Chapter 110: Chapter One Hundred and Ten: Food Donations and Relief (Subscribe!)

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Currently, the political party with the most influence in New Zealand is the Alliance Party.

Firstly, most members of the Alliance Party are retired soldiers and officials from New Zealand, and even some current officials.

Although most of them hold minor positions, they do have more say than the majority of workers in the New Zealand Labor Party.

Secondly, both New Zealanders and Australians are descendants of mostly British immigrants and a small number of European immigrants, and although their different living areas have led to different national names, they can still be considered the same group of people.

Many New Zealanders admire the current development pace of Australians and the excellent monarch, Arthur.

That is the reason why they support the Alliance Party, as once New Zealand joins Australia, like several decades ago, they too could enjoy the development facilitated by an outstanding monarch, along with the Australians.

As a result, the Alliance Party applied to the British Empire to join Australia shortly after the establishment of the Australian Principality, but they were refused by the British Government at the time.

This caused the Alliance Party to lose some of its reputation, and some New Zealanders were even disappointed in their plans to merge with Australia.

However, with Arthur becoming the Governor of New Zealand, the idea of unite with Australia has gained more popularity, and the Alliance Party has risen back to more prominence than the New Zealand Labor Party.

Looking at the information on the New Zealand Colony, Arthur is deep in thought.

As it stands, the hope of Australia annexing New Zealand is significant, and perhaps even turning New Zealand into a region of Australia, achieving complete annexation.

But there is one problem: Arthur cannot directly instigate the New Zealanders, and the issue of New Zealand still has to be solved by the New Zealanders themselves.

While direct Australian involvement is inconvenient, the Alliance Party seems to be a perfect power, being a political party with influence within New Zealand while also advocating for a merger with Australia.

With this in mind, Arthur decides to meet with the leader of the Alliance Party at some point and indirectly instigate the people of New Zealand through the party.

On April 7,1902, after more than ten days of investigation and statistics, the Royal Relief Committee finally determined the first round of relief plans for New Zealand.

Compared to the relief plans in Australia, the relief plan for New Zealand resembles a combination of the first and second rounds of relief plans in Australia.

The Royal Relief Committee will provide financial assistance of five pounds to all families in the whole of New Zealand whose annual income is below thirty pounds and provide them with new job opportunities.

So where do these job opportunities come from? In addition to New Zealand’s existing factories and construction facilities that require positions, Arthur has provided these New Zealanders with a new option – working in Australia.

Australia is not too far from New Zealand, only about a two to three-day voyage away.

For those who cannot find work in New Zealand, going to Australia for work is a good option.

Just getting the colonial government to agree to this policy took a great deal of effort from Arthur.

However, the result was excellent, as under the pressure of Arthur’s position as Governor and the threat of the nearby guards, the colonial government agreed to the proposal quickly.

Arthur’s actions are not without purpose, as allowing some New Zealanders to work in Australia can also strengthen the connection between New Zealand and Australia.

These New Zealanders who work in Australia can also share their experiences in Australia with their families and relatives in New Zealand during their annual holidays, arousing the interest of more people in Australia.

After being subtly influenced, is it still a concern that New Zealanders wouldn’t want to merge with Australia?

For those who work in Australia, if New Zealand and Australia could merge into one unified country, their work would be much smoother.

In the long run, joining Australia would be a welcome development for these people living and working in New Zealand.

The acceptance of New Zealanders to work in Australia is not high, as after all, it involves leaving their homeland for another country.

Moreover, the per capita income in Australia is not high, and although most of the work income has already exceeded the per capita income, it’s only around eleven or twelve pounds, which is approximately the same as some occupations in New Zealand.

However, they are very accepting of the relief funds provided by the Relief Committee. Within just three days, thousands of low-income New Zealanders in Wellington alone received help from the Royal Relief Committee.

When expanding the scope to the whole of New Zealand, approximately eight thousand people received assistance, and the number is still growing rapidly.

As the saying goes, accepting gifts brings obligation. After receiving aid from the Royal Relief Committee, these New Zealanders became more welcoming of Arthur and the members of the committee and even began to spread the story of Australia on their own initiative.

Arthur didn’t expect this. Under the spontaneous propaganda of these New Zealanders who have received relief, more and more New Zealanders are having a good impression of Australia, and the support rate of the Alliance Party is getting higher and higher.

Some New Zealanders have even started discussing the possibility of Arthur becoming their monarch, showing how popular he is in New Zealand.

Since this is the case, Arthur doesn’t mind pushing harder.

Under Arthur’s guidance, the Royal Relief Committee’s relief plan added another item – providing food to low-income individuals.

Since five pounds of funds are still being given away, the amount of food provided is not much, only a large bag of flour and five pounds of mutton.

Due to the thriving animal husbandry industry in New Zealand, obtaining enough relief food is quite easy.

Especially beef and mutton, the prices of meat in New Zealand are very cheap, particularly in bulk purchases.

As a result, the updated relief plan costs are not high, with the additional expense being less than one pound per person.

However, this again wins over the hearts of the New Zealanders.

Providing financial aid, food, and job opportunities, these New Zealanders have never experienced such a relief plan.

As the saying goes, without comparison, there is no harm. Although the New Zealand colonial government has made great efforts to revive the economy, their efforts seem lackluster in front of Arthur’s relief plan that provides money, food, and work.