Chapter 70: Chapter 70: Summary of the End of 1900

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On January 30,1901, after a voyage of about a month, the fleet finally arrived at Sydney Harbour in Australia.

Prime Minister Evan had prepared a rather grand welcome ceremony, and once again, Sydney Harbour was packed with people.

It had been three months since they set off for Europe. Both the visiting group and Arthur had begun to miss Australia.

Since the aid treaties signed with Britain and Germany were good news for Australia and Australians, Arthur would not miss such an excellent opportunity to win people’s hearts. He gave a small speech at the harbour, eliciting enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.

Afterwards, he returned to the manor house, with no other engagements. The reason was that after a long, tedious, and bumpy journey at sea, all Arthur wanted to do now was lie on the big bed in his manor and have a good rest.

The task of settling Disel, Benson, and the workers was left to Prime Minister Evan.

Fortunately, several residential buildings that had been vacated during the enrollment of the Australian National University were still vacant and could be put to good use.

For Disel and Benson, Arthur also fulfilled his promise, selecting two nice separate small buildings in the City Centre of Sydney for them and their families to live in.

January 31,1901, the second day of their return to Australia.

After resting from the afternoon until noon the next day and enjoying a big meal, Arthur gradually felt recovered.

Dressed in a custom-made suit, Arthur went to the Administrative Building with his guards.

By the time Arthur arrived, all the cabinet members were present and quietly waiting at their respective seats.

“Your Highness!”

As Arthur entered, everyone stood up and bowed respectfully.

“Long time no see, everyone. It has been three months since I last left Australia, and I can see the changes you have made to Australia in these three months. Although it is already a new year, it is not too late to hold our annual meeting for last year. Tell me, what plans each of your departments made last year, what you have accomplished and what you are currently working on. Report briefly on the tasks the government has completed!” Arthur took the main seat and smiled at the crowd.

The annual meeting is the moment for the government to examine a year’s work and see whether there are any achievements to be seen based on the department’s results.

Clearly, most of the ministers were well-prepared, even the three ministers who traveled with Arthur to Europe had read and sorted out a large amount of information in the extra day they had.

“Prime Minister Evan, let’s first hear about the government’s achievements! Is your summary report ready?” Arthur looked at Prime Minister Evan and asked.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Prime Minister Evan stood up, came to the steps in the center of the conference table, placed his materials on the podium, and then said: “Your Highness, ladies and gentlemen, 1900 was a great year for Australia. We finally gained independence and have a great monarch. Under your leadership, Australia’s various industries began to thrive, and the country is flourishing.”

Prime Minister Evan knew that Arthur didn’t like this kind of flattery, so after a brief introduction, he began the main topic: “During the last year, Australia experienced tremendous growth. According to the government’s rough statistics, our population grew from about 3,788,100 at the end of 1899 to 3,867,100 today, an increase of about 2%.”

“The birthrate accounted for 36,000 people, the death rate for 23,000, and immigration for 66,000. Excluding special immigration of military dependents and personnel, our actual immigration is about 40,000, with Irish and British people making up more than half.”

In 1900, the population growth rate in Australia became even faster than in previous years, thanks in part to the additional 20,000 military personnel and dependents granted by Queen Victoria.

After excluding these special immigrants, Australia’s total immigration numbers had not increased much last year, and remained at the same level as in previous years.

“After signing the immigration treaty with Britain and Germany, immigration numbers should increase significantly. The government should be prepared to invest funds in Britain and Germany to promote Australia and attract more immigrants,” Arthur said calmly.

It was reasonable that immigration had not increased much last year, as there were no immigration treaties and various infrastructure projects in Australia only began in the middle of the year. With the introduction of immigration treaties from Britain and Germany and Australia’s promotion efforts, it was believed that immigration would improve in the new year.

“Yes, Your Highness,” Prime Minister Evan nodded quickly.

“How is our national economy? What is the current financial situation?” Arthur asked.

After receiving Germany’s assistance, Australia had completely resolved its funding problems, at least for the next few years, there would be no need to worry about the issue of funds.

“Your Highness, the government currently has over 110 million pounds of available funds. If we include the loans from Germany that have not yet been received, our available funds have exceeded 160 million pounds,” said Prime Minister Evan, unable to suppress a smile and speaking excitedly.

The huge sum of money the Australian government had was a fortune, and even after spending more than 16 million pounds on various constructions, the government’s finances not only did not decrease but also increased by a few million pounds.

Arthur nodded and was not surprised by the huge amount of over 100 million pounds, but continued to ask: “What about the annual income of our residents? Has it increased during this year?”

Whether the government lacks money is undoubtedly good news for Australia, but whether the people lack money is the key to whether Australia can maintain its course.

If the upper echelons enjoy prosperity while the lower-class citizens are starving and inadequately clothed, no matter how much money the government has, it will all be in vain.

“Your Highness, the construction of various industries has created a large number of jobs for Australians. To ensure the people’s interests, we specifically demand that no jobs are exploited or withheld. At present, there are more than 10,000 workers in our industrial area, making a remarkable contribution to the construction and production of the factories. According to our estimates, the per capita annual income of Australians has increased from about eight pounds at the beginning of last year to over nine pounds now. In particular, the industrial area has already created over 2,000 positions with annual incomes of ten pounds or more. As workers continue to learn and the industrial area expands, more high-paying positions will emerge, which will further boost the per capita annual income in Australia,” said Prime Minister Evan, smiling.

Construction is bound to stimulate economic growth, and the massive constructions in Australia also created many jobs, most of which were above the average annual income.

This has made considerable contributions to Australia’s economic growth and the increase in per capita annual income and will continue to do so..