The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 745 - 558: Directly Administered Timor State_2

Other small cities were not originally on the rail route planning in Australasia. If they were to be set as the capital, it would require building corresponding railways for temporary capitals, which would be not only time-consuming and labor-intensive but also uneconomical.

In order to show the importance of the newly established three states, Arthur successively participated in the establishment ceremonies of the Capital Territory, Northern Australia State, and Timor State government, as well as the election ceremonies of the state parliaments.

The candidates for governorship still had to be elected by the state parliament, so they can only be concurrently held by the mayor of the capital city, or in the case of Timor, the former colonial governor can temporarily hold office as the governor, waiting for the final election of the state parliament.

Finally, Arthur, who returned to Sydney, also reassured Sydney residents. As the largest city in Australasia, Sydney had a population of more than 3 million, and their feelings should be taken care of.

Arthur delivered a public speech, repeatedly assuring that even if Sydney was no longer the capital of Australasia, it would still be the most important city in Australasia.

Furthermore, there would be no reduction in Sydney’s welfare policies, the Sydney Royal Palace would be preserved, and Arthur would still come to live in Sydney frequently.

Under Arthur’s various assurances, the emotions of Sydney residents were finally calmed, and the administrative divisions’ changes were carried out smoothly, and they accepted the fact that Sydney would not be the capital in the future.

In fact, for these Sydney people, they had another choice, which is to follow Arthur to Saint Arthur Castle.

As a newly developed city, the land value of Saint Arthur Castle is naturally not as high as Sydney’s.

And due to the government’s vigorous efforts to develop the new capital, the government encouraged the relocation of Australasia’s population to the new capital Saint Arthur Castle, providing land at a lower price to ensure that the new capital’s population had living areas.

This option can be divided into two categories. The first is the agricultural population of Saint Arthur Castle and the nearby agricultural cities.

Due to the fertile Mure River Basin, every agricultural population going to the agricultural city can get at least 5 acres of land, far exceeding the per capita cultivated land in Australasia, and ensuring the income of these agricultural populations.

Secondly, it is to buy real estate in Saint Arthur Castle, including land and constructed houses, etc.

People can choose to buy ready-made houses or buy land and build houses themselves, becoming residents of the new capital through their property.

At present, the housing prices in the new capital are far lower than those in Sydney, which means that indeed some people can easily sell their properties and then live in Saint Arthur Castle without loss.

Of course, in order to ensure that the real estate prices in Saint Arthur Castle do not get out of control and to ensure that Sydney’s economy does not fall into depression due to the large population outflow, there are also limits to the number of people entering Saint Arthur Castle in the first batch.

The first batch of residents in Saint Arthur Castle was about 100,000. These 100,000 people would all migrate from large cities like Sydney and Melbourne to ensure that the economy and order of other smaller cities would not be affected.

When the construction and development of Saint Arthur Castle enter a stable state, the second batch of immigrants will be considered, but Saint Arthur Castle’s final population will not exceed 300,000.

Once the population is maintained at the 300,000 level, the subsequent development will depend on Saint Arthur Castle itself.

However, with the reputation of being the capital of Australasia, it is believed that the development rate of Saint Arthur Castle will be rapid.

Although it will not become a city with a population of millions in a short period, it should not be a problem to become the largest and most developed city that truly deserves the name of the Capital Territory.

At present, the construction of the new capital has been carried out for more than two years, and all kinds of construction have already taken shape. The central part of the city has a basic framework, and some houses have even started to be occupied.

However, as the nation’s capital, the current construction of Saint Arthur Castle is far from enough.

The first thing is the location of the national government, the construction of the Administrative Court. The overall progress of the Administrative Court has already been completed over half and is expected to be completed around 1923.

This means that the cabinet government can move to Saint Arthur Castle at the earliest by 1924, thereby realizing the actual relocation of the capital to Saint Arthur Castle.

The construction of the Royal Palace is much delayed. This is not to say that the palace construction has been procrastinated, but compared with the construction of the Administrative Court, the palace construction is more extensive, and more expensive.

Arthur’s budget for the new palace is as high as 150 million AUD, which is not much less than the 500 million USD that the government has allocated for the development of the New Capital and the Mure River Basin. (500 million USD is equivalent to 200 million AUD)

Using the funds for the construction of an entire region to build a palace, the extravagance and size of the new palace is evident.

It is precisely because the construction of the new palace is too extensive that the construction progress is currently only about one-third, and it is expected to be completed as soon as possible around 1925.

Based on the construction progress of the new palace and the Administrative Court, the government’s relocation of the capital would be around 1926, taking at least 8 to 9 years to complete the entire relocation process from the decision to move the capital.

The current time has not passed less than three years, and the relocation work still requires a longer time. This is also a common problem in modern countries.

Relocating the capital of ancient countries was much simpler, as the political systems in ancient times were simpler compared to modern times, and political institutions were not as complex.

But the relocation of modern countries needs to take into account the coordination between complex political institutions, as well as the economic impact on both the old and new capitals.

Generally speaking, relocating the capital in about ten years is already considered fast. For some countries with grand ambitions for the construction of the new, the relocation may take several decades to complete.

Arthur does not have such ambitions; compared to building a new mega-city, Arthur prefers a moderate scaling envisaged for the new capital’s population of several hundred thousand people.

A large population would also create various problems; a large number of people would inevitably develop industries and other sectors, causing significant pollution to the city and the environment.

Although Arthur has paid considerable attention to environmental protection during industrial development, the industrial equipment of this era did not take environmental protection into account during design, so the pollution caused to the environment is quite severe.

Australasia is still fine, but in industrially developed cities like Europe and the United States, the air quality and environment are relatively poor, and even water resources have been polluted.

It should be noted that in Western countries with severe industrial pollution, there is a reputation for luxury cars, fine wines, and filthy London.

Arthur does not want to experience such severe industrial pollution, which not only damages physical and mental health but also seriously affects mood.

After all, the capital is an area where the royal family needs to live for a long time, and strict environmental protection in the capital is still necessary.

This is also the real reason why Australasia’s largest industrial area is set up in Western Australian State, far away from the capital.

In the construction of the capital, Saint Arthur Castle, Arthur has adopted experts’ advice and completely separated Saint Arthur Castle from industry.

Even when the future Saint Arthur Castle is completely built, there will be no heavy polluting industries.

Saint Arthur Castle will be the administrative center, economic center, and cultural center of Australasia in the future.

As for industry and agriculture, according to the government’s plans, small agricultural cities will be built near Australasia to provide adequate food supplies for the capital.

Industrial cities are even more distant from the capital, with the nearest one being tens of kilometers away, ensuring minimal impact on the capital’s environment.

Without industry, the scale of the capital is bound not to be too large, maintaining a moderate population and economy to meet the requirements of the capital.

In most cases, the bigger and more economically developed the capital, the better. Taking everything into account, Arthur prefers to keep the population and economic scale of the new capital within a certain range, not becoming too large.