The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 102: The Great Goldmine of New

South Wales (Seeking Support!)

Translator: 549690339

Although the Royal Relief Committee’s new relief policy may seem less attractive compared to their previous free donation of supplies, it still garnered a response from many of Australia’s impoverished class.

According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, of nearly four million people in Australia, more than one million had annual incomes far below the current national average income of Australia, and many of these were from less educated social circles.

Many of these individuals were gold miners attracted from their surrounding areas and Asia by the gold rush. They were lured by wealth and came to a far- flung foreign land.

Who would have thought that they would find gold mining to be a futile effort for fortune?

Although a portion of people truly made a fortune from gold mining, the majority remained poor.

More importantly, compared to European immigrants, these people were not only unable to integrate due to cultural differences, but their levels of education were also vastly inferior.

This is the reason they became the lower class population in Australia. In the face of cultural differences, the knowledge gap is enormous.

Even though they had barely managed to integrate culturally after living there for decades.

But the gap with European immigrants is not something that can be bridged in a short period of time. Given a choice, most Australian factories often opt for genuine European immigrants.

This has resulted in these people remaining at the bottom of Australian society. Never mind the chance of turning their fortunes around, ensuring that every family member had enough to eat was a difficult task in itself.

Thankfully, after his coronation, Arthur immediately established the Royal Assistance Committee to help all the impoverished people in Australia.

This allowed them to temporarily maintain a level of food security, granting them some of the rare moments of happiness since they arrived in Australia.

These people still supported the Royal Relief Committee’s new round of relief policy. After all, if they were forced to look for work on their own, they might not have been able to find any that were better than the ones assigned by the committee.

By completing the work assigned by the Relief Committee on a timely basis, they could not only get food to fill their stomachs but also earn a decent wage.

Although the wage just met the pass line for per capita income, it was still good income for these low-income groups.

It’s precisely because of these people’s support that the Royal Relief Committee’s new round of work-for-relief policy has been successful.

Just in the twenty days following National Day, over fifty thousand people signed up for the work-for-relief program.

Most of these people were assigned to work in local urban cities, either to clean streets or do other miscellaneous jobs.

Although the income is not high, they could still earn eight to nine pounds annually, which was enough to take care of one’s own livelihood.

Some younger and stronger individuals were assigned to work in factories. Although the labor in the factories was strenuous, the money earned was more substantial.

The wages in the factories far exceeded the average income level. Even the lowest-income trainees had annual incomes reaching ten pounds.

The integration of these people could also speed up the construction of industrial areas and factories. They could earn the money they wanted. This was a win-win situation.

At the same time, the royal family could save a significant amount of relief expenses each year and use it in more needy areas, such as the construction of nursing homes and orphanages.

The expenses associated with relief for these people last year exceeded two million pounds. Still, the results achieved were excellent, which meant most Australians did not have to deal with hunger.

On February 3,1902, at Arthur’s manor house.

Soon after Arthur took his leisure time, Prime Minister Evan urgently sought an audience and brought with him some excellent news.

As one of the earliest areas to discover gold mines, a gold mine was found south of New South Wales, which is south of Sydney, and the estimated reserves are considerable.

This is excellent news for Australia. Since the discovery of the Ballarat Gold Mine in Victoria state more than 50 years ago, the second global gold rush attracted a vast number of immigrants and gold miners. Australia’s gold mining industry also reached its first peak during this time.

However, as time progressed, the discovered gold reserves became less and less, and gold mining entered a relatively steady stage.

Not only did this reduce the attraction for immigrants, but the output of gold mines also became very scarce.

More critically, the vast majority of gold mines previously discovered had been transported to the British mainland.

Massive wealth flowed into the pockets of British landlords, and there was not much left for Australians.

Although after Arthur’s coronation Australians no longer had to suffer from the oppression and exploitation of the British Empire, the output of gold mines had become very small. Even more than two years of accumulation could still quite rare at a national level.

This is why Arthur had not issued his own currency within two years of his coronation.

In addition to the deeply-rooted status of the Pound, which no currency could replace in Australia in a short time, not having enough gold to produce banknotes is another significant factor.

At this time, most currencies were based on the gold standard, and they could be directly exchanged for gold.

Take the Pound for example, one pound was equal to 7.33 grams of gold. This is why the Pound was valuable.

If Australia wants to issue its own currency, even if it’s just for small-scale use within Australia, it must have enough gold for equivalent exchange.

After all, while the confidence in a currency can be briefly maintained by the government and royal prestige, what truly determines the value and lifespan of a currency is the amount of gold the country possesses.

We now see that the sizeable gold mine is vitally essential for Australia to issue its own currency.

Even if it’s not used to issue currency, this gold mine alone could trigger another gold rush and attract more immigrants to come to Australia.

After learning of this excellent news, Arthur immediately, followed by Prime Minister Evan and a team of guards, ventured towards the gold mining area south of Sydney without stopping.

In fact, the newly discovered gold mine is not just in New South Wales. The mine site is in a ravine at the border between New South Wales and Victoria state. Still, the larger mining area is within the scope of New South Wales.

This ravine, which was about two or three kilometers long and wide, had a small creek running by it.

From a scenic perspective, it was an excellent location. But since the discovery of gold, the area’s landscape was destined to be devastated.

By the time Arthur arrived, the preliminary prospecting work was almost complete.

According to the report from the prospectors, almost the entire ravine was distributed with gold mines, with the deepest detected being dozens of meters underground.