Chapter 177

  On January 2, 1904, the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Tsarist Russia issued statements expressing regret and sorrow over the typhoon incident in New Zealand, and announced their support for New Zealand's referendum, allowing New Zealanders to decide their own destiny.

  On January 3, the British Empire, one of the protagonists, expressed its willingness to follow Queen Victoria's will and let the New Zealanders decide their own fate.

  This is a great win for New Zealanders, who seem to be heading for a bright future.

  Arthur was not in a position to say this, and in the eyes of everyone, from the start of the march to the time New Zealand won the right to referendum, Arthur never made an appearance.

  But in fact, only a few people know that Arthur's actions played a decisive role in New Zealand's smooth acquisition of the right to hold a referendum.

  The referendum in New Zealand covered the entire New Zealand region, including all of New Zealand's sovereign overseas islands.

  The referendum stipulates that anyone who is a permanent resident of New Zealand who has reached the age of 20 and has lived in all parts of New Zealand for at least 10 years will have the right to participate in the referendum.

  At present, the total population of New Zealand is as high as 1,073,400, and there are more than 430,000 people who meet this condition.

  The age limit, combined with the length of residence limit, has also drastically reduced the number of people who have the right to participate in the referendum.

  The good news is that New Zealand has given women the right to vote for a long time, but they don't have the right to run for election, they just have the right to vote.

  Although Arthur did not participate in the entire New Zealand referendum, this does not mean that Arthur has nothing to do during this time.

  On the contrary, as it was already the beginning of the new year, the 1903 annual summary of the Australian Cabinet Government was successfully delivered to Arthur, waiting for Arthur's review.

  The most obvious achievement of Australia in 1903 was in the area of population, which at the beginning of 1903 was about 4,263,900 people.

  By January 1904, Australia's population had exceeded 4,566,600, an impressive 7.1 percent.

  This brings the number of cities with a population of more than half a million in Australia to two, and Sydney and Melbourne have become two of Australia's brightest pearls.

  The industrial development of 1903 was not as rapid as in 1902, but the production of steel reached 390,000 tons and 670,000 tons, respectively.

  At present, Australia's total steel production has exceeded one million tons, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is an industrial country.

  During the year, Australia also discovered a large number of new mineral resources, the largest of which were coal and iron ore.

  At present, Australia has proven iron ore reserves of up to 1.5 billion tons, and the total reserves of bituminous coal and lignite are as high as 13 billion tons.

  Such abundant mafic reserves will become a strong support for Australia's industrial development, and also make Australia one of the largest coal and iron ore reserves.

  It is worth mentioning that Australia has also discovered more than 10 million tons of oil, most of which are distributed on the southeast coast of Australia and the west coast of Australia.

  With the sales of Benzone all over the world, the demand for oil consumption around the world is also increasing.

  This has also led to the price of oil, which was relatively cheap, going all the way up, and the price of gasoline, diesel and various petroleum products is also getting higher and higher, which also makes some countries and regions with oil see opportunities to make a fortune.

  Unlike New Zealand, which has suffered heavy losses, Australia's livestock industry can be said to be thriving.

  At present, according to rough statistics, Australia has more than 120 million sheep, tens of millions of cattle and other animals, and more than one million people engaged in animal husbandry.

  Australia's current livestock products, including wool, milk and goat's milk, beef and mutton, etc., have established sales channels in Europe and the Americas, as well as parts of Asia, and the annual income of livestock products to Australia has exceeded 2 million pounds.

  Although most of the country's land is desert and other areas that are not suitable for planting, Australia still has a wide range of growable areas due to the extremely large land area.

  As the government began to encourage large-scale farming, many farmers are already looking to expand their farms.

  This, coupled with the current industrial development in Australia, has created a large number of urban people and jobs, and has also made it possible to scale agriculture.

  This is good news for Australia, where agriculture can be transformed into a large-farm model in the future.

  In the case of a large number of machines, a lot of manpower can be saved, and only a small amount of manpower and machinery can be used to complete large-scale farming.

  In terms of transport, Australia has also made good achievements.

The first is the roads that connect the towns and cities of the states with the state capitals as the center, and these roads are generally funded by the state government and supported by the Australian government.

  By January 1904, with the exception of the more extensive Western Australia and South Australia, the other four states had basically connected all towns and towns by road, and established a road network centered on the state capital.

  Building on the road networks of the states, the Australian Government has built a network of roads connecting state capitals to major cities.

  This also allows Guangmao's Australia to have a well-developed road network, making it more convenient for Australians to travel.

  In particular, the roads funded by the Australian government are basically large roads with three lanes in each direction.

  While this has increased the Australian government's investment in transport, it has also made it easier for Australians to get around.

  The second is in terms of railways.

  Up to now, Australia's industrial railways have been under construction for more than two years, and the results have been very good.

  Of course, the main part of railway construction is still in the southeast of Australia, which is also the most populous and economically developed region in Australia.

  The current railway has completed the main part from Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, to Adelaide, South Australia, and has successfully connected Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

  There are many more connected cities, among which the larger ones are Brisbane, Newscar, Sydney, Albost, Melbourne, Geelong, Adelaide and Port Augusta.

  The total distance of this section of the railway is almost half of that of the industrial railway, and the reason why it was built so quickly is also because the area already has a relatively developed railway network.

  In Western Australia and South Australia, where the population is relatively small, rail construction has been slower.

  Fortunately for South Australia, the current rail has been built from Port Augusta to Adelaide and connects to the industrial rail section of the south-east.

  But Western Australia's current rail construction is only from the capital Perth to Geraldton and Albany, two Western Australian port towns, and the reason for connecting the two towns is also to facilitate transport in Western Australia.

  The part of the railway connecting Western Australia and South Australia, that is, the section of the railway connecting Perth and Port Augusta, will be the more difficult part of the whole industrial railway construction, because there are very few railways in this area, and almost all of them need to be newly built.

  If all goes well, the railway will be completed in four years. But if progress doesn't go well, the completion of this section of the railway could be delayed until five or even six years later.

  However, this is still a reduction compared to the initial planned construction time of the industrial railway. In the beginning, the industrial railway was planned to take ten years to complete, but now it seems that it will only take about six to eight years.

  The only area not covered by the rail plan is Tasmania, which is also Australia's smallest and least populated state.

  In order to cater for the mood of Tasmanian residents, Arthur deliberately started the construction of the Ring Road in Tasmania, mainly connecting the northern city of Smithton and the southern city of Hobart, as well as a number of small towns in the east and west.

  Tasmania's roads, while connecting smaller villages and some farms, are still a fraction of the size of road construction across Australia.

  That's why road construction in Tasmania is going so well. So far, Tasmania has completed the construction of the Ring Road, the state's two largest cities, Hobart and Smithton, are all connected by road, and all small towns and villages are part of the urban network.

  This has also made Tasmania the most developed area of road transport in Australia, which has greatly attracted the regret of Tasmanian residents because they cannot build railways in their own area.

  Another very significant change for the Australian people is that Australia's per capita income has risen significantly.

  By January 1904, the per capita income of all Australian states had exceeded 15 pounds, and even the more developed states such as Victoria and New South Wales had reached 16 pounds per year.

  This year's income level has almost doubled compared to when the Principality of Australia was first established, and is a testament to how Australia's industry and economy have developed during this time.

  Although this income level is less than half of that of the great powers, it is almost at the same level as the average European country.

  What's more, Australia's per capita income level is far from being fixed, and it is still only in a period of growth.

  3,000 word chapters, ask for support!

(End of chapter)