Chapter 259: Confirmation of New Positions
In the following days, Arthur summoned the bishops of the Australian and New Zealand Churches and sent telegrams to inquire about the opinion of the Anglican Church of England. He then announced the establishment of the Australasia Anglican Church and the creation of the title of Archbishop of Australasia.
The Archbishop of Australasia was first and foremost a religious title, as well as the head of the Anglican Church in Australasia, overseeing all Protestant Christians in the region. Therefore, this was the highest position in Australasia's clergy and the title all Anglican bishops in Australasia aspired to.
The first Archbishop of Australasia was Archbishop Steed Malbronk from the Anglican Church of England. If all went as planned, Archbishop Steed would arrive in Australasia in early July to take up his position as the first Archbishop of Australasia.
As part of the exchange of benefits, the Australasia Anglican Church would separate from the Anglican Church of England and become an independent kingdom-wide Protestant Church.
The Archbishop of Australasia's residence was at the Victoria Cathedral in the heart of Sydney. This cathedral had a history of over a hundred years and was the oldest and largest church in Australasia, as well as the one with the most followers.
To show his support for the Church, Arthur announced with a smile that he would donate 500,000 Australian dollars to the church for its development, and would personally donate 100,000 Australian dollars to the Victoria Cathedral to aid with repairs and construction.
With the establishment of an independent Protestant Church in Australasia, it would be easier for Arthur to manage his rule in the region. In the future, royal activities could simply involve inviting the bishops of Australasia, eliminating the need for time-consuming visits to England to personally invite bishops.
Arthur's support for the Church also garnered the favor of many loyal followers. Moreover, Arthur maintained an open and accepting attitude toward Christianity as a whole, so the creation of the Anglican Church did not deter other European immigrants from coming to Australasia.
In early July, Steed Malbronk officially arrived at the Sydney port, and Arthur personally met with him, granting him the position of Archbishop of Victoria, or simply Archbishop Steed.
Archbishop Steed was very respectful towards Arthur, knowing full well who had granted him his position and understanding that this was no longer an era where religious authority surpassed royal authority.
A few days later, at the suggestion of Minister Grant, Arthur invited Archbishop Steed to co-found the Victoria Language School, aiming to help immigrants coming to Australasia quickly master the English language.
Although the British Empire was undoubtedly the world's leading power, many ordinary Europeans still struggled with the English language. This was especially true for Russian immigrants, most of whom knew little to no English.
Many of these immigrants came from Russia's lower classes, and mastering fluent English seemed like a distant possibility.
However, Australasia was a country dominated by British descent, with Protestantism as the official religion and English as the official language. This meant that those who were unfamiliar with English needed to learn it quickly to integrate into society.
With the increasing number of Russian immigrants, the language barrier was becoming an evident issue. This was the primary reason Arthur and Archbishop Steed founded the language school — to help these Russian immigrants adapt to life in Australasia.
As for involving the Church in this project, that was Archbishop Steed's request. Arthur knew that the new Archbishop was already planning on using this opportunity for missionary work.
However, this was also beneficial for the unification of Australasia, and involving the Church's influence was no problem for Arthur.
Meanwhile, the election for the House of Representatives was in full swing.
As July approached, the votes from each state were gathered for statistical review by the state governments, marking a 20-day period for the process. After this, the states would report the final election results to the government and Arthur for confirmation before announcing them to the public.
This was the most nerve-wracking time for many candidates. Earlier, the pressure from the campaign had been palpable, but it was manageable. Now that things had calmed down, the uncertainty created more anxiety.
Fortunately, the time passed quickly. On July 21, 1908, the final state submitted its results to the government and Arthur, marking the end of the vote tallying process.
Next, there would be a four-day period for random checks of the results. If everything seemed correct, the list of the new members of the House of Representatives would be finalized.
First, all cabinet ministers were, without exception, granted seats in the House of Representatives. This was essentially a given, as they had reached the highest level of government and it was inconceivable that they wouldn't secure at least one seat.
Interestingly, not only did the current cabinet ministers secure their seats, but former Prime Minister Evan and several former ministers also received House seats, which indicated that they might attempt to challenge for cabinet positions once again.
After the random checks of the reports from a few states, on July 25, 1908, the Australasia government and royal family jointly published the new list of House of Representatives members and requested the House to quickly elect a Speaker to join the cabinet.
The Speaker position was a direct way into the cabinet, and it was the best chance for any representative to enter the government.
However, things did not unfold exactly as the representatives had hoped. The Speaker of the House turned out to be former Prime Minister Evan, who had accumulated immense prestige over the last two administrations.
At this point, the appropriate title would be Sir Evan, as Arthur had personally granted him a knighthood.
As the former Prime Minister of two administrations and with his knighthood, Sir Evan was the most respected figure among the representatives, making him the natural choice to take up the Speaker position, which required substantial prestige to manage the workings of the House.
It was clear that Sir Evan had also strategically planned for this, as there were substantial chances for other major political parties to secure the Speaker's position.
In fact, it was understandable. Although Sir Evan had been the Prime Minister for two terms, he had been away from the political scene for over a year, and the next cabinet election was still three years away.
With Australasia's development progressing smoothly, the current Prime Minister Walter and many ministers were working to build their own prestige. If Sir Evan returned to run for Prime Minister, his chances of success were uncertain, especially since the constitution limited the Prime Minister to a maximum of two consecutive terms, or three terms in total.
If Sir Evan were elected, it would mark his third term, and unless Arthur personally allowed it, he could not seek re-election.
In such a situation, the question arose: should one align with the Prime Minister, who could be re-elected, or with Sir Evan, who could not? This was a tricky question.
Now, with the possibility of re-entering the cabinet through other means, Sir Evan could continue building his prestige, increasing his chances of returning to the Prime Minister's position in the future.
On the day he was elected Speaker, Sir Evan, or Speaker Evan, met with Arthur first. After a long and friendly conversation with Arthur, he then went to meet his old friends in the cabinet.
Despite what others might have thought, the cabinet meeting was a very pleasant one. Sir Evan's former subordinates congratulated and welcomed him back into the cabinet.
With the House of Representatives election now complete, it was time to finalize the remaining cabinet positions.
On August 3, Arthur nominated candidates for the positions of Chief Justice and Secretary of State. After three days of election and discussion, the final candidates were decided: Chief Justice would be Greg Harris, and the Secretary of State would be Kent.
Yes, it was the same Kent, the Minister of Defense. Since the position of Secretary of State was higher than that of Defense Minister, Kent was eligible to be nominated.
However, once Kent was elected as Secretary of State, the position of Minister of Defense became vacant. Arthur immediately nominated three military candidates for the House of Representatives to vote on.
The new Minister of Defense was chosen to be Raul Pranger, the former commander of the Guards Division.
With that, the cabinet positions had been mostly finalized, except for the position of the Minister of Royal Affairs, which Arthur directly appointed, as it was a royal matter and did not need to be discussed.
As of August 5, the new cabinet positions had been essentially determined, and Arthur gave the new cabinet members two weeks to settle their affairs. On August 20, a cabinet meeting would be held to discuss the new goals, responsibilities, and roles, and for the members to meet formally.
This allowed those taking up new positions to breathe a sigh of relief. After all, this was a new role for Australasia, and they needed time to define their duties and learn about the collective responsibilities.
Had the cabinet meeting been held immediately, they would have been at a loss for answers on many issues, rendering the meeting unproductive.
(End of Chapter)
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