Chapter 70 Summary at the End of 1900
On January 30, 1901, after a month-long voyage, the fleet finally arrived at Sydney Harbor, Australia.
Prime Minister Evan prepared a grand welcome ceremony for this, and Sydney Harbor was once again surrounded by people.
Three months have passed since the departure for Europe. Both the members of the delegation and Arthur have begun to miss Australia.
Because the aid treaties signed with Britain and Germany are good news for Australia and Australians, Arthur will not miss such a good opportunity to win the hearts of the people. He gave a small speech at the port, which caused all the people to cheer enthusiastically.
After that, it was back to the manor, and there was no other link. The reason was that after a long month of boring and bumpy journey at sea, Arthur now just wanted to lie on the big bed in his manor and have a good rest.
The task of settling Diesel, Benz and those workers was given to Prime Minister Evan.
Fortunately, the several residential buildings vacated during the enrollment of the Australian National University are still empty, which can be used.
As for Diesel and Benz, Arthur also fulfilled his promise and selected two relatively good independent small buildings in the center of Sydney for them and their families to live in.
January 31, 1901, the second day after returning to Australia.
After resting from the afternoon until noon the next day and having a full meal, Arthur felt that he was gradually recovering.
After changing into a private custom-made suit, Arthur led the guards to the government building.
When Arthur arrived, all the cabinet members had arrived and sat quietly in their respective seats waiting.
"Your Highness!"
Seeing Arthur walk in, everyone stood up and saluted respectfully.
"Long time no see, everyone. It has been three months since I left Australia last time, and it can be seen that you have changed Australia in these three months. Although it is a new year now, it is not too late to hold our annual meeting of the previous year. Let's talk about what plans your departments have made, what they have completed, and what they are in progress in the previous year. How many tasks has the government completed? Give a brief report!" Arthur sat in the main seat and said to everyone with a smile.
The annual meeting is a time for the government to test its work for the past year. Whether there are any achievements depends on how many achievements the departments have made in the past year.
Obviously, most of the ministers are well prepared. Even the three ministers who followed Arthur to Europe read and sorted out a lot of information in more than a day.
"Prime Minister Evan, let's hear about the government's achievements first! Is your summary report ready?" Arthur looked at Prime Minister Evan and asked.
"Yes, Your Highness."
Prime Minister Evan stood up and walked to the steps in the center of the conference table. He placed his information on the podium and said, "Your Highness, everyone. 1900 was a great year for Australia. We finally gained independence and had a great monarch. Under your leadership, all walks of life in Australia began to flourish and the country was thriving."
Prime Minister Evan also knew that Arthur didn't like such flattering nonsense. After a relatively brief nonsense, he started to get to the point: "Australia has ushered in tremendous development throughout the past year. According to rough statistics from the government, our population has increased from about 3,788,100 in late 1899 and early 1900 to 3,867,100 now, an increase of about 2%."
"Among them, there are more than 36,000 newborns, more than 23,000 deaths, and 66,000 foreign immigrants. Excluding special immigrants for military families and the military, our actual immigrants are about 40,000, of which the Irish and British account for more than half." Prime Minister Evan introduced.
The population growth rate in 1900 was faster than that in the previous two years, but this was also because Queen Victoria gave Arthur more than 20,000 troops and military dependents.
After deducting these special immigrants, the total number of immigrants in Australia last year did not increase much, and remained at the same level as in previous years.
"After signing the immigration treaty with Britain and Germany, our immigrants should have a certain increase, right? The government should also be prepared to invest a certain amount of money in Britain and Germany to promote Australia and attract more immigrants." Arthur nodded calmly and said.
Because there is no immigration treaty, and Australia's various infrastructure projects all started in the middle of the year, it is understandable that there was no increase in immigration last year.
With the implementation of the immigration treaty with Britain and Germany, coupled with Australia's own vigorous publicity, I believe that the immigration situation will improve in the new year.
"Yes, Your Highness." Prime Minister Evan nodded hurriedly.
"How is the country's economy? What is our current financial situation?" Arthur asked.
After having Germany's assistance, Australia has completely solved the funding problem. At least in the next few years, there is no need to worry about funding issues.
"Your Highness, the government currently has more than 110 million pounds in available funds. If we include the German loans that have not yet been received, our available funds have exceeded 160 million pounds." Speaking of funding issues, Prime Minister Evan couldn't help but smile and said with a little excitement.
The Australian government has a huge amount of money. Even though it has spent more than 16 million pounds on various construction projects, the government's finances have not decreased at all, but have increased by several million pounds.
Arthur nodded, not surprised by the huge amount of more than 100 million pounds, but continued to ask: "What about our residents' annual income? Has it increased in this year?"
It is good news for Australia that the government is not short of money, but whether the people are short of money is the fundamental factor for whether Australia can survive.
If the upper class enjoys prosperity while the lower class civilians are hungry and clothed, then even if the government has more funds, it will be in vain.
"Your Highness, the construction of our various industries has created a large number of jobs and created a large number of employment opportunities for Australians. In order to protect the interests of the people, we specifically require that each job should not be exploited or deducted. At present, our industrial zone has tens of thousands of workers who have contributed to the construction of the industrial zone and the production of the factory. According to our estimates, the average annual income of Australians was about eight pounds at the beginning of last year, and now it has increased to more than nine pounds. In particular, the industrial zone has created more than two thousand jobs with an annual income of more than ten pounds, and with the workers' learning and the expansion of the industrial zone, there will be more and more jobs with higher incomes in the future, which will also drive the increase of Australia's average annual income." Prime Minister Evan said with a smile.
Construction is bound to boost the economy, and it will also boost the economy very effectively. Australia's various huge constructions have also created many jobs, and most of them are jobs with an average annual income of more than one person.
This has also made sufficient contributions to Australia's economic development and the increase of its average annual income, and it will continue.
Second update, please support! Let me tell you a news. After communicating with the editor, this book will be on the shelves on New Year's Day. It's a bit ahead of my plan, but it is indeed a helpless choice. I planned to release it in mid-January, but it was too close to the Chinese New Year. Firstly, there were few people reading it because everyone was out having fun. Secondly, it might have caused me to have less time to write, so everyone was not enjoying it. Anyway, it was released on New Year's Day, which was a bit sudden. I'm sorry. To express my apology, I will update five times a day on the day of the release, and try to update three times a day afterwards. Please support!