Chapter 245: Chapter 226: New Cabinet, New Plan_3

Minister Andrew had nothing much to report, as Australasia is basically not involved in international affairs. Apart from exchanges with a few better countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has virtually nothing to do.

Minister of Defence Kent simply reported on the number of soldiers and their current training status. The situation in the Ministry of Defence is unique at the moment. Although it is part of the Cabinet, the Ministry of Defence only reports to the Royal Parliament and Arthur.

Next up was Finance Minister Roger. The financial situation in Australasia is quite good, not only does it have 230 million Australian dollars on the books, but the fiscal revenue in the last six months has also hit a new high, reaching a pleasing 15.31 million Australian dollars.

If this can be maintained, the total government fiscal revenue for 1907 has a chance of exceeding 30 million Australian dollars, realising a surplus in government finances for the first time.

Because in the first half of the year, the total fiscal expenditure of the government was only 14.12 million Australian dollars, even when the Northern Railway construction plan was launched.

In the second half of this year, the construction of the industrial railway is about to be completed, which also means that the government will have one less major expenditure project.

The government’s financial turnaround from deficit to surplus, has many ministers smiling from ear to ear.

The improvement in government finances also means that each department will receive a larger budget, making it even easier to carry out their tasks.

Minister Henry went straight from the not-so-high-ranking Minister of Agriculture position to Minister of Civil Affairs and became one of the upper echelons of the Cabinet Government.

Despite being responsible for completely different affairs, years of political experience have allowed Minister Henry to quickly familiarise himself with the situation in the Ministry of Civil Affairs, making it easier to manage administrative affairs.

Though only half a year has passed, the population growth in Australasia has been very rapid.

So far, Australasia has a total population of 6.77 million, of which the total population of Australia is 5.4 million and New Zealand’s total population is 1.32 million.

It is visible to the naked eye that the scale and development speed of Australia’s population is much faster than that of New Zealand, this is due to Australia’s land area, as well as Australia’s original population scale.

However, this is a good thing for the current Australasia, Arthur’s base is Australia, and the stronger Australia is, the more stable the situation of Australasian unity becomes.

Although the gap between Australia and New Zealand is gradually becoming a source of dissatisfaction for some New Zealanders, Arthur also has measures to deal with this.

Besides launching many constructions in New Zealand to let them truly feel the changes brought about by joining the kingdom, we are also promoting the concept of Australasians, subtly merging Australians and New Zealanders into one ethnicity, which can also eliminate the possibility of a gap between the two peoples and regions.

Next up are the two new ministers, that is, the reports from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Transportation.

First is the Ministry of Agriculture, the report from Minister Mark.

The development of agriculture in Australasia is also very rapid, which is thanks to the labour of a large number of indigenous people.

Due to the input of a large number of indigenous people, the total area of arable land in Australasia has been steadily increasing at a rate of at least 15% annually. Food production is even more pleasing, from initially around 2 million tons in Australia, by 1906 the annual production exceeded 5.5 million tons.

This grain production can sustain a population of 20 million. But Australasia still has a lot of arable land, this is a valuable resource for Australasia, and the key to supporting a larger population.

What is noticeably different from before is the cultivated land area that Australasia currently gives to immigrants.

Although each immigrant could previously be allocated three acres of land, less than a fifth of this was ready-made farmland, the rest required the immigrants to clear it themselves.

But now Australasia’s immigration policy has been upgraded once again. Each immigrant can not only obtain at least five acres of land, at least one-third of which is arable, but also hire indigenous peoples for reclamation at a low price.

Especially in the New Guinea Colony, immigrants heading to New Guinea Colony can even get ten acres of land, the Colonial Government will also dispatch indigenous people for reclamation, and even farming and harvesting can hire indigenous people at a low cost, thus becoming a farm owner.

There was also a twist, the Dutch East Indies too felt the frantic speed of Australasia’s development and made some adjustments regarding the Indigenous Peoples.

Currently, the frequency of indigenous people dispatched from the Dutch East Indies is significantly lower, and most of those sent over are women or the elderly who are not suitable as laborers.

Although their price is even lower, Australasia has no need to spend money buying waste.

According to the estimates of the Dutch East Indies indigenous population, there are at least more than forty million indigenous people within the Dutch East Indies.

However, in the Dutch East Indies, the indigenous population transported to Australasia is only just over one million, which is trifling for the Dutch East Indies.

Therefore, the reason for the Dutch East Indies reducing the frequency of indigenous transfers is very likely because they fear Australasia’s speed of development.

Perhaps they have also realized that continuing to transport large numbers of indigenous people will only continue to accelerate Australasia’s development speed.

When Australasia has developed to a certain extent and possesses enough military strength, the Dutch East Indies, as Australasia’s closest neighbor to the north, will undoubtedly be hit first.

Arthur understood the Dutch’s apprehensions, but it was already too late for the Dutch to react.

Looking at the current development of Australasia, the Dutch may not necessarily be a match for Australasia.

The Dutch East Indies wants to reduce the scale of indigenous people transport, but it depends on whether Arthur’s loyal army agrees or not.

This is an important issue about national development and can absolutely cause two friendly nations to fall out.

If the Dutch are unwilling to continue the previous scale of indigenous transportation, then they can only experience the intensity of the Australasia Army.

Of course, this also needs an opportunity. Arthur will not take the initiative to act against the Dutch without sufficient reasons.

After all, this is a legally recognized colony of the Powers, and Arthur does not want Australasia’s positive impression in the eyes of the Powers to be too badly damaged.

The reports from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Transportation are all based on data. The transportation infrastructure construction of Australasia is also progressing smoothly, the industrial railways estimated for ten-year construction has already completed more than half in more than six years and will be officially completed and opened to traffic in the second half of this year.

This will greatly alleviate the traffic issues between the east and west ends of the Australian Continent, and the abundant mineral resources of West Australia and South Australia can be transferred effectively and quickly to the most developed region of Southeast Australia.

If the construction of the Northern Railway completes, the communication between the states of Australia will become very efficient, which will also be good news for the development of Australasia.

Of course, if the Northern Railway is successfully built, Australasia will have a better grip on the Northern Region of Australia.

And the Northern Region of the Australian Continent is very close to Southeast Asia, especially some islands in the Dutch East Indies.

This is also an arrangement for the possible expansion of Australasia, and the Southeast Asia region is also very important for Australasia.