Chapter 261 Current Developing Issues
"Your Majesty!" Seeing Arthur walking slowly, everyone in the cabinet quickly stood up and said respectfully.
Arthur nodded calmly, sat on the main seat, and said with a smile: "Everyone, let's get started. The first meeting of our cabinet reorganization." After hearing this,
everyone sat down, but this time Compared with the previous meeting, there have been changes. Several newly added cabinet seats are all ranked before cabinet ministers.
It is worth mentioning that between the cabinet ministers and the new seats, there is still an empty seat, which is prepared for the future minister of royal affairs.
"I believe you all know each other, so let's get straight to the point!" Arthur said: "Although our cabinet has undergone restructuring, our goal has never changed. Developing the country is our eternal theme." "
Val Prime Minister, how many processes will this meeting be divided into?" Arthur asked.
"Your Majesty, in addition to reporting on our achievements over the past six months, dividing the responsibilities of the currently restructured cabinet government is also an important issue. In addition, there are also reports and improvements on some current issues in government work, all of which are today What needs to be discussed at the meeting." Prime Minister Walter quickly stood up and introduced.
"Let's first talk about the division of responsibilities in the cabinet government after the current restructuring." Arthur smiled and directly raised the most important topic for the cabinet ministers.
"With several new cabinet positions, the justice is responsible for the domestic judicial system, and the state courts in each state are also managed by the justice. In judicial cases involving mid-level and senior officials, both the judicial system and the House of Representatives have law enforcement powers. The House of Representatives The law enforcement system is responsible to the House of Representatives, and the justices are responsible to the cabinet government and the Royal Parliament. Do you have anything to say?" Arthur looked at the crowd and asked with a smile.
Seeing that everyone shook their heads knowingly, Arthur continued: "In addition to being the archbishop, the Archbishop of Australasia is also the head of the Kingdom's Protestant Association, coordinating and managing the domestic Protestant affairs. But other religions besides Protestantism, They should also have the power to handle affairs within their own church." "
As for the newly born Minister of State, he is generally responsible for helping the Prime Minister handle state affairs. The House of Representatives theoretically has the power to supervise the cabinet government, but the execution power of the cabinet government lies with the Royal Parliament, and It must be approved by me. As for the remaining ministers of royal affairs, they are responsible for the affairs between the royal family and the government, and are only responsible to me." "That's all for the time being. The
most important thing at the moment is the development of the country and the development of various parties. The department's next plan." Arthur stopped the topic and said with a smile: "Let's talk about the government's work progress this year so far and the problems it has encountered. Everyone happens to be here today, and we can brainstorm solutions to problems we encounter. "
Seeing that Arthur quickly ended the topic, everyone did not dare to say anything more and quickly focused on the new topic.
Although the development of Australasia is generally very smooth, this does not mean that some problems will not arise during the development process.
The ministers looked at the information summarized in their hands and carefully considered the achievements and problems faced by their respective departments.
"Those of you who are not department ministers should also listen carefully to the current problems and achievements of each department. As a member of the cabinet ministers, even if you are not doing government work, you can still give some opinions and contribute to the country." Arthur looked at several candidates for the new position and said.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Several people nodded in agreement.
"Let's briefly talk about the results achieved by the government so far. Let's listen to the good news from the government first, and then focus on solving our problems." Arthur ordered.
"Your Majesty, so far, all the developments of our government are on an upward trend. The number of immigrants in the first seven months of this year has exceeded 420,000. At present, our total domestic population has reached 760,000. There are 151,000 people, and the non-immigrant population has increased by just over 80,000." Prime Minister Walter stood up and made a summary.
"The development of industry and agriculture has also been steadily improving. According to our construction speed, the Leonora Industrial Base is expected to be initially put into use at the end of 1909, and the construction of the first phase of the industrial base will be completely completed in mid-1910, and it will enter the second phase. The second phase is under construction. If the progress goes smoothly, we hope to complete the second and third phases of the industrial zone in 1913 and 1916, and complete the entire industrial zone before 1918." Prime Minister Walter paused slightly
. After a while, he continued: "Our financial revenue has also experienced steady growth. So far, in less than eight months, our financial revenue has exceeded 27 million Australian dollars. It is expected that this year The total financial revenue can exceed 40 million Australian dollars." "
So far, our financial expenditure is about 33 million Australian dollars, and the financial loss is about 6 million Australian dollars. But this is because we have started construction of three battleships. Coupled with the construction of the Leonora Industrial Base. If there is not much construction in the second half of the year, it is expected that our financial situation will still be able to return to a surplus state." Prime Minister Walter introduced.
The development and construction of Australasia has gone through eight years, and it has also been able to achieve an initial turnaround from losses to profits.
This state is despite the fact that domestic construction has not stopped, which also reflects the results of the government's development over the years.
Only with enough budget can we do more things. At least for now, Arthur is satisfied with Australasia's finances.
After a brief report, Arthur looked at the cabinet ministers and asked: "If you have some issues that cannot be decided at work, you can raise them now and the cabinet will vote on them." There was silence for a few seconds
. , Agriculture Minister Mark Reddell stood up first and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, everyone. Judging from the development situation as of this year, our per capita cultivated land has reached about 2.3 acres, and the total cultivated land area is about 1,750 acres. 95,200 acres. It is expected that our annual grain output this year will reach more than 7 million tons. On the premise of meeting domestic consumption and strategic grain reserves, we should still have at least 3 million tons of grain for export. "
Arthur nodded. The increase in grain production and the increase in cultivated land per capita is good news. There is nothing to say about such good news, so Arthur nodded and continued to listen.
“But this growth rate relies entirely on the use of a large number of indigenous people and the increase in the agricultural population, rather than on the use of our agricultural technology and agricultural machinery.” Mark Reddell continued: “Take our current important grain-producing area, New Guinea. It seems that New Guinea has a large amount of cultivated land and many rivers, which are very suitable for the cultivation of crops." "
We have an advantage in New Guinea, that is, because of the small population, we can realize large-scale unified planting and encourage Citizens who have the conditions to set up large farms in these areas, use unified planting and harvesting methods, and use large machinery to upgrade our agriculture. Currently, many areas in Australasia can adopt this method, using a small agricultural population, A large amount of machinery is used to produce more food, so that the saved agricultural population can be used in other fields, saving our human costs and labor force."
"At the same time, I think we should also vigorously support the establishment of the agricultural chemical industry and promote changes in agricultural science and technology such as fertilizer plants and synthetic ammonia technology. If most of our land can use more fertilizer technology, then our food production will It should still rise by at least 20%. The current tractor experiment in a small part of Sydney is very successful. I think it should be promoted nationwide in time and use machinery to drive agricultural production and change. If all conditions can be implemented, I I believe that even if our available arable land no longer expands, there is hope that the grain output will exceed 10 million tons." After finishing speaking, Mark Reddell glanced around, then looked at Arthur with respectful eyes, waiting for Arthur's answer. ideas and decisions.
"Well, the Ministry of Agriculture's idea is good. Do you have any opinions?" Arthur nodded and asked for other people's opinions.
"Your Majesty, there is no problem in supporting chemical industry and agricultural technology, synthetic ammonia technology, and corresponding factories. Our newly built Leonora Industrial Base also contains such factories and fields. We are building Leonora Comprehensive Industrial Base The purpose is to build technology factories involving all aspects of Australasia to improve Australasia's existing production methods." Industry Minister Pierre nodded first and said.
This idea was already involved in the Leonora Industrial Base, which is why Minister Pierre nodded in agreement without even thinking about it.
"There is no problem with the Ministry of Finance, Your Majesty." Finance Minister Roger nodded and said: "In terms of factories and agricultural technology, the Ministry of Finance can spend about one million Australian dollars to encourage the establishment of more factories in this area, and Develop corresponding agricultural fertilizer technology. As for the large-scale use of tractors mentioned by Minister Mark, I think it is too financially burdensome to realize it at one time. It is better to conduct preliminary large-scale use tests in New Guinea. If private farmers want If tractors are purchased and used in agricultural production, we can also provide certain subsidies to help tractors enter more private farms."
Arthur nodded, this is indeed the best method at present. Although the cost of a single tractor is not too high, if it is widely used throughout Australasia, it is not currently affordable by the government's finances.
The best way is to promote it on a large scale in important grain-producing areas like New Guinea, and to encourage larger private farmers to use certain preferential policies to allow them to purchase tractors on their own.
As long as these farm entities realize that tractors bring convenience to agriculture and can bring them tangible benefits, they will spontaneously purchase such machinery without government encouragement to speed up the efficiency of their own farms.
"Does anyone else have anything to say?" Arthur asked.
This matter is actually not a big problem, and Agriculture Minister Mark himself has proposed an appropriate solution.
Coupled with the opinions given by the Ministry of Finance based on the current government financial situation, basically the agricultural problem will be properly solved.
Seeing everyone shaking their heads, Arthur said: "Let's go to the next department. Are there any problems with other departments?"
After a while of silence, Education Secretary Richard Noble Chapman stood up. , said: "Your Majesty, the education department has a heavy task this year, but our financial budget is already low. The Ministry of Education requests to apply for an additional budget of at least five million Australian dollars to expand existing universities and build two more. A university."
"How is the work of the Ministry of Education currently going? How much is your budget this year? Is it going to be spent so soon?" Arthur asked puzzledly.
Generally, at the year-end summary meeting every year, the financial budget for the next year will be allocated to each department based on the situation of the previous year.
In particular, departments like the Ministry of Education will receive extra attention from the government and generally have an additional budget of about A$2 million.
"Your Majesty, we are currently planning to expand the Australasian National University and the University of Auckland and build them into the first and second universities in Australasia. The expansion plans of these two universities will cost about one million Australian dollars each. Australasian University in particular needs a budget of at least A$1 million to A$1.5 million to barely keep up with European universities," explained Education Minister Richard. "In addition, in order to reserve more technical talents for the Leonora industrial base, we have built a technical training school in Western Australia and South Australia to train technical workers for the industrial base. There are also nearby Sydney and Melbourne The expansion of technical schools has cost a total of two million Australian dollars. The total budget of the Ministry of Education this year is only six million Australian dollars. After excluding the normal maintenance expenses of several universities, the current available budget of the Ministry of Education is only less than One million Australian dollars is not enough to build a new university," Richard explained.
The Ministry of Education has indeed taken big steps this year, not only to expand existing universities but also to maintain them at the level of European universities.
New technical schools and universities will also be built to meet the growing demand for skilled workers and universities within Australasia.
Currently, with the popularization of Australasian education policies, the per capita academic qualifications in Australasia have reached the secondary school level.
Although there are many people who come out of general education classes with half-skilled skills, the Australasian government has done its best to raise the per capita education level to around secondary school in this era.
Judging from the various schools and universities that have been established in Australasia over the years, we can see the efforts of the government and education departments in the educational environment of Australasia.
Arthur looked at Prime Minister Walter and Minister Roger, waiting for the opinions of the government and financial departments.
"Your Majesty, education is an important matter for the country, and the popularization of education is very necessary for our development in all aspects. If it were not for our efforts in education, I am afraid that our industry would not have enough talents to develop to the current scale. Therefore, I think the work of the education department is very necessary. The additional budget of five million Australian dollars is not much. Even if it is to build a university, I think the budget can be expanded to about eight million. This money should be enough. Expanding the number of universities in our country to ten is meaningful for our educational work." Prime Minister Walter took the lead in speaking.
The ten universities are only a fraction of the number of universities in the great powers, but for Australasia, they are already the result of hard work.
If we can have ten universities, it means that we can train thousands or even tens of thousands of college students every year, which will greatly fill the vacancies of mid-level talents and even cultivate the seedlings of high-level talents for Australasia.
Among the thousands of college students every year, it is very likely that many outstanding scientists and experts of various types will be cultivated. These talents are very important to the development and construction of the country.
Although Arthur can obtain certain high-level talents every year with the Victoria Award, the talents he cultivates are definitely more loyal than the talents he recruits, and they are also very easy to use.
Everyone turned their attention to Finance Minister Roger again, waiting for the final opinion of the finance department.
Finance Minister Roger smiled helplessly and said: "Since the Prime Minister has said so, how can the Ministry of Finance not support it? Your Majesty, the Ministry of Finance can provide a budget of about 8 million to 10 million Australian dollars. , to help the education department build more universities and expand more schools. But after spending these ten million Australian dollars, I am afraid that the financial situation will be in loss again this year. Your Majesty, please don’t blame me by then!" "Not yet
! When Arthur spoke, Prime Minister Walter quickly said: "Don't worry, Minister Roger. These financial budgets are used for education, even if there is a slight loss, it will not be a big deal. Everyone is involved in this decision, and His Majesty also Seeing it in person, who could blame you?"
Arthur finally gave instructions: "Minister Richard, I hope that all the extra financial budget can be used in the cause of education. When the education department makes achievements, you, as the minister, should take the first credit. But I hope There are no shoddy projects in the construction of universities and other schools. Australasian students should live in a safe and comfortable environment, not dangerous projects, do you understand?" Education Minister Richard nodded quickly and made his own
comment Promise of.
He doesn't care much about capital expenditure, but he must ensure the quality of engineering and construction. This is Arthur's bottom line for all construction projects in Australasia.
Basically, all construction departments will listen to Arthur's instructions and openly agree to it.
At least there have not been any incidents of shoddy construction in Australasia, which makes Arthur very satisfied.
But if such an incident of shoddy engineering really happens, no matter whose hands it is under, Arthur will never show mercy.
The development and construction of the country cannot tolerate any surprises. If anyone dares to obstruct it, then he is not only the enemy of the country's development and construction, but also the enemy of Arthur and all Australasians.
"Do you have any questions from other departments?" After giving the instructions, Arthur also looked at the others and asked.
"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Public Security has several issues that require your Majesty's decision." Thomas Cech, the Minister of Public Security, stood up and said.
"The security department has developed to the present and has a total of more than 2,600 police officers. Although it seems like a lot, it is still very few for the huge Australasia, and it cannot effectively maintain the security environment in any region of the country. .At the same time, because of the popularity of cars and the construction of various roads, I think it is necessary for us to set up a road police department to better manage the flow of roads." Minister Thomas said.
"Our police station often receives various requests for help from the public. Many of these are just trivial matters, but we have to do them because of the people's requests for help. This is a great waste of our police resources. Therefore, I think it is necessary to set up an assistance police department that specializes in handling these things, to distinguish it from the police in our Ministry of Public Security."
Before several police revolutions occurred, although police systems have been generally born around the world, As for the specific duties of the police, the division of what the police should do is not clear.
The police in this era can be regarded as a synthesis of all police forces, which has also resulted in the already small number of public security departments in Australasia being busy and not very efficient.
"Any specific ideas?" Arthur asked.
It is still necessary to professionalize police services. Although this will be decades earlier than in history, it can greatly improve the efficiency of the Public Security Department, so why not do it?
Moreover, police specialization does not have any technical content. At most, it only provides professional training for police officers in a certain aspect, which does not require much time and resources.
"Your Majesty, I think the current police in our security department should be divided into several categories. First of all, the first category is our law enforcement police. This type of police is specifically responsible for handling illegal and criminal cases and maintaining our domestic security and order. This Category 1 police officers should also be our most professional police officers, and their appointment requires a lot of training time and internship time,” Minister Thomas said.
"The second type of police is what I call the police who maintain traffic order. This type of police only needs to popularize traffic laws and knowledge to a certain extent before they can take office. Their main task is to maintain traffic order on our domestic roads. There are no cases They are not allowed to own and carry guns."
"The third category of police is responsible for residents' daily help, as well as some disasters in our daily lives, etc. These disasters such as fires, floods, etc. If residents encounter difficulties, You can turn to these police officers for help, they will become the police department closest to the people."
Arthur nodded and looked at the others.
In the final analysis, this was the Ministry of Public Security's own business, so the other ministers tacitly chose to remain silent and quietly wait for Arthur's opinion.
"Your Majesty, I think such professional division is very necessary. It can at least greatly improve the efficiency of the police, and even hopefully reduce our domestic crime rate and case handling success rate." Minister of State Kent said with a smile: " But the problem is that the scale of the public security department will definitely continue to expand. If the existing number of police officers is divided into three categories, the number of police officers in any category will not be enough, which will drag down the efficiency of the police." It has to be said that traffic police and
comprehensive The number of police officers must be at least 1,000 each in order to initially demonstrate their role.
In particular, the comprehensive police force must not only have a sufficient number of police officers, but must also be deployed in cities of all sizes to reflect its role in being close to the people and helping them.
Arthur nodded and asked Minister Roger: "Does the Ministry of Finance currently have enough budget?"
Minister Roger responded: "Your Majesty, if it is just to expand the number of various types of police, I think half a million Australian dollars is at least It can train thousands of police officers of all types. Even if we want to establish a systematic training institution for three types of police officers, it will cost one million Australian dollars. It is still completely no problem. The funds can even arrive tomorrow.
" Se nodded and said to Minister of Public Security Thomas: "Then I will give you one million Australian dollars, Minister Thomas. The specific classification of the police system, as well as the establishment of training institutions and the task of expanding the scale of the police will be left to you. I hope If we can see some results by the end of this year, we can plan to equip all cities with three types of police next year."
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(End of chapter)