Chapter 50 Australian New Guinea

After hearing what Arthur said, everyone present fell into a carnival. Even the cabinet officials who have entered the upper echelons of the government were all smiling.

It is absolutely what everyone wants to see that the country can expand its territory peacefully, not to mention the lands very close to Australia, such as British New Guinea and New Zealand.

British New Guinea is located not far from the north of Australia, with a population of about 700,000.

The value of this land is not very high, and the population is not large, but it can become an important northern gateway for Australia and a springboard for spying on Southeast Asia.

To the west and northwest of British New Guinea is the Dutch East Indies colony.

The development potential of the Dutch East Indies colony should not be underestimated. The total area is nearly two million square kilometers, and the total population has exceeded more than 20 million.

More importantly, these people in the Dutch East Indies are so-called natives, that is, slaves who are not regarded as human lives by Westerners.

As long as you can seek an island in the Dutch East Indies, you can get a large amount of free labor, and it can also be used as cannon fodder for Australia's industrial development.

In Arthur's view, the greatest role of these people who cannot integrate into Australia's diverse culture and cannot become a true Australian is to sacrifice their own lives for the development of Australia.

Needless to say, New Zealand is also an excellent country in animal husbandry, although its various mineral resources are not as prosperous as Australia, which can just make up for Australia's plight of insufficient arable land.

If Australia can fully integrate New Guinea and New Zealand, then the integrated country will have no problem accommodating hundreds of millions of people.

It must be said that Queen Victoria, even at the last moment of her life, fought for a lot of benefits for Arthur and Arthur's Australia, giving Australia the capital to rise and the potential to become a superpower.

However, for Britain, Queen Victoria's departure is a pure loss. As a queen who has ruled the country for more than 60 years, Queen Victoria's prestige in Britain is unmatched, and the monarchical power she has obtained is not comparable to that of Edward, who is about to succeed her.

It can be said that when Queen Victoria is willful, she can dismiss and appoint prime ministers according to her own intentions without worrying about being criticized by the government and the people.

But if Edward dared to do so, the streets would be full of news accusing Edward the next day, and there would be marches against tyrants everywhere in the empire.

Britain is still a constitutional monarchy after all, and the power of the British monarch will still be greatly restricted.

Even if there is a person like Queen Victoria, who can take back a certain right to speak from the government with her long-accumulated prestige and the advantage of being popular, these temporary rights cannot be inherited by the new monarch after the throne is renewed.

There are two things that Prince Edward will have to worry about in a short period of time. One is to handle Queen Victoria's funeral well, which must satisfy the royal families of European countries and the British royal family, and also satisfy the British people who love Queen Victoria.

At the same time, Prince Edward must communicate well with the government. After all, Prince Edward may not be able to suppress the government that Queen Victoria can suppress.

However, Arthur did not understand Prince Edward's troubles. After settling the guards and entourage given by Queen Victoria, Arthur held a cabinet meeting the next day to discuss how to take over British New Guinea and New Zealand.

According to the agreement with Prince Edward, after the Australian soldiers arrived, all British soldiers and forces would withdraw from British New Guinea, and British New Guinea would be officially handed over to Australia for management.

As for whether to turn it into a new state of Australia or continue to be a colony, that was a headache for Australia.

It was for this reason that Arthur decided to take over British New Guinea as soon as possible.

With the remaining prestige of Queen Victoria, it would be very easy for Australia to completely control and take over British New Guinea.

But if we wait until the end of Queen Victoria's funeral or even longer, Queen Victoria's prestige will gradually dissipate, and it is hard to say whether British New Guinea is willing to accept Australia's management at that time.

It is still the familiar meeting room on the top floor of the government building, and it is still the familiar few people in the cabinet.

Arthur sat at the head of the table and smiled as he threw a difficult question to everyone: "Everyone, according to Her Majesty the Queen's last will, British New Guinea is handed over to us for management, and I will serve as the Governor-General of New Zealand for 20 years. Now is the time to discuss the issues of British New Guinea and New Zealand. How should we manage these two areas? Everyone, please share your opinions."

British New Guinea is fine, it is already Australia's fish meat, basically there is no escape.

But New Zealand is different. Arthur has only been the Governor-General of New Zealand for 20 years. If Australia's policy is biased against New Zealand, then it is very likely that Australia will lose the right to manage New Zealand in 20 years, causing New Zealand to return to the arms of Britain.

"Your Highness, why not just rename British New Guinea to the State of New Guinea as the seventh state of Australia?" Minister of Agriculture Henry suggested: "British New Guinea is very close to Australia and has excellent ports. There will be no problem if it is directly made a state, just as smoothly as our previous colonies became states."

"Well, it's a good idea. Does anyone else have any ideas?" Arthur nodded expressionlessly and looked at others.

"Your Highness, I think we can't make New Guinea our new state in a short time. We should manage it as a colony first." Prime Minister Evan stood up and put forward a different opinion: "British New Guinea is different from several states in Australia. Although British New Guinea has a population of more than 700,000, there are only more than 30,000 British and European immigrants, and the rest are local indigenous people. If we directly manage British New Guinea as our new state, then where will these indigenous people go? If they are all considered our legal citizens, then for all of us Australians, is it too unfair?"

Prime Minister Evan's meaning is very simple. If British New Guinea is directly made a state, then the treatment of these indigenous people will become a thorny issue.

But if British New Guinea is still a colony, then who will care about the life and death of the indigenous people in the colony?

"Your Highness, my proposal is to continue to manage New Guinea as a colony. What we need now is the Australian New Guinea colony, not the New Guinea state." Prime Minister Evan looked at Arthur and said solemnly.

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