The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 437: Chapter 352: Industrial Base and Railway Construction_2

With the official start of the Leonora Industrial Base, various newspapers and media outlets have published their own news stories, all tacitly choosing eye-catching headlines.

For European citizens, the prosperity and development of Europe are taken for granted. People also enjoy discussing things outside of Europe in their leisure time.

As one of the currently recognized Powers, Australasia's reputation in Europe is not small.

Even with Australasia's strength alone, Oceania has become the top choice for European immigration after the Americas.

News and reports about Australasia often attract many European viewers and curiosity.

They are always curious about new things, and it is not surprising for Europeans to want to learn about Australasia, a country that is thousands of miles away across the ocean.

In fact, when it comes to large urban cities, Australasia's development is already on par with European nations.

The traffic lights, street lamps, various automobiles, and modern facilities found everywhere in Europe can also be seen in Australasia.

In this era, buses and cable cars can also be seen in major cities in Australasia.

Even Arthur, with his view from later generations, sometimes cannot help but have the illusion that Sydney is a modern city.

Without exaggeration, the development of Sydney at this stage is more prosperous and advanced than some cities in later generations.

Thanks to Tesla's involvement, the power development in Australasia has almost reached all cities and is now being promoted to more remote villages and towns.

Electricity is no longer a stranger to Australasians and has become one of the daily lighting methods readily available on the streets.

It's worth mentioning that during the massive construction of Australasia earlier, Southeast Asian natives were seen everywhere, providing free labor for Australasia.

But so far, for various large-scale constructions, Australasia has been trying to replace these natives with its own people.

Apart from some highly dangerous jobs that still employ the natives, other regular jobs are now carried out by Australasians.

This situation was inevitable, as with the passage of time, the natives of Australasia will eventually be consumed and sent back to Southeast Asia.

These people staying in Australasia are also a menace, and if not dealt with early, the situation will become more difficult in the future.

With the development of technology, some machines can gradually replace manual labor or significantly reduce labor demand.

Moreover, the population of Australasia continues to grow, with the number approaching 13 million this year, and the demand for labor is no longer as tight.

Therefore, most natives in Australasia have been sent to the northern colonies and royal territories.

The development of these colonies and royal territories still requires these natives, and since they are far away and sparsely populated, no one cares about the exploitation of natives.

It cannot be denied that natives have made significant contributions to Australasia's development.

Australasia's rapid early development without burdening its ordinary citizens can be attributed to these natives.

According to an incomplete count, from the founding of the Australian Principality to August 1913, more than 2 million natives have come to Australasia, contributing greatly to the country's development.

Meanwhile, there are no more than 300,000 natives left in Australasia.

Even considering the more than 1 million natives sent to the northern colonies and royal territories, the number of natives coming to Australasia has been reduced to less than 1.4 million.

This represents that over about ten years, nearly 800,000 natives have lost their lives in Australasia, in exchange for its prosperity and development.

To give back to these natives, Arthur intentionally provided them with long-missed and unseen meat, which came from parts of animals that Australians rarely eat and can't sell.

In the construction of the Leonora Industrial Base, only thousands of natives were used, and they were all in high-risk positions.

In addition, all workers and technicians in the engineering team, as well as experts planning the construction of the industrial area, were from Australasia.

Apart from the Leonora Industrial Base, at a cabinet meeting, the government also discussed the plan for another large-scale construction project.

The saying "If you want to get rich, build roads" rings true in any era. So far, highway construction in Australasia has been smooth. It now connects all cities and larger towns in each state, with small villages and settlements also connected by roads.

In terms of railways, following the industrial railways and Northern Railways, the transportation department has applied for the launch of the next railway construction plan.

The first focus is on Australasia itself, mainly the Australian region.

The Northern Railway and the industrial railways have connected the island of Australia. The next step is to establish railways connecting major cities and the central part of the Australian region.

According to the transportation department's plan, the next railway construction has been collectively named the Central Railway.

The Central Railway is divided into three parts. The first part is located in the West Australian State, starting from Esperance, connecting northward to the industrial railway, then to the Leonora Industrial Base, followed by Micassala, Newman, and Port Hedland.