The Rise of Australasia

Chapter 802 -600: The 2nd 4-Year Plan (Plan 24)_1

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The situation in Greece was thus decided in merely a few words between King George V and Arthur, highlighting the most apparent characteristic of the era: the law of the jungle.

Neither Arthur nor King George V found anything amiss with this because in this world, the fate of small countries being dominated by the Powers was absolute.

Any country that wished to have their destiny not be controlled by another would have to develop into a strong nation or else align themselves with other Powers.

Afterwards, Arthur spent a few more days touring the United Kingdom, waiting for his officials to finish discussing his affairs before he embarked on the journey back to Australasia.

This diplomatic visit was relatively quick; after attending Dmitry’s Coronation Ceremony in mid to late June, Arthur took just over half a month to complete the entire diplomatic visit, with hopes of returning to Australasia in early August.

Fortunately, there weren’t many affairs requiring attention in Australasia at the moment. Although they had begun their return journey, Arthur and his party were in no rush, leisurely touring around, treating the journey as a time to relax.

Having already met Patricia during his last visit to Finland, Arthur decided to visit his sister Charlotte, who was in France, on his return to Australasia.

Fortunately, the detour to see Charlotte fit nicely with Arthur’s route back home and did not delay his return journey significantly, allowing him to arrive in Australasia successfully on August 7, 1924.

The scene welcoming Arthur was grand. Even though he had previously requested not to make too much fuss, the massive fleet on his return still drew the attention of many Australasians.

Thankfully, the security at Sydney Harbour had already been taken over by the Royal Guard, so Arthur did not have to worry about being attacked.

As a result, Arthur and Queen Mary, along with their children, made a public appearance before the people, smiling and waving to the crowd.

Clearly, such a people-friendly gesture was very well-received by the Australasians. To them, a Monarch who helped them live a good life was already popular, and adding people-friendly and merciful traits made him a once-in-a-century wise ruler.

After successfully returning to Sydney Palace, the young ones were clearly exhausted and hurried back to their rooms to rest.

Although the journey in Europe was not tiring, over two months of travel at sea was definitely exhausting both physically and mentally.

Even though the cruise ship that Arthur and his family traveled on was very luxurious, it ultimately could not compare to living on land.

Compared to the tossing and turning at sea, Arthur much preferred to lie on a soft and comfortable big bed, quietly enjoying his life as King.

Early the next morning, the newly appointed Prime Minister Roger sought an audience with Arthur, bringing with him his development plan.

The development of Australasia since its establishment had been quite smooth, a progress that was inseparable from the success of the Five-Year Plan and the Four-Year Plan.

Prime Minister Kent’s Four-Year Development Plan, formulated in 1919, achieved tremendous success, making his final term glorious.

Even the Earl Ennoblement Ceremony for Prime Minister Kent was being busily prepared, simply waiting for Arthur’s return to Australasia to officially bestow upon Kent the Earl Title.

While Kent’s considerable achievements were not solely due to the success of the Four-Year Plan, the plan’s contribution to his success made his successor, Roger, envious.

After much thought, Prime Minister Roger decided to formulate a new Four-Year Development Plan, seeking to secure his re-election and gain greater accolades.

As a Cabinet veteran who served as Minister of Finance during the Australian Principality era and became a Sir after World War I, Roger was only one step away from the Baron Title.

Even without substantial achievements in his term, obtaining a Baron Title would not be a problem for Roger, given his credentials.

However, for Roger, who evidently had much greater ambitions, the more prestigious Earl Title was far more enticing than that of a Baron.

If being a Baron meant belonging to the real Nobility, becoming an Earl signified being part of the powerful Aristocracy, an elevation in status and stature that a Baron could never match.

Especially after the rise of Australasia, an Earl from Australasia would be respected anywhere, and the Nobility status and position would be recognized by the European royal family.

Looking at the new Four-Year Plan proposal by Prime Minister Roger, Arthur actually wasn’t surprised.

Compared with aimless development without any specific goals, setting a macro-target with a Four-Year Plan was more reasonable and reliable.

A large part of the Four-Year Plan’s success under Prime Minister Kent was due to each department having clear goals and knowing where to focus their efforts.

Although Prime Minister Roger did not announce a Four-Year Plan in his first year, the current plan was still timely for him.

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After all, the first three years of the Four-Year Plan were spent during Prime Minister Roger’s term, and the success or failure of the Four-Year Plan was already evident by that time, also concerning whether Prime Minister Roger could be re-elected.

Prime Minister Roger’s new Four-Year Plan could roughly be divided into four modules, namely industry, economy, population, and people’s livelihood.

Regarding the industrial objectives, Prime Minister Roger set forth the demand for maintaining high-speed development. In 1923, Australasia’s steel production was respectively 3.842 million tons and 6.071 million tons, only a step away from the threshold of ten million tons of total steel output.

In Prime Minister Roger’s Four-Year Development Plan, he specifically mentioned maintaining at least a 5% growth rate in total steel production, aiming to achieve at least 7.5 million tons and 4.5 million tons in four years respectively, breaking through a total steel output of 12 million tons.

Considering the sales of the car industry and the consumption of steel caused by various infrastructure constructions in Australasia, this steel production target is quite achievable.

After all, both car manufacturing and railway construction require massive amounts of steel, and with various infrastructure projects, the domestic demand for steel in Australasia can only increase.

The reason for maintaining such a reasonable development expectation is because Arthur has mentioned multiple times that Australasia’s production needs should be planned according to actual consumption demand and not to blindly expand production.

There are many other plans about industry, including the construction of a new industrial base after completing the fourth phase of the Leonora Industrial Base, as well as reforms in some industries, factory expansions, and so on.

Including corresponding subsidies for industry, tax reductions, support, and encouragement to ensure industrial growth meets the government’s projections.

Besides industry, Prime Minister Roger’s demand on population is also of interest to Arthur.

Currently, the population of Australasia is around 26.33 million, and the population growth has slowed down because Arthur particularly values the scale of the British-descended population.

But now, with the increase in British immigrants, Australasia can begin to envision the population growth after an increase in immigrants.

In Prime Minister Roger’s estimate, he maintained a fairly good forecast for the increase in population.

According to Prime Minister Roger’s plan, Australasia would receive European immigrants in the amounts of 35+35+15 each year in the new Four-Year Plan, plus a natural population growth of about 500,000 in Australasia, achieving an annual population increase of at least 1.3 million.

The 35+35+15 actually means 350,000 British immigrants, 350,000 Russian immigrants, and 150,000 immigrants from other countries.

This figure is quite achievable, especially given the surge in unemployment rates in Britain, the number of immigrants to Australasia from Britain has already exceeded 300,000 last year.

If this number can be maintained, together with an equal number of Russian immigrants, the scale of immigration each year is fairly significant.

On this basis, Australasia’s population could achieve explosive growth over the next four years, reaching around 32 million in four years.

Though such a population scale may still not meet Arthur’s expectations, the rate of growth is certainly not low.

If this population growth rate continues, in ten years, Australasia’s population could grow to around 40 million, which would be no problem for fighting a World War II.

However, to become one of the world’s superpowers after World War II, the population needs to increase to at least 60 million and to weaken other countries as much as possible, which is still a challenge for contemporary Australasia.

In terms of economic growth, Prime Minister Roger remained quite conservative. In 1923, Australasia’s Gross National Product was approximately 1.4527 billion Australian dollars, maintaining a fairly good level.

There is no faster way to economic growth, which means Prime Minister Roger’s expectations for GNP growth remained basically at the 5% threshold, striving to stabilize the current trend of growth.

The rest are the numerous plans concerning the people’s livelihood, including medical care and education, as well as tax and various policy plans.

Overall, this Four-Year Plan references a lot from the previous one, but it is still necessary for the current national development.

After confirming there were no issues, Arthur approved Prime Minister Roger’s proposed Four-Year Plan and named it the Second Four-Year Plan, commonly referred to as the Four-Four Plan.

If this Four-Year Plan construction goes smoothly, it is believed that more Prime Ministers of the Cabinet will follow suit in the future, introducing plans such as the Three-Four Plan, Four-Four Plan, and so on.

Even if it becomes routine for every government, such development plans would be good for both the government and the country, and can also gauge each government’s specific performance in each plan, serving as the basis for their achievements and re-election.

The current international environment is quite friendly to the development of Australasia, without too powerful hostile countries, and no lack of development resources.

Particularly when a significant portion of the regions is in chaos, Australasia exports grain and weapons to major regions of the world, earning large profits and government tax revenue every year, keeping the government’s financial status in good shape.

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