not to mention the present, even in the next few decades, it is basically impossible for an opponent to be born within the Federation to compete with the royal power. This is Arthur's confidence based on the experience of later generations.

Three thousand words chapter, please support!