Chapter 245: The Annual Report on New Year's Day
Fortunately, after a period of adjustment, the soldiers' accuracy significantly improved. Several shells continuously hit their designated targets, which made General Makarov's face brighten with satisfaction.
Although the earlier accuracy was a bit low, it was understandable since the soldiers were handling such a warship for the first time, and mastering the operation in such a short time was already impressive.
Had they been given more time, they could have even tested the destructive power of artillery on a decommissioned fishing boat. However, the 283mm main guns produced by Germany had already been proven to be powerful. While they were not as strong as the Dreadnought battleship's firepower, they ranked among the best among older battleships.
Overall, General Makarov was extremely satisfied with this round of testing. He had already privately decided that, if Russia's finances allowed, he would push the Navy Department to continue purchasing Australasia's Monarch-class battleships. Only such advanced warships would play a decisive role in future naval battles.
If the Pacific Fleet were equipped with two Monarch-class battleships, the island nation's navy would never be able to match Russia's navy, at least not until the balance of dreadnought numbers was achieved.
After staying in Australasia for a few days, General Makarov left for the Far East, citing his busy schedule. Of course, the Russian sailors who had accompanied him did not return. Their mission was to familiarize themselves with the Petropavlovsk battleship's equipment and systems so that they could quickly prepare for combat readiness once the ship was officially commissioned.
After the war ended, various departments in Australasia became quite busy. With the end of 1907 approaching, this also marked the time for the annual government report meeting.
Although many faces remained the same in the government, the biggest change was the new Prime Minister, Walter, and two new ministers. This new government needed to present its achievements to prove that it was just as capable as the previous one.
Particularly for the newly appointed Prime Minister Walter and the two new ministers, they had to demonstrate their accomplishments and abilities, as their success in securing re-election depended on it.
In contrast to the busy schedule of these government officials, Arthur's life was noticeably more relaxed. At this point, there were no major decisions that required his personal involvement. With the development goals already set, the ministers simply had to plan and execute their strategies.
This allowed Arthur plenty of free time, which he spent enjoying nature, visiting various parts of Australasia, and spending quality time with his family.
Since the royal consortium's assets had already surpassed £300 million, Arthur could enjoy over ten million pounds in pure income every year, even if he did nothing. There was nothing more relaxing than this carefree lifestyle, or at least that was Arthur's view.
Of course, his communication with Queen Mary had not decreased, and every evening, Arthur would experience the beauty of the two mountains, a canyon, lush forests, and the cheerful songs of birds.
Now that the war had ended, Australasia would enter a period of more stable development, and with Arthur's position secure, there was no need for him to engage in any political scheming.
This also gave Arthur plenty of time and energy to explore the human origins plan and prepare an excellent heir for both himself and the royal family. After all, a nation's heir was crucial to its stability. Even though Arthur was still young, the succession plan had to be set in motion.
After spending a relaxing month, the calendar quietly turned to 1908.
On January 1st, 1908, New Year's Day arrived.
European countries still attached great importance to New Year's Day, with each country having its own traditions. Since most of Australasia's population came from British immigrants, the local New Year's traditions reflected those of Britain.
In the rural areas of Australasia, people could be seen eagerly rushing to the wells to draw water. This was a British tradition, where the first person to draw water from the well on New Year's Day was considered to be lucky, and the first bucket of water was called "auspicious water."
In addition to the well-water tradition, the British also liked to ensure that they had alcohol in their bottles and meat in their cupboards before New Year's Day. It was widely believed that if there was no leftover alcohol or meat by New Year's Day, the new year would be one of poverty.
This led to high sales of alcohol and meat before New Year's Day, with demand often exceeding supply. The tradition of leftover alcohol and meat, coupled with the celebrations and feasts on New Year's Day, contributed significantly to the consumption.
However, Arthur and the cabinet officials weren't so lucky. Due to the lengthy process of data collection, the government's annual report meeting, originally scheduled for December 31st, 1907, had to be postponed to the following day—New Year's Day.
Government affairs were of utmost importance, so the cabinet officials and Arthur had to forgo their New Year's break. However, if the meeting proceeded quickly, they would still be able to return in time for the evening's celebration.
To ensure the meeting didn't interfere with the evening's festivities, Arthur decided to hold the meeting in the conference room of Sydney Palace, allowing the officials to attend and then quickly join their families for the banquet afterward.
At 8:00 a.m., as celebrations filled the air across Australasia, the cabinet's annual report meeting officially began.
The one-day delay was beneficial to the cabinet officials, as it gave them more time to organize their materials and carefully consider the questions and answers Arthur might ask.
Of course, the key focus was on the upcoming plans, their feasibility, and the degree to which the plans had been completed, as these would determine their performance for the next year.
After some meaningless opening remarks, the departmental reports officially began.
Prime Minister Walter gave the first summary. Although a war had broken out in the second half of the year, it had not impacted Australasia's development; rather, it had even promoted the growth of the military industry.
The summary from Prime Minister Walter could be condensed into a single sentence: just like before, all industries in Australasia were booming.
After the general summary, the departmental ministers presented their detailed reports.
First was the Ministry of Industry, which reported that Australasia's industrial growth had not slowed down and was still maintaining a high level.
This was largely thanks to the national construction projects and the success of the Benz Automobile Factory. Both national infrastructure projects and the Benz Automobile Factory consumed large amounts of steel each year.
Australasia's annual iron output had reached just over 1.5 million tons, and steel production had reached just over 1.03 million tons. The country's industrial scale was now top-tier, surpassing second-tier European countries like the Netherlands and Portugal.
More importantly, due to support from Germany, Australasia had been gradually addressing its previous industrial shortcomings.
In the chemical industry, Australasia had also made significant progress, now owning dozens of chemical factories.
Compared to the previous year, the number of industrial districts in Australasia had not increased, but the number of workers had grown by over 30,000, and the number of indigenous workers had increased by tens of thousands.
With so many indigenous workers contributing to labor, it was inevitable that the industry would thrive.
Of course, this was all possible due to Australasia's ample mineral resources. Without these resources, even with a population of over a hundred million, the country would not be able to support such a large-scale industry.
After acquiring Timor, Australasia had also seen significant increases in the reserves of gold, manganese, chromium, tin, and copper.
Along with its abundant domestic mineral resources, while other nations struggled with mineral shortages, Australasia's only concern was the wide distribution of resources and deciding which areas to prioritize for mining.
Australasia's population had also grown significantly. The current immigration trends were dominated by British, German, and Russian immigrants, accounting for 31%, 30%, and 27% of the total immigrant population, respectively.
This meant that every year, over 400,000 immigrants arrived from these three countries. Combined with immigrants from other countries, the total number of immigrants to Australasia in 1907 had surpassed 450,000.
In addition to immigration, the local birthrate had also significantly contributed to population growth.
With various government policies encouraging childbirth, Australasia's local population saw an explosive increase in 1907.
According to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Australasia welcomed 183,000 new births in 1907, with more than 30,000 deaths. With the influx of immigrants, the population grew by over 600,000 that year.
This brought the total population of Australasia from 6.55 million at the beginning of 1907 to 7.15 million by the end of the year.
Among Australasia's population, 73% were of British descent, 14% were of German descent, and 9% were of Russian descent, with the remainder coming from other European countries.
Because the British were the majority, there was little opposition when Arthur introduced the concept of the Australian nationality, and even fewer objections among European immigrants.
As a result, many European immigrants were more willing to accept the concept of Australasia as a nationality, especially since their ethnic groups were not the majority.
Moreover, since Australasia's welfare policies were aimed at the Australasian people as a nationality, many people had no choice but to recognize themselves as Australasians.
(End of Chapter)
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