Chapter 243: Chapter 226: New Cabinet, New Plan
On June 19, 1907, three days after the election, the first meeting of the new cabinet government officially began.
Because there are many new faces in this cabinet government, coupled with the position changes of old employees, it is necessary for this meeting, and Arthur presides over it himself.
For newcomers in politics like Agriculture Minister Mark and Transportation Minister Lauren, they need more time to adapt to their positions and understand all the information and materials of their departments.
Of course, it also takes time for the new Prime Minister Walter to adapt to his identity, as the Prime Minister is the person in charge of the cabinet. He must coordinate the cabinet as much as possible to complete all the tasks assigned by Arthur.
The meeting was held at the Sydney Palace, attended by the Prime Minister of the Cabinet Government and various ministers, as well as the deputies selected by these ministers, the deputy ministers of each department.
Although these deputy ministers can also participate in this meeting, their main role is to assist their respective ministers, especially to provide information and materials for the newcomers.
Of course, before the cabinet meeting began, there was a more solemn ceremony, which was for all members of the cabinet government to swear allegiance to Arthur.
This has been a tradition since Australia, and it is the best way for these cabinet members to understand who they are working for.
Arthur is already calm in such scenes, after accepting the pledges of allegiance from all cabinet members, Arthur said: “Gentlemen, I am very happy to see the establishment of a new Cabinet Government in Australasia. After becoming a cabinet member, your every move represents the government and country. I hope you all keep your original intentions, loyalty and unswerving, uphold the constitution of the Kingdom of Australasia, love all citizens of the kingdom, loyalty to the royal family, and use fearless and unwavering faith to jointly develop our great country. I believe that in these past few days, you have learned about the current situation of each department. Now it’s time to formulate new plans to determine the new goals of national development during your tenure.”
In any case, the new cabinet will definitely have a different style from the previous Prime Minister Evan.
Whether it is the completely different personalities of Prime Minister Evan and Prime Minister Walter, or the current different situations in Australasia, it means that Australasia’s policies will be different from before.
After Prime Minister Walter took office, it is also necessary to make some moves. If it continues to maintain the same actions as the previous Prime Minister Evan, it is not a good thing for Prime Minister Walter.
“Let’s briefly talk about the situation of each department! Let’s first understand the situation of the country, and then discuss the specific plans.” Arthur said with a smile.
The main thing is to let the new Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Transportation, as well as Prime Minister Walter and Minister Henry, who have changed positions, understand the situation. To develop a detailed and reasonable development plan, the first step is to understand the current development situation of the department.
This session naturally starts with old employees like Minister Pierre, who have been in office for two or three consecutive terms.
“Your Majesty, the current development situation of the industrial sector is good. With the help of the Germans, we have made up for the basic industry, especially the chemical industry, and solved the problem of our insufficient basic industry,” said Minister of Industry Pierre.
“On top of that, our industrial scale is also developing rapidly, and currently, the number of our large industrial zones has exceeded eight, and the total number of small and medium-sized industrial zones is nearly fifteen,” Minister Pierre introduced with some pride.
The industrial development of Australasia can be described as smooth sailing, and the speed of industrial development is also very smooth, without encountering too many obstacles.
In addition, with the assistance of a large number of industrial equipment from the United Kingdom, the aid of Germany, and its own abundant mineral resources, Australasia has become one of the current industrial powers in just over seven years, with a total steel output even surpassing that of Italy, ranked among the top ten in the world.
Of course, this does not mean that the overall scale of Australasia’s industry has reached the first echelon under the powers.
Compared with the profound European nations, Australasia still has many shortcomings and needs time to make up for them.
However, Australasia’s development potential is visible to the naked eye, and industrial development is much smoother than expected.
“Currently, we are vigorously cultivating domestic factories. Up to now, Australasia has hundreds of private factories, including machinery, papermaking, cement, glass, timber, chemicals, etc., and some even have a certain scale and can achieve long-term profitability,” Minister Pierre continued.
Although most of the small factories still need funding from the Ministry of Industry, some factories have already become profitable on their own.
These large and small, diverse factories produce finished products that fill the market in Australasia, and are the potential stocks of Australasia’s civil industry.
Of course, currently most of the military industry is controlled by Arthur, with a small part being co-operated by the royal family and the government.