Chapter 168: 163: The Current Situation of the Labour Party
Fortunately, the Upper House is still very strict in reviewing applications for the establishment of political parties, and most of these predominantly recreational political parties have not been approved.
By the time of the Australian Cabinet Government elections, a total of seven legitimate political parties had been established in Australia, including the oldest Australian Labor Party in history.
Indeed, even the already established Australian Labor Party had to go through the review of the Upper House to confirm its legality before it could openly recruit members.
Although this review system has promoted the flourishing of political parties in Australia, it has also greatly limited the real power of political parties, allowing the Australian government, especially Arthur, to firmly control parties in his hands.
Currently, Australia’s political parties include the Australian Labor Party, the National Party, the Democratic Party, the Liberal Party, the Independent Party, the Progressive Party, and the Rural Party.
Among them, there are four parties joined by Lower House members, led by the Australian Labor Party, with a total of thirteen Lower House members, accounting for less than seven percent of the seats in the House of Commons.
The Australian National Party is slightly ahead of the Labor Party, with a total of fourteen Lower House members, accounting for seven percent of the seats in the House of Commons.
The Independent Party has seventeen members in the House of Commons, accounting for just under nine percent of the total seats.
The party with the most seats in the House of Commons is the unremarkable Rural Party, which has a program and aims to take into account both the rural environment and the relief of the rural population.
Since the Rural Party primarily represents low-income populations in rural areas, this is the reason why the Rural Party is popular in Australia.
There are still many low-income people in Australia as a target for Arthur and the Australian government’s efforts.
The Rural Party has twenty-three members in the House of Commons, accounting for twelve percent of the Lower House members.
Looking at the current situation, one-third of the members of the Lower House have already joined parties, and this proportion is still increasing.
This is an expected situation. After all, parties are a coalition of politicians, which in many ways is much more advantageous than going it alone.
With the legal status of parties in Australia secured, it can be foreseen that most of the members of the Lower House will join various parties in the future and form a party struggle within the Australian political arena.
The formation of parties is inevitable, and more than that, major European countries have already established a variety of parties, and these parties have even gained significant political advantages.
In a republic like France, the power of parties and capitalists is unimaginable, even to the point of controlling and driving a country.
Even in a monarchical country like the British Empire, the power of parties is enormous, and a party winning in an election can form a government, and in constitutional Britain, the power of the government is greater than the power of the monarch without absolute prestige.
Europe is now the brightest pearl in the world, and the various systems and systems of Europe will be brought to the world by Europeans.
For Europeans swept up in the tide of liberalism and democracy, they are more inclined to accept a relatively democratic system than monarchy.
If Australia does not recognize the legitimacy of parties and does not grant them certain political rights, it is inevitable that Europeans will perceive a certain authoritarianism in Australia.
To enhance the attractiveness of immigration to Australia, the legitimacy of parties is also inevitable.
However, there is one aspect of Australia that is different from European countries: the core of Australian monarchy has been fully established and is becoming entrenched with the support of military power and Arthur’s growing prestige among the people.
At least during Arthur’s reign, no domestic forces could overthrow Arthur’s rule in Australia. This is the strength of a monarch who holds both military power and the hearts of the people.
Australian political parties may gain a majority of seats in the House of Commons, and even allow some members, through the majority of seats in the House of Commons, the possibility to join the Cabinet.
The peculiarity of the Australian system is that every position in the Cabinet Government, including the Prime Minister, is elected, rather than being appointed by the person who holds the position of Prime Minister.
Although this approach may reduce the tacit understanding and unity within the Cabinet Government, it is also completely unnecessary for an authoritarian country.
This also determines one thing, that it is very difficult for a political party to completely control or even hold most of the Cabinet seats, unless the party has suitable and capable candidates for every position; otherwise, it is almost impossible, like other countries’ political parties, to completely control the Cabinet Government.
This also means that Australian political parties will not gain tremendous power, and even within the Cabinet Government, there will be competitors.
This is Arthur’s balance mechanism, transforming the original possible conflicts between the government and royal power into conflicts between political parties.
For political parties to gain greater advantages in government and elections, they must rely on the stable royal power of Australia.
Arthur, representing royal power, can hide behind the scenes, remove himself from the power struggle, but firmly control the political parties in the whirlpool of power.
For more than two months, news of various political parties being established, as well as Lower House Members joining some political parties, have been continuously published in Australia Daily and Victoria Newspaper, two of Australia’s most important newspapers, reflecting the current rapid development trend of Australian political parties.
As the oldest-established faction in Australia, the Australian Labor Party has not gained much advantage in the struggle for members during these two months. It has even become the least proportionate faction among the four currently holding Lower House Members.
It is not surprising for the Australian Labor Party since their original goal was to promote the union of the six colonies of Australia and, at least, to establish a unified federal government for better communication between colonies while protecting the interests of the unions.
However, with the establishment of the unified Australian Principality, the Labor Party’s goal was automatically achieved.
Moreover, the Australian Principality did not recognize the legality of political parties, and both the Duke of Australia Arthur and the Australian Government were well recognized by the Australian people, which made Australians less enthusiastic about joining political parties.
During this period, the Australian Labor Party changed its platform to protect the interests of Australian workers, uniting unions and workers.
Unexpectedly, the new Australian Principality and government also paid great attention to the interests of workers, ensuring their interests while developing industry, making the Australian Labor Party appear redundant.
If this were a chaotic country with a large number of workers’ interests not being protected, the Australian Labor Party might have been very popular.
However, the newly established Australian Principality has a very stable order. It has invested heavily in major development projects such as industry, education, medical care, people’s livelihood, economy, science, and technology, and has well protected the interests of Australians involved in these projects.
Australian workers’ interests have been well safeguarded, and the ten-hour work system has been firmly implemented, which has virtually turned the workers into living in a fantasy paradise.
Except that the current salary level is not very high, Australian workers’ treatment already surpasses that of European workers.
Under these circumstances, Australian workers naturally have little enthusiasm for political parties, as they are more keen on working hard and earning more money to support their families.
The Australian Labor Party lost its goals one after another as the Australian Government realized its original goals and platforms.
Once the largest political party in Australian history, it is now at a loss.
If it weren’t for some Lower House Members with higher political ambitions who valued the title of the earliest established political party in Australia, the Labor Party’s popularity in Australia would probably be even lower.