Chapter 290 Income Exceeds 60 Million

The diplomatic department has made a request to the Chilean government, saying that the super battleship requested by the Chileans has been designed, and invited the Chileans to come to Australasia for a field inspection and sign a formal order for the purchase of warships.

However, Chile is located on the east coast of the Pacific Ocean, separated from Australasia by the entire South Pacific Ocean.

It will take some time for the Chileans to arrive. Before the Chileans arrive, Arthur also ushered in the end of 1910.

On December 31, 1910, the annual report meeting of the Cabinet Government was officially held at Sydney Palace.

This year's Cabinet Government Summary Report Meeting has become more important than last year. In addition to the more severe situation in Europe, the Cabinet Government will also usher in a new round of elections next year.

This will also be the first election after the cabinet reform, and many senior cabinet ministers will also usher in more important choices in their political careers.

The maximum term of office for cabinet ministers is three terms, which also means that if these cabinet ministers want to continue to stay in the cabinet government, they must move to different positions.

In addition to the two highest positions of the cabinet government, the prime minister and the secretary of state, there are three important positions that can keep them in the cabinet government: the chief justice, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the minister of royal affairs.

But the competition for these positions is higher than one, especially the secretary of state, the chief justice and the minister of royal affairs, which need to be nominated by Arthur to be elected.

This also means that if Arthur does not think highly of them, then they can only work towards the two positions of prime minister and speaker of the house of representatives.

But the competitors for these two positions include the current prime minister Walter, the former prime minister Evan, the current secretary of state Kent, etc.

In addition to the five senior ministers of the cabinet government, there may be more than a dozen competitors for the two positions, and they are all top politicians who have served as cabinet members. The pressure on these cabinet ministers is not small.

Therefore, these cabinet ministers regard the annual summary report meeting at the end of this year as very important. This is their last chance to show their political achievements and the last chance to gain Arthur's trust and make Arthur look favorably on them.

At the large conference table in the palace, the atmosphere had become very serious.

Prime Minister Walter stood in front of the conference table with a serious and respectful face, and took the lead in speaking: "Your Majesty, colleagues, please allow me to start the annual summary report of the Australasian Cabinet Government in 1910. The first thing to report is the overall domestic situation. Throughout 1910, our development was in good condition, and all aspects were developing in an orderly and intense manner."

After a series of reports from cabinet officials, the current specific situation of Australasia was finally reported.

First of all, the population issue that Arthur attached the most importance to was that by the end of 1910, the total population of Australasia had exceeded 9 million, and the exact number was more than 9.43 million. Compared with the previous year, the total population increase was 910,000, of which the number of immigrants exceeded 850,000, the number of newborns exceeded 100,000, and the number of deaths exceeded 40,000.

As the core of the country, the population of Australia has exceeded 7.54 million, and the population of New Zealand has exceeded 1.81 million.

The populations of the two colonies, New Guinea and Timor, also exceeded 60,000 and 20,000 respectively, and the overall population growth was very good.

In terms of population structure, the number of British immigrants has decreased, but it has remained at 68.1% of the total population.

For the first time, the Russian population has exceeded the German population, with a proportion of 14.4%. The German population has dropped to third, accounting for 13.9% of the total population.

With the increase in Russian immigration to Australasia, the proportion of Russian immigrants should continue to increase.

But Arthur's bottom line for the proportion of British immigrants is 65%. If the proportion of British immigrants is lower than 65%, then Arthur will consider reducing the number of immigrants from other countries. After all, national stability is far more important than population growth.

At present, Melbourne is also developing very rapidly, and its population has exceeded 950,000 as of this year.

If nothing unexpected happens, Melbourne's population should exceed 1 million in 1911, becoming the second city in Australasia with a population of over one million.

However, the bad news is that in the short term, there are only two cities in Australasia with a population of over one million. The third and fourth cities in terms of population are Wellington and Newcastle, with populations of over 470,000 and 450,000 respectively.

These two cities are still a long way from reaching a population of one million, and there is no hope even after the end of World War I.

However, for a country like Australasia with a population of less than 10 million, having too many cities with a population of over one million is actually a disadvantage for national development.

After all, Australasia has a vast territory of millions of square kilometers. If most of the population is concentrated in certain cities, the development of other regions is bound to be restricted.

Because of the construction of the Leonora Industrial Base, Western Australia has also become the main area for the Australian government to send immigrants.

At present, the population of Western Australia has exceeded one million, and the restrictions on industrial development are not so great.

Speaking of industrial development, the completion of the construction of the Leonora Industrial Base and the attraction of factories to settle in and officially start production have brought Australasia's various industries to a better stage of development.

At present, the scale of steel production in Australasia has also been greatly improved, with an annual output of 2.1132 million tons of iron and 1.4005 million tons of steel.

In the chemical industry, the Leonora Industrial Base has attracted more than a dozen chemical plants, two agricultural machinery plants, a synthetic ammonia plant, two small fertilizer plants, 17 civilian plants, etc. The agricultural machinery and fertilizers produced and various chemical products have made a significant contribution to the development and construction of Australasia.

The Leonora Industrial Base has more than 50 factories of all sizes, creating more than 10,000 jobs and driving considerable economic development in Western Australia.

At present, the per capita income in Australasia has reached 48.7 Australian dollars, and the per capita income in some parts of Australasia has exceeded 50 Australian dollars.

The construction of the two colonies has almost entered the right track. The per capita annual income of the 60,000 people in the New Guinea colony is 41 Australian dollars, and the per capita income of the 20,000 people in Australian Timor is 40 Australian dollars.

In fact, in theory, the income of the colonies will not lag behind that of the mainland, but because the colonies are still pouring in some immigrants, the income of these immigrants in a short period of time will definitely not be too high, which has lowered the overall per capita annual income level of the colonies.

Of course, the government's total fiscal revenue has also ushered in a significant increase. Thanks to the disaster in East Asia in 1910, Australasia made a lot of profit in grain exports.

Coupled with the large amount of aid from Britain, Australasia's finances have also been revitalized.

In 1910, the government's total fiscal revenue was 64.17 million Australian dollars, an increase of nearly 10 million Australian dollars compared to the previous year.

Of course, if the additional profit from grain exports to East Asia is not counted, the growth of total fiscal revenue is actually similar to last year, about 8 million Australian dollars.

Of course, with the increase in fiscal revenue, the government's expenditure level has also ushered in a significant increase.

In 1910, the government's total fiscal expenditure was as high as 57 million Australian dollars, an increase of 8 million Australian dollars compared to the previous year.

Among them, military expenditure exceeded 20 million Australian dollars for the first time, to be precise, it has reached 21.35 million Australian dollars.

Starting this year, the size of the Australasia navy will reach three battleships, two battlecruisers, more than ten escorts and destroyers, two submarines, more than 20 small patrol boats, etc.

Although the navy's strength has increased a lot, the growth of the navy's expenditure is indeed not small, which has led to Australia's military expenditure rising steadily.

But the good news is that the government is still in a surplus state. Although the surplus is only about 7 million Australian dollars, after all, it is very good to support a navy at the level of a great power with a population of less than 10 million.

The royal special fund has also increased from 542,500 Australian dollars last year to 641,700 Australian dollars. The royal special fund is also slowly growing with the development of the Australasia economy.

This is also a little welfare left by Arthur to his descendants. In the future, when Australasia develops, it is completely fine for the royal special fund to grow to millions or even millions of Australian dollars.

Even if the royal consortium is not well managed in the future, it can also rely on the funds obtained from the government every year to keep all members of the royal family noble and luxurious. At least it is completely fine to be a rich man.

This is also Arthur's idea. Arthur spared no effort in cultivating his descendants and heirs, but if the heirs are not very capable in the future, and Arthur is not sure that he can control the entire country, then Arthur will consider reducing the royal power and pushing Australasia to a constitutional monarchy.

Doing so can also ease the contradiction between the royal power and the government. It may be difficult for future monarchs to become a monarch who expands the territory, but with the royal consortium, it should not be a problem to be a lord who maintains the status quo.

At worst, you can stay in Australasia and live your own luxurious and ordinary life.

As the saying goes, the greater the power, the greater the responsibility. An incompetent autocratic monarch is likely to push the entire royal family into the abyss.

Thanks to the fiscal surplus, the available funds of the Australasia government have reached 240 million Australian dollars, and the funds have been spent more and more.

This is of great benefit to Australasia's future expansion in the navy or other aspects. After all, sufficient funds can make things easier, and it can also be guaranteed in the face of huge consumption such as war.

Agriculture continues to maintain last year's level, and the per capita cultivated land has increased a little bit. If the per capita cultivated land area last year was around 2.28 acres, then this year's per capita cultivated land area has officially exceeded 2.3 acres. Of course, it is only around 2.3 acres.

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