Chapter 154: Chapter 149: People’s Livelihood Issues

As the saying goes, people think about their personal lives when they are well- fed and warm. Accordingly, the number of newborns also increases.

This is also a good thing for Australia, as the proportion of native Australians is extremely important, and they are the cornerstone of maintaining Australia’s rule.

Apart from integrating immigrants into the Australian nation, the only way for Australians to expand is to increase fertility.

The immigration of British people in Australia is the result of Duke Arthur’s efforts in the United Kingdom. People’s willingness to immigrate naturally increases when they do not repel Arthur.

It is a good thing for Australia that German immigration has surpassed the British Empire, largely due to William Il’s policy of appeasing Australia.

Since the aid treaty between the German Empire and Australia took effect, more than a hundred thousand Germans have immigrated to Australia, becoming permanent residents.

Of course, most of these people have obtained Australian nationality and have become true Australians in name.

However, no one can guarantee that their loyalty to Australia will be greater than that of the German Empire. That is where William H’s intent and purpose lie.

Those German immigrants will try their best to change Australia’s political decisions and draw Australia to Germany’s war chariot.

“Indeed, population has always been one of Australia’s biggest problems. Both encouraging fertility and attracting immigrants are our most important decisions at any time. However, attracting immigrants is important, and there must be a certain period of assessment and examination for immigrants. Only when these people are ensured to have no ulterior motives can they truly obtain Australian citizenship,” Duke Arthur said with a smile, very satisfied.

Population is currently one of the criteria to measure whether a country is powerful, and powerful nations have populations ranging from tens of millions to hundreds of millions.

Although Australia has a territory at the level of the powers, the scale of the population is a significant issue.

This population is not enough to support Australia as a powerful country, let alone rise as a superpower.

Therefore, Australia must raise its population to over 10 million to have a chance to compete with those powerful nations.

“Also, the significant growth of the population is certainly commendable, but do not forget the welfare policy for the low-income group. How is the construction of our nursing homes and orphanages? How many elderly widows and orphans have been helped so far?” Duke Arthur asked.

“Your Highness, the number of our nursing homes and orphanages has initially met the domestic demand. Especially in the two most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria, there are now eleven and seven nursing homes respectively. Across Australia, we have a total of 30 nursing homes and 51 orphanages, accommodating more than 6,000 elderly widows and more than 10,000 orphans. With the steady growth in population, it is foreseeable that the number of orphanages and nursing homes will not see significant growth and will remain stable within this range,” Minister of Civil Affairs Walter Black quickly stood up and replied.

It’s not that Minister Walter is unwilling to continue building orphanages and nursing homes, but according to Australia’s population, the number of orphanages and nursing homes has reached saturation, with most orphans and elderly widows being accommodated. Only a few are left unsheltered.

Orphans, in particular, are one of the issues Duke Arthur is more concerned about. Those orphans, after receiving aid, will have a high degree of loyalty to the royal family and Arthur in the future.

Some of these orphans have particular talents, and may even be directly taken in by the royal family for training, becoming Arthur’s assistants.

These orphans, who have been trained since childhood, are even more loyal than some of the talents inherited by Duke Arthur.

“Well, since the number of nursing homes and orphanages has reached saturation, the construction of these two projects can be suspended for a while, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs can focus on the welfare implementation of existing nursing homes and orphanages,” Duke Arthur nodded, agreeing with Minister Walter’s proposal.

Instructing Minister Walter, Duke Arthur once again looked at Prime Minister Evan and signaled him to continue.

“In addition to nursing homes and orphanages, the construction of our schools and hospitals is very satisfactory too. A year ago, we had only built one large hospital in each state. Now, we have two hospitals in both New South Wales and Victoria, and other states and regions are also encouraging the establishment of private clinics. At present, more than 100 private clinics have been established throughout Australia, distributed in many cities, which can improve our medical care at the grassroots level,” said Prime Minister Evan with a smile.

The construction progress of large hospitals is quite slow, and there are only eight hospitals in Australia so far.

However, the number of small private clinics is quite satisfactory. Compared with large hospitals with insufficient medical staff and equipment, these small clinics are the most effective way to improve Australia’s basic medical environment.

“How about the schools? What is the current state of our education? I remember the idea of setting up technical schools before, what actions has the Ministry of Education taken?” Duke Arthur asked curiously.

The idea of setting up technical schools was brought up by Arthur in a previous Cabinet meeting, but it had been handed over to the Ministry of Education since then, and he hasn’t asked about it.

At this moment, recalling the changes in education, Duke Arthur remembered the matter of setting up technical schools.

Such schools play a critical role in the development of various industries in Australia, as they provide many skilled workers with excellent practical abilities.

If industrial development in Australia has a considerable number of technical talents, the speed of development will not be limited, and a burst of rapid growth can be expected.

“It has been completed, Your Highness,” Minister of Education Richard replied.

Although technical schools serve more industries, they are still considered schools and, therefore, are built and managed by the education department.