Chapter 148 Government Annual Report Meeting

Of course, before the National Day, the Australian government has another very important meeting, which is the annual summary of the government's annual report.

At this time of the year, it is also to measure all the things and achievements of various departments and all officials in the year, and even to determine whether they can stay in this position in the next election.

Although the competition in Australia's political arena is not fierce, these ministers have a great chance of re-election without making mistakes.

But there is also an x ​​factor, that is Arthur's attitude. As the real Duke of Australia, Arthur has the power to appoint cabinet members.

Once these officials cause Arthur's dissatisfaction due to incompetence or passive slackness, it will be a great loss to lose their official positions in vain.

You know, although Australia has a low reputation in the international community, it is also a huge country with a territory of millions of square kilometers and a population of millions.

In such a country, being a minister and member of the cabinet is far more powerful than being an ordinary official.

What's more, it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality. After these officials tasted the huge power of the cabinet members, wanting them to give up these powers was tantamount to cutting a piece of meat from their hearts.

Therefore, these cabinet members were very serious about this government annual report summary meeting. They not only summarized all the evidence made by their departments within a year, but also collected a lot of information and made a clear layout for their departments' plans for the next year.

December 31, 1902, the last day of 1902, was also the day when the Australian cabinet government held its annual summary report meeting.

Early in the morning of this day, several cabinet ministers, including Prime Minister Evan, arrived at the meeting room early, each holding the information in their hands and reading it carefully, fearing that they would forget some data.

If Arthur suddenly asked some data from their respective departments and they didn't know, it would be a lot of fun.

Can a person who doesn't know the data of his department be understood as incompetent or dereliction of duty?

At eight o'clock in the morning, Arthur arrived at the meeting room on the top floor of the National Government Building very punctually.

Everyone stood up and saluted, and sat down at Arthur's signal.

"Ladies and gentlemen, 1902 has come to the last day, and we are about to usher in a brand new 1903. Similarly, our cabinet government has also gone through a full year of work, and it must have achieved a lot of results. Now, it is time for all of us to examine the performance of the government's work. Prime Minister Evan, you should go first! Introduce the general achievements of the cabinet government and let everyone know the changes in Australia." After everyone sat down, Arthur said straight to the point.

"Yes, Your Highness." Prime Minister Evan nodded slightly respectfully, took the data report he had prepared, and walked step by step to the center of the circular conference table.

"Your Highness, everyone. Looking closely at 1902, Australia's most striking changes are still industry and economy. In terms of industry, our steel production, industrial zones, the number of large, medium and small factories and other indicators continue to rise, and in some aspects have been shoulder to shoulder with some small European countries. Of course, our goals are far more than this. Australia's various construction and development still need to continue, and it is vigorously promoted." Prime Minister Evan said.

"Regarding the changes in industry, I would like to ask Minister of Industry Pierre to talk about it in detail. There are many changes in this area, and it is also one of the most changed aspects in Australia." Prime Minister Evan looked at Minister of Industry Pierre and said with a smile.

"Glad to serve." Minister of Industry Pierre nodded with a smile and walked to the podium to temporarily take over Prime Minister Evan's position.

"Your Highness, Prime Minister, colleagues. Looking closely at the whole of 1902, Australia's industrial changes are earth-shaking. If we say that we had some initial industrial output a year ago, then now we have already become an industrial country." Minister Pierre took out the materials he had prepared and spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"First of all, the biggest and most obvious change is our steel production. Last year, our steel production reached 61,000 tons and 93,000 tons, which can be compared with some European countries." Minister Pierre reported: "Now we have far exceeded this figure. So far, our steel production is 263,100 tons and 422,200 tons respectively. The growth multiples are 3.8 times and 4.5 times respectively. In terms of steel production, we are already one-sixth of France and one-thirtieth of Germany."

Is it embarrassing to be one-sixth of France and one-thirtieth of Germany? Not embarrassing, even honored.

You know, one of these two countries is one of the old powers that once dominated Europe, and the other is now the hegemon and second power in Central Europe.

These two countries have long had a relatively complete industrial system, and their industrial strength is definitely at the level of great powers.

Although France's weakness is already obvious, Australia's steel production can reach one-sixth of France, which is enough to prove how rapidly Australia's industrial development is.

You know, when the Principality of Australia was just established, the total steel production was only less than 10,000 tons.

In just over two years after Arthur came to Australia, steel production reached a terrifying level of over 260,000 tons, and total steel production even exceeded 680,000 tons.

This level has even surpassed the island country that has been undergoing reforms for decades. Judging from the steel production alone, it can be called the top 15 in the world.

Of course, this ranking is actually very false. The industrial scale of any powerful country is several times or even dozens of times that of Australia.

Hearing about the huge achievements in steel production, Arthur nodded with satisfaction.

Australia's various construction and development requires a large amount of steel production, and the current steel production can only meet the needs of domestic construction and development.

For Australia, which has a large and very rich mineral resources, the industrial scale can only be large, not small.

Under the premise of having sufficient supply of mineral resources, Arthur's expectation for Australia's industry is to reach above the level of the powers.

Seeing that Arthur had nothing to ask, Minister Pierre continued: "At present, we have added three new industrial zones, and the total number has reached five. These five industrial zones are located in Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. Among them, New South Wales is currently the only state with two industrial zones because of its large population."

The establishment of industrial zones previously depended on the population of each state. Especially in states with a small population like Tasmania, there is no need to set up industrial zones for the time being.

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