The Rise Of Australasia

It is worth mentioning that the infrastructure plan announced by the Australasian Government did not cause as much of a sensation domestically as it did internationally.

After all, the lives of Australasians had not been greatly affected, and the continuous increase in jobs had left them with nothing much to do except to be thankful to the government and Arthur.

But for Europe and the United States, which were tormented by the economic crisis, what did the sudden creation of 2 million jobs represent?

If previously the unemployment figures of Australasia only attracted the attention of the entire world, then now, the infrastructure plan undoubtedly became an attempt to snatch up the unemployed populations across the globe.

The question arises: would the unemployed populations in Europe and the United States be swayed by the Australasian infrastructure plan?

The answer is, of course, they would be.

Under normal circumstances, these construction projects, located thousands of miles away, would not attract Europeans and Americans, unless they had already planned on immigrating.

But now, not to mention a formal plan organized by a national government, as long as there was work that ensured their families would not starve due to a lack of grain, the vast majority of the unemployed would not refuse jobs so far away.

As for the openly declared investment of up to 100 million Australian dollars by Australasia, it also surprised the unemployed populations and other national governments.

After all, the value of the pound and the Australian dollar was still quite strong. How much is 100 million Australian dollars?

Even according to the pre-war ratio, it was nearly 1.25 billion US dollars, 6.25 billion francs.

And now, the exchange rate between the Australian dollar, US dollar, and the franc is even higher, with this sum of money equivalent to 1.5 billion US dollars, 30 billion francs.

There may not be a shortage of countries with such funds, but Australasia is the only one, for the time being, that is willing to put all of it towards infrastructure construction.

This has made the construction plan of Australasia the envy of people from all over the world; the tickets for ocean liners heading to Australia were in high demand, and their prices soared by more than 30% at one point.

Although there were doubts regarding whether the Australasian Government could actually produce these funds—after all, every country was going through an economic crisis, and even if they had funds, they were reluctant to spend so much on large-scale infrastructure—

Australasia was, nevertheless, a superpower. Moreover, with Arthur's signature, serving as a guarantee, most people still believed in it.

After all, if such a public plan ultimately fell through, those who signed and published the plan would be held accountable.

Although the domestic response was not as strong as the international one, this did not mean that Australasians did not support the plan.

In fact, the populace generally had a favorable opinion of the construction plan and were grateful to Arthur and the government, often discussing it with smiles on their faces. Your next chapter is on My Virtual Library Empire

Because of this construction plan, they had ensured that Australasians would never lack work, thereby largely eliminating the impact of the economic crisis.

But these were not the only benefits; amid such a stark contrast in treatment between domestic and international scenarios, the support for Arthur and the government among Australasians kept growing, and the country's cohesion and national pride were on the rise.

If there were a statistical panel, the mere publication of this construction plan would have increased Australasia's national solidarity by at least 10%, and the sense of national pride even more so.

If ordinary citizens were grateful to the government and Arthur and had grown more loving towards their country, then a significant number of smart capitalists and intelligent folks saw the business opportunity within.

Firstly, the large-scale infrastructure projects announced by the country could not all start immediately; construction in each area would commence in turn, and it would take a significant amount of time for surveying and designing before final ground could be broken.

The raw materials needed for these constructions were also very substantial, presenting many business opportunities. Even if these were sold at normal prices, they would still yield considerable profit.

More importantly, the construction of railways was not insignificant, signifying that the railway projects would consume a large quantity of steel and iron.

This provided a substantial boost to Australasia's industry; at least the steel industry would be unaffected, and other industrial products would also see increased domestic consumption.

The large-scale infrastructure not only effectively improved domestic economic growth, but also significantly increased the consumption of various industrial products.

The construction of railways would consume steel, highways would consume cement, and so on. The building of harbors, the development of water conservancy projects, each one required a continuous supply of raw materials, which was a great help to Australasia's industry.

Undoubtedly, the raw materials needed for these massive constructions would be supplied domestically as a priority, ensuring that the finished products produced by domestic enterprises could be consumed effectively, allowing these businesses to profit and avoid bankruptcy during the economic crisis while also safeguarding their employees' income.

Beyond that, the daily consumption of grain by all employees involved in these construction projects was considerable.

It would not only ensure that Australasia's high grain and meat production was utilized but also that the income of farmers and herdsmen would remain unaffected by any reduction in export quotas.

Overall, infrastructure development is a major strategic play, and it's particularly well-suited for times of economic crisis.

As long as the country initiates large-scale infrastructure projects, it's beneficial for both enterprises and the people. The only potential downside for the government might be the significant outlay of funds, but it would be exchanged for more advanced infrastructure and the planning of railways and highways, effectively enhancing the country's developmental potential.

As for the expenditure of funds, Arthur was actually indifferent. After all, what he would face next was currency devaluation. If those funds continued to be hoarded in the national treasury, it would actually represent a loss.

If all these funds could be invested before the devaluation of currency, turning into various types of infrastructure, while also attracting more people to Australasia, it would be a tremendous boost to the national power and a better choice for both Arthur and Australasia.

"Eddie, tell those workers that they have no risk of being laid off. At the same time, release a message that we're hiring a large number of workers to increase our cement production," instructed a cement factory owner to his son within a manor house in Sydney.

"Increase the production of the cement factory? Father, the economy doesn't seem to be doing too well right now. What if we can't sell our cement?" The young man named Eddie was somewhat surprised; his father's decision seemed to run counter to the current economic crisis.

"Oh, heavens, what exactly have you been learning?" The cement factory owner, Jeremy, looked at his son with irritation and explained, "After the government announces this infrastructure plan, how could there be no market for our cement? Hurry up, you silly boy. If someone else gets there first, we'll miss out on the substantial revenue."

Watching his son finally catch on and head for the door, Jeremy quickly called out to him, continuing his instructions, "Tell the workers that as long as they can successfully complete the production tasks, their wages will be increased by 10% in the following months. The same goes for the new recruits."

In fact, capitalists like Jeremy, who quickly understood the situation and took action, were not few in number.

Although many capitalists were waiting to see when the government would start construction, there were still many who trusted the government.

This led to a very strange phenomenon: the economic crisis in Europe and America resulted in major enterprises laying off employees, with unemployment numbers continuously rising.

Meanwhile, because of this infrastructure plan, unemployment numbers in Australasia not only did not increase but were eagerly depleted by the expansion plans of various large factories.

Brought about by this construction plan, various quarries, cement factories, steel factories, and other factories were not only spared from layoffs but were also continuously hiring more employees to expand their production capacity.

This situation posed a stark contrast to employment agencies in Europe and America, inundated by job seekers as actual job vacancies dwindled.

Australasian employment agencies, on the other hand, were surrounded by factories recruiting large numbers of workers, but actual job seekers were scarce in comparison.

After all, with everyone's job stable, no one was keen on switching jobs frequently.

This was all within Arthur's expectations. After all, it's impossible for the government to handle infrastructure development alone. The supply of raw materials and the production of some components are extremely important.

Clearly, these capitalists had discerning eyes; they wouldn't be the elites of their era otherwise.

Australasia's unemployment population of less than one hundred thousand hadn't even had the chance to fill the positions in the construction projects before they were scooped up by the factories that had spotted the opportunity.

However, this posed a new problem: if there weren't enough unemployed individuals available when the construction projects officially began, then sourcing labor for these projects would become an issue.

It was indeed a vexing problem and only time would tell if the strategy to attract the unemployed from Europe and America would succeed and how many would come to Australasia for a livelihood.

What Arthur had not expected was that he had underestimated the damage the economic crisis had done to Europe and America, and the impact on the incomes of their peoples.

Within a few days, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Immigration Bureau jointly reported some good news. Between August 6 and August 12, Australasia welcomed a total of 113,000 immigrants, setting a record for the number of immigrants acquired in a single week.

What does obtaining 113,000 immigrants in one week mean? It averages to 16,140 per day, equating to a total of 5.89 million immigrants per year.

Of course, such figures couldn't last for long, as the majority of immigrants still faced considerable difficulties in coming to Australasia.

Beyond the sensation caused by the infrastructure construction worldwide, these people had been unemployed for a long time, and they and their families were on the brink of starvation. This was the real reason behind their eagerness to come to Australasia.

Once other countries took certain actions, the number of unemployed individuals should start to decrease.

By then, the number of immigrants would likely fall, at least not as exaggerated as it was at present.

Furthermore, most of the unemployed had trouble even feeding themselves, let alone sparing some funds to purchase tickets for ocean voyages.

If the problem of travel expenses for these unemployed people is not resolved, the number of immigrants to Australia will not be too substantial.

After all, for these immigrants, spending a large sum of money on an ocean voyage ticket rather than buying enough grain to wait for government relief is not a viable option.