Chapter 168: The Capital Territory
"Your Highness, there are a few significant matters I would like to seek your opinion on," Prime Minister Evan said, getting straight to the point. "Both of these matters come from proposals in the House of Representatives. The first is a proposal from an MP to build a palace befitting Your Highness's status, as the official residence of the Australian royal family. At the same time, there is a proposal to rebuild the national government building. The current government building was converted from the former colonial government building of New South Wales, and its scale and facilities are no longer suitable for the current needs of Australia."
"In addition, our current capital, Sydney, is also the capital of New South Wales, which makes administration difficult. In fact, the management of Sydney by New South Wales is quite troublesome. Therefore, an MP has proposed establishing a Capital Territory near Sydney, which would be entirely independent of New South Wales, with the capital of New South Wales being relocated elsewhere," Prime Minister Evan continued.
"Currently, these two proposals have gained significant support in the House of Representatives and have been sent to the Cabinet for a preliminary decision. Our investigation of the House of Representatives reveals that not a few MPs support these decisions. At least half of the members have expressed their support, so we need Your Highness's decision," Evan concluded, looking at Arthur, awaiting his response.
"Mm?" Arthur was surprised. In his more than three years in Australia, neither he nor any other members of the royal family had considered building a palace, yet MPs in the House of Representatives were already starting to worry about it.
Although the Australian royal family did not yet have a true palace, with the two places currently available being a small estate and the top floor of the government building temporarily converted into a residence, this was still far from the grandeur of other royal families around the world.
Arthur's small estate, in the eyes of European nobility, was nothing more than a vacation home, and it didn't even rank among the great royal residences in Europe.
This was also a concern for the MPs, as it was time for the royal family to have a large palace that could both display the authority of the Australian royal family and raise Australia's prestige.
After all, for monarchies, the strength and dignity of the royal family are directly tied to the country's prestige. A strong and respected royal family brings immense honor to the nation, while a declining and impoverished royal family damages the nation's prestige as well.
Thinking of this, Arthur said, "It is indeed time to build a palace. At the very least, when receiving foreign guests, we will need a more formal place and venue. The government building is also quite modest. In the early stages of the country's establishment, for various reasons, we did not build a new government building, but instead repurposed the former colonial government building. Now, Australia has the funds and manpower, and it's time to build a new government building."
"Prime Minister Evan, you and your government can decide the details of the government building. The palace construction will begin soon. I hope the government building and the palace are not too far apart, as this will make it easier for Cabinet meetings and convocations to take place," Arthur instructed.
If a new palace were to be built, the site would undoubtedly be located further away from the current center of Sydney. The central area of Sydney was nearly fully developed, with no substantial space left for a grand palace. Moreover, there were many factories near Sydney, and while current pollution levels weren't too high, the air quality in Sydney had begun to deteriorate.
Arthur didn't want his palace to face severe air quality issues in a few decades. After all, the quality of life and security were paramount for the royal family. Constructing the palace in a quieter, more remote suburb of Sydney seemed like a better choice.
"Yes, Your Highness. I will have the designs for the new government building drawn up as soon as possible, and once the site for the palace is selected, we will begin construction near it," Prime Minister Evan replied promptly.
Building a new government building was good news for everyone in the government. The current government building was indeed old and worn, with some of the wooden doors creaking loudly when opened or closed.
Although the officials rarely complained about their work environment, it was clear that most would prefer a new government building.
"As for the establishment of the Capital Territory, Prime Minister Evan, what does your Cabinet think?" After resolving the palace and government building issues, the remaining matter was the establishment of the Capital Territory.
But this was the most significant change for Australia, as creating the Capital Territory would shift the political structure of Australia's six states, making the Capital Territory at least on par with the six states.
"Your Highness, we are a typical immigrant nation, which is good for our population growth, but it has also created many challenges," Prime Minister Evan said.
"Although our total population has reached 4.26 million, more than half of the population lives on the southeast coast, with the remainder spread across the southwest, south, and eastern coastal areas. The capitals of our six states already account for over 1.53 million people. Specifically, Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, and Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, have populations of 530,000 and 470,000 respectively, comprising a third of New South Wales' and nearly half of Victoria's population. Their population even rivals that of Western Australia," Prime Minister Evan explained.
"While this is a common phenomenon for an immigrant country, it brings many problems, such as most of the population being concentrated in cities, with very few people living in the interior. Many areas are currently uninhabited. I believe that the proposal to establish the Capital Territory is a good option for our current situation. In fact, I think we can also use this opportunity to adjust Australia's political structure. The size of our six states varies greatly, and so does the population distribution."
"Excluding Tasmania, Australia's situation is that the smaller states have larger populations, while the larger states have fewer people. Western Australia and South Australia together account for more than half of Australia's land area, yet their population is less than a third of Australia's total population. For these states, managing such vast lands with such small populations is difficult. Meanwhile, the cities on the southeast coast are overdeveloped, with populations in some cities equivalent to the population of an entire state in the west. This makes it necessary to establish a Capital Territory to avoid the awkward situation of having the capital and the capital of New South Wales in the same city. I believe we should create the Capital Territory just south of Newcastle in the north of Sydney, extending to the north of Albury in the south, including all of Sydney and its suburbs. The capital of New South Wales can then be relocated to Newcastle, which is the second-largest city in the state and has a population of over 200,000," Prime Minister Evan said.
Arthur silently nodded. Prime Minister Evan had spent a lot of time discussing Australia's immigration situation but had ultimately focused on the significant population disparity between the southeast and the west of Australia.
However, this was not a change that could happen quickly. The population distribution along Australia's coast had been a constant, and it would remain a unique feature of the country's environment and climate.
Historically, after the formation of the Commonwealth of Australia, the capital was temporarily set in Melbourne. However, as Sydney grew larger than Melbourne, the capital was moved to Canberra, a new city established between the two. The Capital Territory was established after Canberra was built, reflecting the earlier, less intense immigration waves compared to now.
Now, things were different. In addition to the United Kingdom, Australia's stable immigration source, Australia had two other major immigrant sources: Germany and France.
The United Kingdom and Germany alone provided over 150,000 immigrants to Australia annually, which was the reason for the rapid population growth.
"Mm, to avoid the conflict between the capital and the capital city, it is indeed time to establish the Capital Territory. I will leave this matter to the Cabinet, but we must ensure that the Capital Territory is well-planned to ensure future development potential, without taking too much land and population from New South Wales." Arthur finally nodded, entrusting the Capital Territory matter to the Cabinet.
"Yes, Your Highness. We will carefully consider this and provide you with the results as soon as possible," Prime Minister Evan replied.
"By the way, Your Highness, how do you think the administrative status of the Capital Territory should be? Should it be on the same level as the states, or should it be a special political unit?" Prime Minister Evan asked.
No matter the political status, the Capital Territory would at least be an important administrative region equal to the states. This would mean Australia would have a position similar to a governor, and because it hosted the nation's capital, the officials in the Capital Territory would have a higher status than those in the state governments.
"Since it is the Capital Territory, the political level isn't a perfect fit at any level. I have decided that the Capital Territory will be a new administrative unit, directly governed by the federal government." Arthur smiled.
(End of Chapter)
Thank you for the support, friends. If you want to read more chapters in advance, go to my Patreon.
Read 30 Chapters In Advance: patreon.com/Kira1997