The Rise of Australasia

As his primary purpose was sightseeing, and inspection was just incidental, Arthur did not visit the Melbourne City Government, but rather asked a few questions to the Governor of Victoria State and the Melbourne City Mayor during a private dinner meeting.

The current Governor of Victoria State is Georg Philip Lügendas, a native Australasian. Find your next read at empire

Arthur evidently had more trust in the native Australasians than the immigrants, which had enabled more people like Governor Georg to rise to high positions.

"Governor Georg, are there any issues with the current development in Victoria State?" He asked with a smile, turning to the two quite reserved men after dinner.

"Your Majesty, there are no significant problems with the development of Victoria State at the moment. However, if one must point out an issue, the recent influx of foreign workers has led to some citizens’ dissatisfaction, as they believe these workers are taking over the jobs of Australasians," replied Governor Georg immediately and candidly upon hearing Arthur’s question.

"Foreign workers? Approximately how many?" Arthur furrowed his brows, asking further.

Unlike those who desired to immigrate but had not yet acquired citizenship, most foreign workers did not wish to immigrate. They merely wanted to seek high-paying job opportunities in Australasia and return to their home countries after earning a substantial income.

Compared with native Australasians and immigrants, these foreign workers are obviously outsiders, and this issue needed to be tackled.

"The number of foreign workers has been increasing in recent years. Although the situation in Victoria State is not bad at the moment, we have nearly fifty thousand such workers," Governor Georg continued.

The economic development of Victoria State was certainly among the best compared to other states in Australasia.

Furthermore, given the popularity of its capital, Melbourne, it naturally attracted a large number of foreign workers seeking job opportunities.

These people did not have a high acceptance of Australasia compared to those who came through immigration agencies. They only recognised the high-paying jobs in Australasia and the alluring Australian Dollars that landed in their hands each month.

Arthur nodded. The scale of fifty thousand people was indeed not large. As for Victoria State with its population of over three million, having fifty thousand foreign workers was just a small fraction and was still within a manageable range.

"What types of jobs do these foreign workers mostly engage in? Do they actually affect the jobs of our citizens?" Arthur asked his most critical question.

Generally, the employment opportunities in Australasia for foreign nationals without Australasian citizenship were certainly inferior to those of native Australasians.

If it’s said that most jobs for Australasians are easy, high-paying jobs, then foreign nationals are most likely employed in fairly laborious jobs with medium-income, there shouldn’t be a significant impact on the jobs of native Australasians, or at least, these two groups of people have different job expectations.

"Among these foreign workers, 31% are from Europe and the United States, 4% are from Africa (Whites from various colonies, not Blacks, and we do not welcome Blacks), and the remaining 65% are from Asia.

As per the intelligence controlled by the state government, most of them are engaged in medium and low-income jobs, but about 20% of them are working in high-income jobs like doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc." Governor Georg commented.

This was almost consistent with Arthur’s estimation. As most of the people coming to Australasia for work could also not find decent jobs in their home countries, it was inevitable that they would have to settle for medium or low-income jobs.

"There have been no issues caused by these people domestically, right?" The security of foreign workers was always an issue. These people have little recognition for the country, making them more likely to participate in activities harmful to national security.

"Not at the moment, Your Majesty," answered Governor Georg.

"In that case, let’s hold off on handling these foreign workers for now. For any highly educated foreign workers engaged in important positions, try to persuade them to join us and acquire Australasian citizenship. For instance, we can offer certain privileges to talented individuals in education and the medical industry, like providing free shipping for their families to Australasia, etc.

As long as they do not support any actions that harm Australasian national security, we will not reject these foreign workers," Arthur said with a smile.

Overall, these foreign workers seldom impact the jobs of Australasian citizens.

Because Australasian labor laws have already stipulated that only Australasian citizens can enjoy the highest minimum wage protection policy.

Not having Australasian citizenship means that the minimum wage, compared to native Australasians, is at a lower level.

Add to this, the government has a regulation for all enterprises in Australasia, stating that Australasian citizens must make up more than 70% of the total number of employees. This stipulation ensures that businesses can’t employ a large number of non-Australasian employees.

Under such circumstances, foreign workers could hardly impact the work environment of Australasians.

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