The Rise Of Australasia - Chapter 304

Chapter 304: Chapter 268: Good News about the Population

Seeing Arthur’s emphasis on the construction of sports stadiums, the cabinet members naturally did not dare to be careless.

After a week of discussion and preliminary planning, the specific plan for the construction of sports stadiums was finally tentatively discussed.

Firstly, the size of the stadium, under Arthur’s insistence, the stadium’s capacity was increased to a maximum of fifty thousand people.

This would be a super-large-scale sports stadium, with the venue located to the north of the Capital Territory, very close to Newcastle, where there is enough large plain land to build the stadium.

In order to accommodate the Olympic Games, many venues will be built inside the sports stadium to meet the needs of the Olympic Games at that time.

About the new stadium’s naming, after consulting Arthur’s opinion, the Cabinet decided to name the new venue Australasia National Stadium.

After all, this Olympic Games is for the purpose of enhancing Australasia’s prestige and international influence, starting with the sports stadium to promote Australasia, also echoing the original intention of the Olympic Games.

After the preliminary construction plan was determined, the Cabinet Government decided to initially allocate 10 million Australian dollars in two years for the construction of the new stadium and invite construction companies from outside to undertake various major modules of the sports stadium.

Australasia’s attitude towards construction companies from within and outside the country is open and inclusive.

However, the government’s requirements are strict, and if any problems arise in the construction of the Olympic venues, it will escalate into a dispute between the countries, and the person in charge of the construction company will be sentenced by the Australasian Government.

It is worth noting that the laws of Australasia are quite harsh, which is also a major means for the government to crack down on criminal cases.

After all, the common people of Australasia can eat and be clothed, and those who engage in illegal and criminal activities in Australasia are often the incurable habitual criminals and desperate people.

These people have no use for Australasia’s development and even hinder the development of the country and the stability of society.

The harsh laws are designed to punish them, and the more serious cases are basically sentenced to death, either by hanging or by firing squad.

According to rough statistics from the security department, from the establishment of Australia in 1900 to the end of 1909, a total of more than 3,100 death sentences were imposed in the Australasia region during these ten years, of which more than 2,000 were brutal criminals with human lives on their hands.

After the execution of these more than 3,000 people, the crime rate in Australasia has now been reduced by more than 20 times compared to 1900, and there have been fewer cases of homicide in the major cities.

With the government’s announcement of the sports stadium construction news, the construction of the sports stadium has also attracted a lot of attention and support from a large number of Australasians.

This is not due to Arthur’s high popularity, but because after eating and being clothed, Australasia has a lot of mood and time to do some other entertainment.

However, at present, there are not many entertainment facilities in Australasia, and since the government has gradually started to control the sale and circulation of large weapons, civilian inferior handguns are not very realistic for hunting, so hunting, one of the few entertainment methods, is gradually falling out of the mainstream.

But it is worth mentioning that due to the strict implementation of the ten-hour work system in major factories in Australasia, and even the eight-hour work system in some royal factories, people have a lot of free time to waste, and under the premise that various entertainment facilities are unlikely, making babies has become a helpless choice for a considerable number of Australasians.

In addition, the government has recently been encouraging childbirth, rewarding money for each child born, and ensuring the education and life of all children in multiple-child families before they reach adulthood.

This has led to Australasians not being opposed to childbirth, and even, if operated well, multiple births can create additional income for the family, equivalent to having an extra labor force earning money.

The increase of more than one hundred thousand newborn babies in Australasia every year is the best proof, which is also one of the reasons for the increasing population growth rate in Australasia.

How strong is the public’s support for the new sports stadium? Even before the construction of the sports stadium officially began, a large number of Australasians spontaneously went to the planning area of the sports stadium, intending to level the land in the stadium area to facilitate future construction.

However, such actions were soon stopped, after all, although leveling the construction area is necessary before construction, there is no need to waste such precious labor.

Aren’t these hard and tiring tasks meant to be done with the indigenous people? After all, as far as Australasia is concerned, the indigenous people are the least valuable, and who cares if tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of them die every year?

Time passes quickly, and before the sports stadium officially began construction, the time had come to January 1910.

Arthur takes this year’s annual report summary meeting very seriously, after all, throughout 1909, he did not properly handle political affairs, it is time to thoroughly grasp the domestic development and plan for the next few years.

If one looks at history, there are still a few years before the outbreak of World War I. But who can guarantee that the course of the world will develop as it did in history, and what if the war breaks out tomorrow?

It is precisely because of this attitude of being prepared in advance, Arthur decided to remind the government to prepare for a possible super war on the European continent in the future.

Before the Cabinet Meeting commenced, Arthur announced an appointment, appointing Hunter, the younger son of Steward Kent and the younger brother of Prime Minister Kent, the Minister of Royal Affairs, which was the last vacant seat in the Cabinet.

The appointment was somewhat sudden, but the Cabinet members found it to be well deserved.

The position of Minister of Royal Affairs was destined to be held by Arthur’s closest confidant, and others simply had no eligibility to compete for it.

Speaking of Arthur’s closest confidant, Butler Kent was undoubtedly the top candidate.

However, Butler Kent already held the position of the Royal Butler and was also responsible for managing the affairs of the royal financial group.

Even if he were given the position of Minister of Royal Affairs, it would only make Butler Kent’s title sound better. The actual authority and role would not change at all.

It was also reasonable for Hunter, the younger son of Butler Kent, to replace his father as the Minister of Royal Affairs.

After all, positions like royal butlers, barring any unforeseen circumstances, basically followed a hereditary succession system.

The family that held the title of Royal Butler were typically the monarch’s most trusted families. Although at first glance it may seem like the position of a servant, in an absolutist monarchy like Australasia, Butler Kent’s power was not necessarily much less than that of a cabinet member.

It was not an exaggeration to say that when choosing between cabinet members and Butler Kent, Arthur would not hesitate to choose Butler Kent.

The reason was simple: Arthur could ensure Butler Kent’s absolute loyalty. It’s no joke that if Arthur thought Butler Kent was useless, he would not hesitate to order Butler Kent to die if necessary.

As the second son of Butler Kent, while his elder brother entered politics, Hunter was destined to inherit his father’s mantle and become the next chief royal butler.

Therefore, the position of Minister of Royal Affairs was quite suitable for Hunter as it allowed him to familiarize himself with serving Arthur in advance, and also allowed him to receive guidance from Butler Kent at any time.

As for the fact that the positions of Butler Kent, Secretary of State Kent, and Royal Affairs Minister Hunter could potentially amass enormous power and threaten the monarchy or give rise to other ideas, Arthur had no worries.

Not to mention that the entire Kent family’s power came from the royal family. If there were no royal family, they would not have any power. Arthur trusted the loyalty of the Kent family very much.

Moreover, the Royal Security Intelligence Agency was not to be trifled with. By now, after such a long time of development, if it couldn’t control the entire royal palace’s intelligence and protect the royal family’s safety, then it would be time for the Director of the Royal Security Intelligence Agency to be replaced.

Hunter also attended this Cabinet Meeting and received congratulations from the cabinet ministers.

For someone who was basically a shoo-in as the future chief royal butler, the Cabinet members still wanted to maintain a good relationship.

Although Hunter had only just come of age, by the time he serves as the Royal Chief Butler, these Cabinet members would most likely have long retired from politics.

When that time comes, if any issues arise, they could rely on their familiarity with Hunter to ask for help, couldn’t they?

The Cabinet Meeting lasted the entire day, allowing Arthur to learn about the current state of development in all areas of Australasia.

Even the new appointees reported their work, allowing Arthur to better understand the current state of judiciary and religion in Australasia.

Overall, the development of Australasia was still smooth and successful, and the growth in population was very promising.

By January 1910, Australasia’s total population had exceeded 8.52 million, coming closer and closer to the regional powerhouse population target of 10 million people set by Arthur at the time.

Among them, the population of the Australian region was nearly 7 million, while the New Zealand region’s population was around 1.5 million. The population of the New Guinea Colony had exceeded 50,000, specifically around 52,150 people.

Even the least populated Australian Timor had surpassed 13,500 people. This was the result of both colonies continually implementing various immigration-attracting policies.

From the structure of the population, British immigrants accounted for 69.7% of the total population of Australasia, German population accounted for 12.1%, Russian population accounted for 11.9%, and other populations accounted for 6.3%.

From the population structure, it is clear that the majority of the population in Australasia was still British immigrants, with a total number of about 5.94 million people.

The second and third most populous groups were Germans and Russians, with 1.03 million and 1.01 million people, respectively.

This shows the extent of European countries’ immigration to Australasia, with the majority of Australasia’s population growth relying on these European immigrants.