The Rise Of Australasia - Chapter 274

Chapter 274: Chapter 247: Inspecting the West Australia Industrial Base_2

The mission of the Agriculture Department is relatively straightforward: organize the Indigenous Peoples to continue cultivating land, and monitor grain prices both domestically and globally, to be ready for grain storage or dumping at any moment.

At present, the Ministry of Education has a relatively heavy workload. In addition to expanding existing universities, it needs to increase the number of universities and technical schools to train more university students and skilled workers for Australasia.

Even the current pace of university construction could be temporarily halted, to some extent, to make way for technical schools.

After all, technical professionals are vital for the development of industries right now, regardless of the industry.

The development of the medical sector is relatively methodical. The number of hospitals should not expand too much without sufficient medical talent, so the mission of the Ministry of Health is to attract more medical talent and keep a talent pool ready for major hospitals.

To resolve the shortage of medical professionals in Australasia, three universities have started to offer medical majors, training nearly six hundred medical professionals every year.

But these talents can only assist physicians. Without several years of experience, having them serve as attending doctors would harm the patients.

The work of the public security department is, comparably, quite relaxed. The rising development of Australasia has significantly reduced domestic crime.

In fact, most of the current crimes are committed by immigrants. The order within Australasia has actually become quite stable.

In response to the high crime rate among immigrants, the Public Security Department, after consulting Arthur, has put forward appropriate solutions.

First, improve the treatment of immigrants and find jobs and places to live for them as soon as possible, and send them a certain amount of compensation.

Those who choose land will receive at least ten acres. Those who do not want land will receive at least 100 Australian dollars in compensation and will be referred to either factories or other job positions.

Of course, there’s punishment as well as reward. Punishment for criminal immigrants from the Security Department is very strict.

If it’s a minor crime, immigrants could face at least one month of compulsory labor and a small fine too.

If such crimes are put on record, they might affect the verification and issuance of citizenship. Without Australasian citizenship, they can’t benefit from the welfare policies issued by different departments.

For serious crimes, punishments from the Security Department range from a minimum of ten years of compulsory labor to the most extreme punishment: the death penalty. This could also affect their family and friends.

However, one rule states that if they report their friends or family who are plotting or have committed a crime, it won’t affect their immigration process.

If they are just ordinary friends, perhaps friendship undergoes scrutiny here. After all, the perks that come with Australasian citizenship are substantial. These immigrants came to Australasia preparing for permanent residence.

Actually, the most relaxed department currently is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Because Australasia’s main policy remains focused on self-development, they don’t appear frequently in international matters, except for a few countries with close relationships.

Australasia’s impact is currently limited to Southeast Asia, although it has gained considerable recognition in Europe.

Although Australasia doesn’t currently have the ability to reach Europe or influence European countries,

Australasia has built quite a reputation in Europe. Many immigrants often consider Australasia as a potential destination.

This owes thanks not only to Arthur’s good reputation and support in Britain but also to the actions taken by the Portuguese government and Carlos I.

If it weren’t for their determination, Australasia’s reputation from the war wouldn’t have been favorable.

Currently, the only countries that have a good relationship with Australasia are Germany and Russia, and meanwhile, a superficially good relationship is maintained with the United Kingdom.

Aside from this, while diplomatic relations have been established with most of the Powers and numerous European nations, in reality, the links between them are not closely knit.

Australasia currently only has two truly reliable and good “allies”: Germany and Russia.

The most demanding sector is still the crucial industrial one.

Presently, the scale of Australasia’s industry is technically considered first-class among the Powers; however, its industrial foundation and background are essentially still at a fledgling stage.

Supported by Britain and Germany, naturally, Arthur would not miss out on such a golden opportunity. Therefore, Australasia’s next step is to utilize the moderate backing from Britain and substantial support from Germany to thoroughly elevate Australasia’s basic industry and other industries to the same level as the iron and steel industry, making Australia a bona fide industrial power in every aspect.

For this, the Ministry of Industry has specifically planned a new industrial area, or rather, an industrial base.

The new industrial base is located at the border between Western Australia and South Australia. Its proximity to the mineral resources in the west provides very favorable conditions for industrial development.

The only problem is transportation, but the Ministry of Industry has already agreed with the Ministry of Transportation that the railway here will directly connect to the Southern Industrial Railway and the Northern Railway in the north. Railways will be intersecting from the south to the north, instantly resolving the transportation issue.

Currently, Australasia’s main industrial bases are located in the southeastern part of Australia and the Northern regions of New Zealand, as these two regions are respectively the best parts of Australia and New Zealand, also the most populous and economically prosperous areas.

For Australasia, developing industry is not that difficult. More often, the limitations are insufficiencies in population and labor.

This in turn has led most of Australasia’s industrial areas to be located in the eastern and southeastern vital regions of Australia and North Island of New Zealand.

But mineral resources in these two regions are limited in variety and this is an important factor constraining diversified development in Australasia’s industry.

The selection of the new industrial base at the border of Western Australia and South Australia aims to overcome the previously limiting factor of limited types of mineral resources.

Although the population in Western Australia and Southern Australia is not that plentiful, the Ministry of Industry is determined to make a change this time around.

For this, the Australasian Government will allocate at least two hundred thousand Indigenous peoples. Since there is a labor shortage, they will make use of the Indigenous population to compensate for this.

Add to this the ten of thousands Australasian workers it is believed that the newly selected industrial base will soon catch up to the scale of the previous old industrial areas. After all, this is currently Australasia’s key project and the next important task for the Ministry of Industry.

So as to emphasize the importance of this industrial base, and also because there was not much else to do these past few days.

On January 2, 1908, Arthur embarked on a journey to Western Australia, to personally inspect the newly chosen industrial base.

Due to the presence of the industrial railway, it only takes two days to reach the border of Western Australia and South Australia, and then by car to the new industrial base.

At the industrial base, Arthur will inspect for a day. If progress goes smoothly, he should be able to return to Sydney before National Day, and also participate in this year’s National Day activities.

As Australasia is developing better year by year, the National Day activities of Australasia are given more importance each year.

Typically, on National Day, all the shops and workshops will offer discounts, celebrating this grand national holiday.

Especially on this day, the bright Australasian national flag will be spread throughout all the villages and cities nationwide, exemplifying the people’s love for their country.