The Rise Of Australasia - Chapter 177

Chapter 177: Chapter 171: Aid in Progress

The typhoon eventually made landfall in New Zealand.

When the residents of Opunaki Town saw the huge waves over five meters high, everyone’s heart sank, and despair began to spread among the crowd.

However, the typhoon did not give people time to communicate and cry out; in just an instant, the giant waves swept through the entire Opunaki Town, rolling towards the crowd desperately fleeing outside the town.

The waves were not the most desperate thing. The shattered trees, houses, and fishing boat debris carried by the waves not only demonstrated the power of typhoons and huge waves but also caused great damage to the crowd, with a follow-up attack after the waves.

The typhoon, which had already begun killing, was unaware of the crimes it had committed. After destroying the fishing town of Opunaki on the North Island of New Zealand, it rushed northward towards North Taranaki Bay.

On the path of the typhoon’s advance, there was a protruding corner on the North Island of New Zealand, which not only contained more than ten fishing towns but also the second-largest city on the North Island, Oakland.

On the afternoon of November 8,1903, Wellington, North Island of New Zealand.

Apart from Arthur, all major New Zealand officials were basically present, sitting in the conference room of the colonial government with furrowed brows.

In the absence of Arthur’s presence, the person currently presiding over the meeting and holding the highest status was naturally the military commander of New Zealand, Pierce Antony.

News of the typhoon’s landfall on the west coast of the North Island had reached Wellington, which was why all important New Zealand officials, including General Pierce, were gathered together.

“Gentlemen, the most urgent task now is to immediately dispatch a large amount of aid, soldiers, and even civilians for rescue to the west coast of Oakland to Opunaki. If our rescue is one minute late, hundreds of New Zealand civilians may die tragically in this disaster,” General Pierce said solemnly.

Now, during New Zealand’s emergency, General Pierce could no longer be concerned about overstepping authority. The most important thing at present was to provide relief to all affected New Zealand civilians. Other matters seemed insignificant in the face of disaster.

“I agree with General Pierce. The most important task for the New Zealand government now is to rescue those civilians, even at all costs,” Joshua Brock agreed.

Joshua Brock was the head of the Royal Assistance Committee left by Arthur in New Zealand and also the intermediary between New Zealand power and Arthur.

To some extent, Joshua also represented Arthur’s opinion. Therefore, he was also one of the giants in New Zealand’s political arena.

With Joshua’s approval, General Pierce’s serious expression was visibly relaxed. No matter what the situation, General Pierce did not want to offend Arthur. The fact that Joshua, who represents Arthur’s opinion, agreed with his own view, was the most fortunate thing for General Pierce.

“But General Pierce, the government does not have much money for disaster relief. After the last mission to repair and construct a large amount of projects commissioned by His Highness the Governor, more than half of the funds provided by the Australian Royal Family for our assistance have been used. Coupled with the government’s consumption during this period, our current available funds are even less than 100,000 pounds. These funds are not enough for disaster relief while also maintaining government and military expenditures,” a colonial official said somewhat helplessly.

Although the relationship between the colonial officials and the Garrison Commander General Pierce was not very good in normal times, they could still stand together on such an important matter that concerns New Zealand’s popular sentiment.

But the current situation in New Zealand was indeed like this. Having just escaped from the previous economic downturn, along with the large part of Arthur’s aid funds being used in construction, the remaining funds were not enough to be used for disaster relief in the face of this major disaster, which was just a drop in the bucket.

“I will try my best to help, gentlemen. His Highness has already informed me that the Australian government and the royal family can provide 150,000 and 300,000 pounds of free assistance to New Zealand, respectively. This fund will arrive soon, and I believe it can temporarily support the rescue work,” Joshua said directly.

After confirming that the typhoon had left Australia, Arthur informed the person in charge of the Royal Relief Committee in New Zealand, Joshua, and also asked Joshua to convey Australia’s assistance.

Upon hearing Joshua’s statement, everyone visibly sighed with relief. Funding is a serious issue for New Zealand right now, and even resorting to civilian loans cannot meet the needs of this disaster relief.

The 450,000 pounds of aid provided by Australia far exceeded the expectations of all New Zealand officials. These funds could at least support the early and mid-term deployment of the rescue operation. The subsequent aftermath and compensation issues could also be handled by the New Zealand government with some difficulty.

“Along with the funds, a batch of grain and clothing will also arrive. However, relying solely on Australia’s assistance is not enough. I suggest that your government immediately request humanitarian aid from the British Empire and European countries to return this beautiful country of New Zealand to its pre-disaster state as soon as possible,” Joshua proposed.

The British Empire is now busy with naval arms competition with the German Empire, coupled with Europe’s chaotic situation and current conflicts in the Far East, the resources allocated to New Zealand are minimal.

Moreover, since Arthur became the governor of New Zealand, the British Empire’s resource tilt towards New Zealand has become even smaller and is still decreasing year by year.

After all, Queen Victoria’s will has almost turned New Zealand into Arthur’s private territory. As long as nothing unexpected happens, New Zealand is almost a fat piece of meat for Arthur.

Under such circumstances, the British nobles, of course, would not waste domestic resources to develop New Zealand, which has already become someone else’s territory.

Moreover, the appointment of the Governor of New Zealand was the last will of Queen Victoria during her lifetime, and even Edward VII had no power to change it.

Any attempt to interfere in New Zealand, in the eyes of the British Empire, is a betrayal of Queen Victoria’s last will, and it is also a betrayal of the British Empire.

Under such circumstances, which official will propose to intervene in New Zealand?

It can be predicted that even if the British Empire agrees to provide assistance to New Zealand, it is likely to be only perfunctory assistance.

As the saying goes, without comparison there is no harm. Under the premise of Australia’s timely assistance of 450,000 pounds and a large amount of food and clothing, the aid from the United Kingdom seems so insignificant.

New Zealand officials were unaware of Arthur’s conspiracy and regarded Joshua’s proposal as sincere.

By coincidence, New Zealand is indeed in need of various assistance, including funds. Therefore, upon the votes of the people, Joshua’s proposal was quickly agreed upon, asking the European countries, especially the British Empire, for assistance to help New Zealand in the disaster.

November 10,1903.

After two days of devastation, the typhoon finally passed through Auckland, the second largest city in New Zealand connecting the North Island and the Oakland Peninsula, crossed the Hauraki Gulf, and entered the Pacific Ocean from Port Fitzroy on Great Barrier Island, gradually disappearing from the sight of New Zealanders.

It was fortunate for New Zealanders that the typhoon, which had wreaked havoc on New Zealand for two days, had finally left completely, and the disaster in New Zealand had come to a preliminary end.

But the bad news was that the typhoon’s path of destruction stretched from the southwest of New Zealand’s North Island in Opunaki all the way northward to Auckland on the western coast of the North Island, a relatively prime area that included four cities and more than ten small towns with a total population of more than 300,000 people.

It was unclear how much damage the typhoon had caused to the region, and all colonial government officials were prepared for Auckland’s devastation.

Around afternoon, the promised 450,000 pounds of aid from Australia, as well as a batch of food and clothing, arrived at the Port of Wellington.

In order to safely deliver these supplies, the transport fleet even detoured south of the Tasman Sea, passing through Stuart Island on New Zealand’s South Island, and circled the entire South Island before delivering the supplies safely.

At the same time, responses from Europe had also arrived. Although most European countries had no connection with New Zealand, they offered aid to New Zealand out of humanitarian spirit, even if the aid was minimal.

Among them, the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire provided the most assistance. The German Empire’s aid was one million marks and several tons of grain, while the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s aid was 500,000 crowns in funds.

The assistance from the remaining powerful nations was generally similar, all of which were valued at about 5,000 to 10,000 pounds in financial aid, including France.

New Zealand’s colonial government had high hopes for the British Empire, but their financial aid was only 20,000 pounds, far less than the aid from the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In total, the aid from various European countries amounted to nearly 150,000 pounds.

Among them, the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire contributed 50,000 pounds and 41,000 pounds respectively, making them the two countries with the most aid.

Although colonial government officials in New Zealand were disappointed with the aid from the British Empire, the most important thing at the moment was to carry out emergency rescue operations on the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island, and the New Zealand government had no time to worry about anything else.

However, that doesn’t mean everyone else has no time.

As the current leader of the Alliance Party and the head of the Advisory Council, Grant is in high spirits.

Having grown from a small-town mayor to the leader of New Zealand’s largest political party and the person in charge of one of the most important administrative agencies, Grant knows who granted him this power and understands that the person can easily take it back.

In fact, Grant has never forgotten his mission and has been vigorously promoting New Zealanders’ support for the Alliance Party since Arthur’s departure.

Currently, the Alliance Party has grown to be the largest party in New Zealand in both name and reality, with more than 20,000 New Zealanders supporting the party and more than a hundred officials joining, including mayors of large and small cities and core officials of the colonial government.

Grant keenly grasped the differences between the British Empire and Australia in their aid to New Zealand and quickly planned to make this disparity known to more New Zealanders.