The Rise of Australasia

The fact that it went all the way from the House of Representatives to the Cabinet and was finally recommended to him by Cabinet officials is enough to prove that this new administrative division plan has won the majority support of the House of Representatives and the Cabinet; at least the government is quite satisfied.

Arthur had no objection to the new division plan and, after considering all factors, decided to seek public opinion through newspapers and radio.

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As long as there is not too much opposition, this will basically be the new administrative division of Australasia.

Of course, if there is a more suitable administrative division during this period, or if the public is not satisfied with this administrative division, there is still room for negotiation.

At the end of July 1921, the government officially released the design of the administrative division, seeking public opinions.

The voting deadline was September 1st. If the support rate for this administrative division plan exceeded seventy percent, it would be adopted as the new administrative division for Australasia.

If it did not reach seventy percent, they would discuss a new administrative division or modify this one.

With more than a month left for voting, Arthur wasn’t in a hurry. After making sure that all places had started to properly collect the voting results of the public, Arthur turned his attention to other aspects, such as Australasia’s gradually strengthening electrification industry.

Electrification is not a new word, and it is the biggest achievement brought by the Second Industrial Revolution for humanity and the world. It is also currently one of the standards for measuring whether a country is advanced.

Just like the First Industrial Revolution, the electrification revolution has also changed the world pattern and enabled a large number of countries to take the world stage along with the Second Industrial Revolution.

The most important symbol of the electrification revolution, electricity, has gradually entered the lives of people around the world.

Although there are no exact statistics on electricity consumption and generation in various countries, Australasia is definitely one of the countries with the most comprehensive electricity coverage, with an urban electricity coverage rate of 85.7% and a rural and suburban electricity coverage rate of 46.1%.

Of course, residential electricity consumption is just the tip of the iceberg. Both the well-known Leonora Industrial Base in Australasia and several large-scale industrial parks that are currently under construction have fully implemented the use of electricity, with machinery and equipment powered by electricity accounting for more than ninety percent of the total equipment.

In order to meet the electricity needs of various industries in Australasia, the government and various state and city governments are vigorously constructing hydropower stations, thermal power stations, and other power generation facilities.

The good news is that Australasia does not lack fuel for thermal power stations; ample power generation from a large number of thermal power plants ensures abundant electricity supply for Australasia.

With the inventor of alternating current Tesla serving as the chief engineer of the Australasian power grid, the development of the electricity industry in Australasia has accelerated significantly.

Under such circumstances, the electrical appliance industry in Australasia has also experienced tremendous growth, and electrical appliances produced in Australasia have been exported all over the world.

According to the schedule, on July 31st, Arthur arrived at the Christie Electric Company in the outskirts of Sydney to inspect the current leading enterprise in the Australasian electrical appliance industry.

The name Christie Electric Company sounds unfamiliar, but if the original name of this appliance company, Royal Electric Company, is mentioned, people would have some understanding of the background of this company and its person in charge.

Indeed, the person in charge of the Christie Electric Company is John Walker Christie, a native-born Australasian who was once the person in charge of the Royal Electric Company under the Royal Financial Group.

Following the dismantling of the entire Royal Financial Group, all companies that were not part of the current Royal Financial Group were stripped of their royal titles.

However, although the Christie Electric Company sounds like a family business, more than ninety percent of the shares of the electric company still belong to the Royal Financial Group, though the person in charge and controller of the company have become unrelated to the royal family on the surface.

Thanks to its previous background, the Christie Electric Company soon became the leading enterprise in the electrical appliance industry, with main businesses including air conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators, and electric lights.

Yes, although it was more than 100 years ago, the prototypes of these electrical appliances had already appeared at this time, and some of them had even become an essential part of people’s lives.

"How is the current business situation of the company?" Sitting at the obviously well-cleaned conference table inside the company, Arthur asked the very respectful Christie with a smile.

"The current business situation is fairly good, Your Majesty. The company’s revenue last year was 2.7742 million Australian dollars, with a net profit of 879 thousand Australian dollars, and it is currently in a good growth trend." Christie quickly replied.

Arthur nodded, very pleased with the development of the electric appliance company.

It should be noted that even though it is currently the leading enterprise in the electrical appliance industry, most ordinary people either cannot afford or do not know how to buy household electrical appliances due to their great limitations.

Take the common washing machine of later generations as an example. Though the washing machines in this time work on the same principle, the mainstream ones now use steam power and occupy several square meters.

Not to mention the cost issue, this big fellow takes up quite a large area, and doesn’t look very nice, which is one of the reasons why some people choose not to buy washing machines.

Of course, the high cost is also a factor since the cost of washing machines can range from tens to hundreds of Australian dollars, with few people willing to splurge on such a behemoth.

"Your Majesty, you’ve come at just the right time. We’ve recently developed a new type of washing machine that uses advanced electric power and has an improved design. The new washing machine is one-third the size of the original, but its functions and uses haven’t changed in the slightest, even the cost has slightly decreased." After asking everything, Christie excitedly introduced Arthur.

"A new type of washing machine?" Arthur immediately became interested.

Although such an invention doesn’t contribute much to the nation’s power, it can still alleviate some pressure on people’s lives.

Especially for those suffering from laziness, the invention of washing machines is a godsend that can reduce the hassle and annoyance of laundry.

Of course, in this era, laziness is minimal. The Australasian work system values pragmatism, and many factories implement a minimum wage system with corresponding incentives based on output.

Only a hard-working person can earn more income; if you only aim to coast on the job, you will not only have the lowest income specified by the state, but you will also face the risk of losing your job.

"Yes, Your Majesty. At the same time, we’ve improved air conditioners. Both of these appliances have been significantly reduced in size, and the noise has been reduced to some extent, making them more suitable for home use, rather than being massively adopted by factories as before," Christie continued excitedly.

For current household appliances, the most necessary breakthrough in technology is the reduction of size.

The same goes for air conditioners. Not to mention the space they take up, the noise they produce when running makes their popularization very difficult.

Currently, except for Australasian tanks equipped with air conditioners, only large factories would buy air conditioners in bulk to improve working conditions.

Because of the noise from air conditioners, even if people buy one, they won’t install it in their bedrooms.

In fact, the noise from air conditioners has become a source of disturbance to people’s lives. Private purchases of air conditioning were rare before.

"Through our investigation of air conditioner purchases, although personal purchases of air conditioners were rare, they were not completely non-existent.

We visited some of these private users who purchased air conditioners, and found that some of them installed additional ventilation ducts to place the air conditioners in remote areas, connecting the cold or hot air blown by the air conditioner to their living area with a long ventilation duct, thereby avoiding the noise problem," Christie explained.

"After improving the air conditioner and reducing the noise, we also included a ventilation duct with each air conditioner, greatly solving the noise issue for the general public. After our actual tests, if at least 3 to 5 meters of ventilation duct are installed, it won’t affect people’s normal rest."

"What range can the cost of air conditioners be controlled in now?" Arthur asked with interest.

Likewise, air conditioners can greatly facilitate people’s lives. Moreover, air conditioners can be applied to the military field, improving the environment of military facilities, and even the comfort of tanks.

This is no joke. Most of the components of tanks are made of steel, and in summer or hot environments, the internal temperature of tanks can reach 60 to 70 degrees Celsius.

How exaggerated is this number? Such temperatures would be enough to slowly roast a person alive, let alone any other living creature.

British and French tanks didn’t initially have air conditioners, which caused tanks to be practically unusable during the summer.

If tanks had to be used, those steel contraptions would become death traps, and soldiers wouldn’t want to drive them into battle.

Even the first-generation tanks equipped with air conditioners in Australasia were not very effective due to various limitations, and the noise was so loud that the soldiers’ experience inside the tanks was extremely poor.

Usually, one could only endure the noise for a little over an hour before feeling anxious and nauseous, not to mention potentially damaging one’s hearing and even causing other health problems with long-term exposure.

If the noise could be slightly reduced, it would also represent a significant improvement in the comfort of existing tanks.

Although it’s a minor aspect, as the ruler of Australasia, Arthur didn’t want his soldiers to be troubled by external factors while they fought for their country.

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