Chapter 158: Chapter 153: Navy Grand Parade

“My beloved citizens, 1902 has been an important year for Australia. We have opened a short stretch of railway, built more industrial areas and factories, expanded our army and navy, and for the first time exported our mineral resources and various weapons and equipment, including warships.” Arthur began his speech as the cheering of the crowd subsided.

“In terms of livelihood, we have built more hospitals and schools, ensuring more people have access to basic medical care and education. At the same time, our various construction projects have created a large number of jobs, with over thirty thousand Australians finding suitable positions in just one year. From the beginning to the end of 1902, our per capita annual income increased by a full two pounds, reaching a level of over twelve pounds. This figure has increased by a full four pounds since the establishment of the Australian Principality, ensuring a certain standard of living for everyone.” Arthur said proudly.

Although this figure cannot be compared with European nations, it has already improved a lot compared to Australia’s own situation.

In New Zealand, which has a high degree of similarity with Australia in terms of background and geographical location, the per capita annual income has remained around eleven pounds, and has now been overtaken by Australia.

At this point, the applause and cheering from the audience could not be stopped, as people began to shout, expressing their joy.

After waiting quietly for a short while, Arthur continued: “Today, I am very pleased to stand with all of you to watch the second parade since the founding of Australia, and the first naval parade.”

“As a large island country, the navy is extremely important for Australia. For various reasons, Australia does not yet have any battleships. But rest assured, this situation is only temporary and must change. I envision an Australian navy with a world-class fleet composed of many battleships. We still have a long way to go to reach this goal, but I am confident that Australia can achieve it.” Arthur said with a smile.

Although Australia does not have any plans for battleship expansion in the short term, it is necessary to provide some reassurance.

After all, the matter of dreadnoughts cannot be explicitly stated, and Arthur could not mysteriously tell everyone that in a few years, a powerful warship that would completely replace the current battleships will be born!

Under such premise, not expanding the navy’s battleships while keeping people hopeful for the navy is the best choice.

Hearing Arthur’s vision for the future of the Australian navy, most Australians still hold hope for it.

After all, it is well known that Australia has the technology to build battleships. In the eyes of many Australians, the reason why Australia has not initiated the construction of battleships is simply because the economy has not yet caught up.

Once Australia’s economic construction develops, the government will naturally start building battleships, and Australia’s navy will become world­class.

In the stands, some officials from New Zealand showed envious expressions. Like the previous parade, these people were invited to attend the Australian parade by the New Zealand colonial government.

Since Arthur established the Advisory Council in New Zealand and obtained the allegiance of the Alliance Party, the connection between Australia and New Zealand has become closer, with not only some New Zealanders choosing to work in Australia, but also the economic exchanges between the New Zealand Colonial Government and the Australian Duchy Government gradually becoming active.

This situation is welcomed by Arthur. The smoother the exchanges between Australia and New Zealand, the smoother the future merger of the two regions will be.

One of the reasons for the move of some New Zealanders to work in Australia, besides the lack of jobs in New Zealand, is the significantly higher wages offered by new jobs in Australia, which greatly exceed New Zealand’s per capita annual income, have better social welfare policies and do not face possible wage deductions.

Moreover, New Zealand and Australia can be considered as having the same roots, sharing the same culture, language, and even origin, which made many New Zealanders not resistant to moving to Australia.

Another factor is that the distance between New Zealand and Australia is not far. Currently, the only means of communication between the two regions is sea transportation, which takes about two to three days.

Is this time long? Not really.

For those New Zealanders who come to work in Australia, they can also take time off and return to New Zealand in just two or three days.

Because Arthur had specifically instructed both governments, neither Australia nor New Zealand would obstruct the movement of people between the two regions.

According to the 1902 report, the economic exchanges between New Zealand and Australia have almost tripled, with the total amount of import and export trade between Australia and New Zealand reaching more than forty thousand pounds.

Of course, a large part of this is the export of goods from Australia to New Zealand. Some of Australia’s preliminary industrial products have entered New Zealand, occupying a portion of the New Zealand market.

New Zealand is more developed in agriculture, animal husbandry, and some mineral resources.

However, Australia is not lacking in these resources, and even exports these abundant resources to other countries. This has led to a trade deficit between Australia and New Zealand, with New Zealand importing mostly Australian goods.

This is also good news for Australia, as the more the New Zealand economy relies on Australia, the closer the integration of the two regions will be in the future.

Inviting officials from the New Zealand colonial government to attend both parades is intended to allow them to clearly see the changes in Australia, so they will dream of similar changes happening in New Zealand.

In order for what they have seen to be better disseminated in New Zealand, the officials invited to each parade belong to different factions.

These officials can be divided into four factions: some are original colonial government officials, others belong to the New Zealand Labor Party and Alliance Party factions, and some belong to the military faction.

Currently, Arthur has control over the New Zealand colonial government officials and Alliance Party officials.

With the supervision of these two factions of officials, it is believed that what the New Zealand officials have seen and heard can be spread as soon as the second day they return to New Zealand.