The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1089 - 815: The New Cabinet

Although the United Kingdom and France also announced various conditions Germany had agreed to, to address the doubts and confusion of the people, such statements obviously couldn't deceive Arthur.

France had made concessions, and this was an indisputable fact.

Perhaps this was France's sole opportunity to crush Hitler's fantasies without resorting to war.

After all, the German military was restricted to 150,000, and though Italy's army seemed larger, it was not particularly strong in combat.

Even if war had broken out, with no interference from other countries, nearly 500,000 French troops could easily break through Germany's defenses, especially since the German army lacked heavy weaponry on a large scale.

But there was nothing to be done. Although France was a victorious nation of World War I, the damage inflicted on France by the war had instilled a fear of such conflict in the French people.

On the contrary, the resentment all countries bore towards Germany after World War I was primarily deflected onto France and the Jews by the Germans.

Add to that Hitler, an exceptionally gifted orator and instigator of emotion, which led the Germans to choose hatred in the face of similar suffering to the French, rather than the French's perceived cowardice.

While this signified that war was not far off, the strengthening of Germany's military might was, nevertheless, good news for Arthur.

Only a stronger Germany could, within a controllable range, consume more of the strength of the United Kingdom and France.

Only when the United Kingdom and France could no longer hold on would they seek assistance from Australasia, the world's third superpower.

And it was only in such circumstances that Australasia could acquire what it wanted, and do so peacefully.

German military expansion would take some time, and certainly, a war could not be waged relying solely on this army of 250,000.

This also indicated that Europe had at least about two years of peace left, which was a golden time for the development of Australasia.

It wasn't clear whether the British and French had detected the scent of war, but at this moment, Arthur no longer concerned himself with them.

Because with time arriving at June 1933, the first Cabinet Government of the Australasian Empire was also officially beginning its election.

Although Cabinet elections had been held in Australasia many times, this was the first time since Arthur established the Empire.

This first Cabinet would not only hold the title of the Empire's first but would also achieve a higher status than ever before, which was one of the reasons why many officers vied to compete.

Under the stricter management of the Party Law, the number of political parties in Australasia had been reduced to 15.

Among them, only 9 political parties had over a million supporters, and merely 6 parties had secured at least one seat in the House of Representatives.

Although few in number, the competition among the political parties would be even more brutal. Furthermore, all the members of the House of Representatives could register to run for Cabinet.

In addition, those who had been elected as cabinet members before and who still possessed the qualifications to be elected, could also participate in the election for the first Cabinet of the Empire.

This led to all seats in the first Cabinet facing far more intense competition than before.

Even ministers of departments not considered crucial garnered the competition of several officers, and the difficulty of re-election for the current Cabinet was greatly multiplied.

People were paying attention to the election competition for the Cabinet and were also watching to see if the unwritten rule that seemed to emerge in the previous Cabinets would continue after the Empire was established.

This rule was that serving as the Secretary of State (Deputy Prime Minister) would guarantee a 100% chance of being elected as the next Prime Minister of the Cabinet if the current Prime Minister could not run for re-election.

This rule had been in place since the establishment of the position of Secretary of State during Prime Minister Kent's tenure and had remained so ever since.

Under such circumstances, if Prime Minister Raul was unable to secure re-election, then it should be the current Secretary of State, Darren Watson, who would become the new Prime Minister of the Cabinet Government.

Is that really the case?

Arthur had also given this matter some thought.

Although the choice of Prime Minister could be decided directly by Arthur, he did not wish to frequently exercise such a seemingly dictatorial power.

The succession of cabinet governments since Australia's foundation had seen the election of several individuals to the position of Prime Minister whom Arthur did not favor.

Although belonging to different political parties, these officers' ideological outlooks could generally be divided into three factions: the radical, the conservative, and the moderate.

The current Prime Minister Raul, who had steadily risen from the role of Minister of Defence, was considered a representative of the radical faction.

Representatives of the conservative faction mainly came from the time of the Australian Principality, specifically the first Prime Minister Evan and the second Prime Minister Walter.

As for the moderate faction, currently, there were two representatives, Prime Ministers Kent and Roger.

Both men shared a conspicuous commonality: as confidantes of Arthur, they entered the First Cabinet directly and then ascended step by step to high positions in the government.

It could be understood that the Radical faction consisted of the pioneering Military, the middle class, and small capital; whereas the Conservative faction represented large capital and native forces.

As for the Balanced faction, they were essentially Arthur's diehard loyalists. Their political ideology was not fixed; Arthur's ideas were the fundamental reasons determining their political thought.

If Arthur had to choose, he actually leaned more towards the Radical and Balanced factions.

It was not that one was more loyal than the other; the main reason was that Arthur valued the Radical and Balanced factions' support for and enthusiasm about the war.

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As the term suggests, the Conservative faction was somewhat conservative in thought. Take, for example, the second Prime Minister Walter, who as a member of the native Australian forces, advocated for Australia's low-profile development, even recommending downsizing the Military to save on military spending.

In such times, the Radical faction was clearly more suitable for ruling the country. Although Darren Watson had served four terms as a cabinet member, Arthur did not favor the relatively conservative Darren Watson to lead Australasia to victory in the war.

Arthur's attitude had already determined the candidate for the next Prime Minister of the Cabinet.

After around a month of elections, Prime Minister Raul was smoothly reelected, becoming the Australasian Empire's First Cabinet Prime Minister.

Darren Watson concluded his political career spanning four terms as a cabinet member, taking his title of Baron and smartly opting for retirement.

With the hereditary Title of Nobility, Darren Watson transformed the originally common Watson family into a noble family of Australasia.

This merit was sufficient; Darren Watson was a smart man who knew when to exit the stage.

For such a clever person, naturally Arthur wouldn't burn bridges. After all, he was a veteran of four Cabinet Governments and had been serving as an Australasian Cabinet Minister since 1911, spending 22 years within the nation's most critical Cabinet Government.

When Darren Watson left, Arthur specially granted him a large parcel of land and conferred upon him a medal as a reward.

Returning to the Cabinet.

Despite Raul remaining as Prime Minister, the changes in this term's Cabinet Government were noticeably significant compared to the previous term.

Former Prime Minister Roger led the Australasian National Party to a successful return, capturing the crucial position of Speaker of the House of Representatives.

To appease the Conservative faction, Arthur chose Machey, whose ideology was also Conservative, as the new Minister of State for the Cabinet Government.

As for the Archbishop, there is not much to say, as Australasia will not see a new Archbishop until the passing of Archbishop Steed.

The Minister of Defence continued to be served by Thomas. With war likely to break out in the coming years, Arthur had no plans to replace the Defense Minister during this Cabinet Government tenure.

After all, Thomas had proven to be quite competent since taking office. Arthur was very satisfied with some of the military expansion plans and investments in Military Technology proposed by Thomas.

It's just that he became somewhat too crazy when asking for military funds every year, annoying many members of the Cabinet, including Arthur himself.

But it was known that Minister Thomas was considering the military interests of the country, and even though Arthur was pestered by Minister Thomas every New Year, he never thought of punishing Minister Thomas.

After all, Arthur too wanted to see the nation's Military strength grow. While factors like the economy, industry, population, and military all determined a nation's comprehensive power, only when military power was strong could it truly instill fear in the enemies.

The previous Minister of Finance, Hunter, returned to the role of Royal Affairs Minister. Meanwhile, the former Royal Affairs Minister Yajedin was appointed by Arthur as the Prime Minister for the United Kingdom of the West Coast, in preparation for George.

It is worth mentioning that as Old Hunter Butler aged, many of the royal family's affairs gradually shifted into Hunter's hands.

This was the reason Hunter stepped down from the significant position of Minister of Finance. With fewer day-to-day responsibilities as the Royal Affairs Minister, Hunter could take this time to take control of the entire Royal financial group.

Having served consecutively as the Minister of Finance for two terms, Arthur was quite assured of Hunter's capability to manage the entire Royal Consortium.

After all, if one could manage the finances of the country, managing the royal group should be even less challenging.

Moreover, Arthur had other confidantes, and there were individual managers for the various enterprises under the banner of the Royal Consortium.

Hunter merely needed to manage these enterprise leaders to indirectly control the entire Royal Consortium.

Of course, the Royal Consortium now had a new name, the Royal Group.

After all, with the Empire established, the Australasian royal family had rightfully evolved into the Australasian Royal Family, legitimizing the bestowment of the royal title to certain businesses and units.

Talking back about the Cabinet. Besides these few familiar members, there were numerous personnel changes in other cabinet positions.

Among these positions, the most crucial would likely be the Minister of Finance, overseeing the nation's finances.

The chosen candidate for Minister of Finance was a new name, Finn Hudson. Having served sequentially as the Governor of the Leonora Industrial Base special region, Governor of the West Australian State, Governor of Sydney, and Governor of the Capital Region, he became the new Cabinet Government's Minister of Finance following the House of Representatives' nomination.