Chapter 73 Demographic Issues and Aboriginal Labor

"Your Highness, because the current number of workers and laborers in Australia determines that we cannot carry out large-scale railway and highway construction plans. Therefore, last year, our main goal was to repair streets and roads in various cities, and to build some important areas and cities Connecting roads between." Minister Conright stood up and answered.

The construction of roads can be considered a big project, especially when Australia's terrain is relatively complex.

Coupled with the disadvantage of lack of population, there are no longer enough manpower to invest in the construction of roads when large-scale construction is carried out in the country.

This has also led to the main task of the transport sector being to renovate existing urban roads, at most coupled with the construction of connecting roads to industrial areas and other important areas.

Arthur nodded with a slight headache and couldn't help but frown.

Population is currently one of the most important factors limiting Australia's development. Although immigration from Europe can alleviate this problem, it cannot completely improve it.

Australia currently lacks, or even very lacks, a large number of lower-class people to serve as a labor force for Australia's industrial development and various constructions.

Immigrants from Europe play more of a role as ordinary civilians. If they are squeezed too much, it will reduce their recognition of the country and affect social stability.

It is necessary to introduce ethnic groups with relatively large populations from foreign countries that can be exploited arbitrarily. These are the conditions for improving Australia's industry and development.

At present, Australia's labor problems can be solved and thirst can be quenched by water. In addition to Australia's own New Guinea, there is also the Dutch East Indies colony in Southeast Asia.

The number of indigenous people in New Guinea is only over 900,000. Although some problems of labor shortage can be solved, a complete solution must rely on colonies with tens of millions of indigenous people like the Dutch East Indies.

The Dutch East Indies colony also had a huge land area. Unlike Australia, the Dutch East Indies had a large indigenous population, conservatively estimated to be close to 40 million.

But the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which rules this area, has a population of just over five million, and is not much ahead of Australia.

What's more terrible is that the mainland of the Netherlands is too far away from the Dutch East Indies. This also leads to the fact that except for a few important areas such as Java and Kalimantan, the Netherlands does not have strong control over most other areas.

The reason why the Netherlands was able to maintain its rule on this land, in addition to the support of the British Empire, was also an important factor in the balancing policies of the major powers.

Of course, Arthur's goal in the short term is not to seize this land. Before Europe fell into war, Arthur did not want to cause more trouble.

But buying some indigenous people is still very promising. Because the indigenous people of the Dutch East Indies had their own religion and culture, it was not easy for the Netherlands to rule them.

What's more, the huge indigenous population is also a burden for Dutch rule. It is also a good choice to convert these bloated populations into a certain amount of income.

Thinking of this, Arthur looked at Foreign Minister Andrew and ordered: "Minister Andrew, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will try its best to communicate with the Netherlands to see if it is possible to introduce a group of indigenous people from the Dutch East Indies. If the Netherlands is willing, we can sign a contract to introduce indigenous people The price of the treaty was a considerable sum of money and support for Dutch rule in the East Indies."

Australia is an outlier to Southeast Asia's balance of dominance. Because of its proximity to Southeast Asia, Australia can also penetrate its power into Southeast Asia at any time.

What's more, Australia's relations with the United Kingdom and Germany are not ordinary. If you really want to influence the situation in Southeast Asia, especially the Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies, it may not be impossible.

Therefore, Arthur's promise is also good news for the Netherlands. After all, the resource-rich and prosperous Dutch East Indies can also bring a large amount of income to the Netherlands every year. The Dutch government is certainly not willing to lose this land.

"Yes, Your Highness, I will contact the Netherlands as soon as possible." Minister Andrew nodded and instantly understood what Arthur meant.

Because of the huge shortcomings of the population, if Australia develops according to schedule, it will take a lot of time to make up for it.

But if a large number of indigenous people can be introduced to contribute to Australia's construction, it can effectively improve Australia's construction and development efficiency.

Although hundreds of thousands or even millions of indigenous people may die for this, who would mind?

Counting every European power and colonial country in detail, the rise of any powerful country is accompanied by bloody oppression and oppression.

Being able to shift such losses to foreign indigenous peoples is a good thing for Australia and Australians.

“The task of the transportation department this year is to build roads connecting states. This will also be the main task of the transportation department in the next few years. I hope that new roads can strengthen the connections between our states and also improve Transport and economic development in Australia,” continued Arthur.

"Yes, Your Highness." Minister Conright nodded quickly.

"Have the tasks of the industrial sector been completed? I remember that we were asked to triple our steel production. Has it reached the standard now?" Arthur looked at Industry Minister Pierre and asked.

What Arthur was talking about was the industrial three-year plan formulated at the meeting.

According to Arthur's request, the industrial sector must follow the plan of tripling every year based on Australia's annual steel production of 3,700 tons and iron production of 5,000 tons in 1899, and ultimately allow the steel production to reach 100,000 tons and 5,000 tons respectively. More than 140,000 tons.

One year has passed and steel production should reach 11,000 tons and 15,000 tons respectively according to the plan.

"Your Highness, although it has only been more than six months since we formulated the plan, the industrial sector has basically completed the tasks assigned by Your Highness. In terms of steel production, our newly built industrial zone has well satisfied our requirements for steel production. expectations. At present, the total annual steel output of the steel plants in the industrial zone has exceeded 13,000 tons and 19,000 tons respectively, slightly exceeding the task target. With the construction of the industrial zone and the joining of more workers, our Steel production is expected to reach more than 40,000 tons and 50,000 tons by the end of this year," Industry Minister Pierre said with a smile.

The industrial sector is one of the most important departments in Australia with the most tasks, but because of the industrial equipment worth 50 million pounds brought by Arthur from the UK, the development of industry was not as difficult as imagined.

Especially with the assistance from the United Kingdom and Germany, the development of industry will enter a period of smooth sailing.

Australia's industrial development can be successful only by combining the industrial development technology and experience of Britain and Germany based on Australia's actual conditions.

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