The Rise Of Australasia Chapter 156 - 151: Term Extension

Chapter 156: Chapter 151: Term Extension

1902 was a thriving year for Australia, with various construction projects showing results after two years of developnt, and the benefits brought to the Australian people went far beyond the infrastructure.

“In the new year, the governnt’s main goal remains to continue our developnt plans. In the new year, I hope that our currently operational railway lines can connect to the harbor, effectively enhancing transportation efficiency in nationwide industrial areas. At the sa ti, public safety must also be taken seriously. As our cities expand and our population grows, the security environnt in Australia must be maintained at a high level,” Arthur concluded his instructions.

Overall, Australia’s developnt was smooth. Although it was not possible to beco a world power in a short period, everything was possible after a long period of growth.

“Pri Minister Evan, I believe your Cabinet Governnt’s term is coming to an end, correct?” With everyone slightly relaxed, Arthur suddenly asked with a smile.

“Yes, Your Highness. The first Cabinet Governnt has a term of three years, starting from June 1900 and ending in June 1903,” Pri Minister Evan replied imdiately.

“Only half a year left?” Arthur nodded after hearing this, thought carefully for a while, and then continued, “The governnt should get ready for the cabinet elections in six months. From the next Cabinet Governnt onwards, the term of cabinet mbers will be changed to four years while other aspects remain unchanged.”

The change of cabinet mbers’ terms from three to four years resulted from Arthur’s careful deliberation. Ultimately, three years was too short, and even with rapid developnt, the results were just beginning to show.

Moreover, different cabinet mbers would form various governnts, so it was impossible to guarantee unity in opinions and consistency in policies.

It would be a sha if the rotation of the cabinet and elections hindered developnt and construction.

Although Arthur had decided to change the term of the Cabinet Governnt to four years, the formal andnt of the Australian Constitution would still take so ti.

Also, Arthur did not want cabinet mbers to think that the term change was specifically designed for them. Thus, the term change will only take effect after the next Cabinet Governnt is established.

This was also a test for cabinet mbers regarding their prestige and credibility among the people. If they could stand out again in the cabinet elections half a year later and stay in their current positions, they would enjoy a longer term.

However, if their credibility with the people is insufficient, they might beco the last cabinet mbers in Australian history with a term of only three years.

Sure enough, when Arthur announced the decision to extend the term by one year for the next Cabinet Governnt, almost everyone’s faces showed joy and contemplation.

Over the past two years in office, no matter in which departnt, these ministers had made so achievents, leading to significant changes in each departnt.

Arthur was also generous in rewarding them. In addition to financial rewards and verbal comndations, having their achievents recognized in the Victoria Newspaper and Australia Daily was most important to them.

Australia had developed to this stage, and the newspapers that truly entered the Australian national market were only the Victoria Newspaper and Australia Daily.

Although these two newspapers belonged to different dia groups responsible for different scopes and clients, both were actually subsidiaries of the Royal financial group under Arthur’s control.

Backed by the Royal financial group, these two dia groups easily dominated the Australian market.

It was precisely because the newspapers’ areas of responsibility were completely different that the two could coexist peacefully.

Of course, during important monts for Australia, both newspapers would publish important news, which was the only ti the Victoria Newspaper and Australia Daily shared headlines.

It was precisely because the officials occasionally appeared on one of the newspapers due to Arthur’s good mood that they were confident about the elections in half a year.

Even if it was just a small section or a few news articles, after all, the newspapers covered the entire Australian population in this era with limited entertainnt options.

According to statistics, out of Australia’s four million population, over 300,000 were newspaper subscribers.

Among them, over 150,000 were daily users of the two newspapers. That is to say, the daily sales volu of Australia Daily and Victoria Newspaper together exceeded 150,000, a substantial propaganda channel.

And it went far beyond that number, as many families only subscribed to one newspaper, but the readership included almost half of the households.

Adding to the many who quickly browsed newspapers in front of the newspaper office, although the daily circulation was only over 150,000, at least 400,000 people browsed the newspapers every day.

What a terrifying concept! Every day, a tenth of the Australian population read these two newspapers, making those featured almost nationally famous.

Of course, the massive print volu combined with Australia-wide custors made transportation of newspapers quite challenging for the two dia groups.

As a result, the news in each newspaper was almost always from two days earlier, with only the headlines from the two days prior having enough ti to print and sell.

It was only because so roads already had trains that the two newspapers were able to maintain a daily circulation of over 150,000 across Australia.

This was a common downside for all newspapers at that ti since transportation thods were rather limited, which made it impossible for newspapers to choose to print the sa day’s news. Just the printing ti could take up half a day, let alone the ti needed for distribution and sale.

Most likely, the newspaper would arrive the next day, with the news already becoming old news.

Therefore, most newspapers currently choose to print headlines from the previous day or even a few days before, which also allows them plenty of ti for preparation.

It was precisely because current technology was not advanced enough, and the spread of information was very slow, that the vast majority of people relied on newspapers and hearsay for news.

Newspapers were able to maintain such high sales volus because of this very reason. Although the newspapers were printing news from a few days earlier, it was still news that most people would not easily know about.