Cabinet Government

June 23, 1900, National Government Building in Australia.

This was Arthur's third day since returning from the Isle of Wight, and the day of the planned final election for the Cabinet Government.

For Australia, this was an extremely important day. Australia was about to establish its first formal Cabinet Government, and its transformation from a colony into a duchy would also achieve phased success.

For Arthur, this was also a very important day. Once the formal members of the Cabinet Government were confirmed, he could begin building a complete government, formulate plans for Australia's future development, and put them into action.

At eight in the morning, the vast majority of the assembly members had already arrived at the entrance of the Government Building, quietly waiting for the doors to open.

For the lucky members who had been selected as candidates, this was also a day absolutely worth anticipating.

If they continued to enjoy good fortune and succeeded in the upcoming vote, they would truly rise to the heavens in a single bound and enter the very summit of Australia's political arena.

Even the assembly members who had failed in the first round of voting looked rather expectant.

Although they no longer had the qualifications to run this time, they would still be able to boast in the future that this Cabinet Government had been voted into power by their own ballots, one vote at a time.

Crack!

As the wooden door of the Government Building gave a crisp click, this building, already more than a century old, was about to begin another day's work.

There were no guards to lead the way this time, but the assembly members were already intimately familiar with the route. They tiptoed toward the meeting room on the top floor.

Some officials were already working in the Government Building, but because the Cabinet at the government's core still had no official members, the government's current duty was merely to maintain public order and stability. There were no major development plans yet.

Once all the assembly members had taken their seats, Arthur entered under the escort of several guards and sat in the very center.

"Everyone, I know you are all looking forward to the official members of the Cabinet Government. I am looking forward to it as well. Now, let us officially begin the election of the Cabinet Members." Arthur swept his gaze around the room. Seeing anticipation and excitement on everyone's faces, he smiled as he spoke.

"You should now have a list of Cabinet positions in your hands. Write the name of the candidate you consider most suitable after each position. Once you have filled in the entire list, simply hand it to the guard beside you," Arthur explained the rules.

"But I must remind you that the Cabinet election is extremely important to Australia. I hope you will follow your hearts rather than your interests." After Arthur's final warning, the Cabinet vote officially began.

To prevent any accidents, Arthur chose to continue supervising the proceedings in person instead of leaving the assembly members private space as he had during the first meeting.

This caused some assembly members who had initially wanted to exchange their thoughts to abandon the idea at once. They frowned bitterly at the lists on their desks.

Because Australia had only just been established, its political arena was far less chaotic than those of the European countries.

As a result, most of Australia's elections were quite pure. People voted according to the thoughts deep in their hearts rather than being swayed by outside influences.

But this was also the most difficult situation for certain assembly members. Since they had originally been ordinary people, they often lost their ability to judge or fell into confusion when faced with an important decision like this, simply because they were nervous.

For most of the assembly members, however, they had already decided whom they would support before today. Their pens now moved as if guided by divine inspiration, and they quickly finished the lists on their desks.

The rule for the first round of voting was that no one could write their own name. In the second round, in addition to only being allowed to write the names of candidates, candidates were also forbidden from writing their own names.

This rule was established to prevent voting from descending into chaos. After all, when people were unfamiliar with one another, if they were allowed to support themselves, a considerable number of people would likely choose that option.

After roughly half an hour had passed, Arthur looked at the people who had essentially stopped writing and said with a smile, "All right, half an hour has passed. I believe everyone has more or less finished filling out their lists. I will give you a few final minutes. Check that your lists are correct, and then hand them to the guards. Counting the results will take quite some time as well, so let us finalize the Cabinet's members before noon."

Hearing Arthur say this, some assembly members who had not yet settled on their choices hurriedly began writing away. Ignoring everything else, they selected the candidates who seemed most pleasing to them and wrote their names down.

A few minutes passed in the blink of an eye, and the guards began collecting the lists one by one.

The counting process that followed was relatively simple, but also rather troublesome. The guards had to determine which people had received the most votes for each position and then announce them. Those people would be the final holders of the Cabinet positions.

Australia had established ten departments in advance: the Treasury Department, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Civil Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Industry, and Ministry of Agriculture. There were thirty candidates in total and 198 voters.

After laboriously counting for more than an hour, the guards finally compiled the results and handed them to Arthur.

The list surprised Arthur somewhat. It contained not only the names of many familiar people, but also several very unfamiliar ones. In fact, Arthur had never even heard some of these names before.

This indeed demonstrated how random the election had been. It was not the case that someone could be successfully elected simply because they already held a high position or were well known in the political arena.

Holding the list, Arthur did not keep anyone in suspense. He announced, "Everyone, it is time to announce the list. The winner of the position of Minister of Agriculture in the Australian Cabinet Government is—Henris Klit!"

That was right—it was Henris, the man who had once chatted with Arthur. Arthur was also somewhat surprised when he saw the name.

He had never expected this minor City Government official to break through all the competition, not only enter the Lower House but also successfully become the Minister of Agriculture in the first Cabinet Government.

"Pierre Silvio Berlusconi will serve as the Minister of Industry of the Australian Cabinet Government!" Arthur continued announcing.

Pierre Silvio Berlusconi was the governor of Western Australian State and was also considered one of the more prestigious figures in Australia.

Arthur was reassured to have him serve as the Minister of Industry, a relatively important position for Australia.

"Conradiano will serve as the Minister of Transport."

This was another fairly familiar name—the man who had been the first to chat with Arthur in the State Assembly.

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