The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 751 - 562: Core Industries

To develop agriculture, it is necessary to clarify a question, that is, the main development direction, or the so-called core industry of Australasia.

Looking at the entire Australasia, which industries can be considered as the core industries?

To be honest, Arthur has not yet counted in detail. After all, the resources of Australasia are so rich, and various industries are not inferior to other countries, and they are currently well-developed.

After occupying the Persian Gulf territory, Australasia has almost no defects in mineral resources and energy.

If there must be a flaw, it might be the water resources problem of the Australian mainland.

Water shortage is a common problem in the Australian region now and in the future, and it is the biggest reason for limiting the development of Australasia.

People’s daily lives require a large amount of drinking water, agriculture and animal husbandry also need irrigation water, and industry needs industrial water, which is a burden on the current water resources storage of Australasia.

Although the government enacted laws to protect water resources more than ten years ago, it did not significantly improve the water shortage environment in the entire Australian region.

Fortunately, with the construction of a large number of water conservancy projects and the storage of enough water resources in reservoirs, it is still no problem to meet the water needs of all residents in the Australian region.

Moreover, the current situation is somewhat better compared to the latter world a hundred years later.

The desertification of some areas has not yet spread, for example, the Mure River Basin is still worth saving.

However, the vast desert in Western Australia cannot be changed, which makes nearly half of the land in the 700 million square kilometers of Australia uninhabitable.

But no matter how, the current situation of Australasia is much better compared to the latter world of Australia, and the available water resources and land area are also much larger.

According to government statistics and estimates, Australia’s water resources can basically meet the needs of people before the population reaches 40 million.

The population of 40 million is a huge gap for the entire Australasia, and the current population is only over 23.8 million.

If only the population of the Australian region is counted, it is even just about 17 million people, and it is impossible to reach the 40 million red line in a short period of time.

This also means that before the population of the Australian region reaches 40 million, the New Guinea water resource project planned by Arthur can already start.

As long as the water resources of New Guinea can be mobilized, even if the water crisis in the Australian region is not completely alleviated, at least a large part can be solved.

The protection of the Mure River and the Darling River can also improve the water resource situation in the entire Mure River and Darling River Basin.

For the solution of water resources, relevant experts are also promoting a rather bold proposal, that is, to dig through Lake Eyre and the Great Australian Bight, allowing seawater to fill into Lake Eyre to improve the ecological environment around Lake Eyre.

In this way, not only the Mure River Basin, but even the entire Great Artesian Basin may become developable land in Australasia.

This is equivalent to having millions of square kilometers of land, and Australasia can even cancel all expansion plans and focus on developing its own territory for the next twenty or thirty years.

While its output still lags behind some European powers, including Britain, the relatively small population in Australasia results in lower food consumption.

In 1921, Australasia’s grain output reached 20.14 million tons, with over 5 million tons exported. The income from the grain trade alone made a large number of agricultural workers grin from ear to ear.

Other than that, does Australasia have any other core industries?

In terms of industry, it has a weaker foundation than old powers like Britain, and a smaller scale compared to emerging powers like the United States. Among the great powers, it can only be considered above average, not a core industry.

Its military industry is developing quite well, but it is not suitable for it to bring out a large number of weapons and equipment right now, let alone make it a pillar industry.

Due to the population limitations, catching up with the United States is not something Australasia can achieve in a short period.

At least before the population reaches 100 million and the United States experiences significant weakening, surpassing the United States is unrealistic.

Overall, the core industries with global advantages might only be the livestock industry, agriculture, and manufacturing (automotive).

These are the industries where Australasia has an advantage, and it must ensure that these advantages are maintained, striving to create gaps in these industries and forge a cliff-like lead.

Among these, the livestock and automotive industries might be the easiest to achieve.

For this reason, Arthur has specifically asked the government to formulate policies in the development plan to encourage the livestock industry, agriculture, and manufacturing, expanding the scale of these three industries as much as possible.

Manufacturing is not limited to automobiles and includes various industrial products in which Australasia can still compete.

The development of the livestock and agriculture industries requires encouraging more workers, which is not difficult to solve. The best way is to show people the income that these industries can bring.

According to government statistics, the scale of the agricultural population in Australasia is about 7 million, accounting for nearly one-third of the total population.

The scale of the agricultural population has been decreasing due to the mechanization of agriculture.

However, the livestock industry, which is more complicated and requires proper care for the livestock, has not yet seen machinery replace manual labor.

Nevertheless, due to the reputation of Australian beef and mutton, the income from the livestock industry has surpassed agriculture.

According to the data, the per capita income of the agricultural population in Australasia is around 50-60 Australian dollars, while the per capita income of the livestock population has exceeded 60 Australian dollars.

Although the ranch owners take most of the income, the staff of the ranches can still earn a salary at the average income level. This is one of the reasons why the livestock industry in Australasia has developed so massively.

Of course, many people chose to establish their ranches, which has led to a countless number of small and medium-sized ranches in Australasia. The total number of cattle and sheep raised has become incalculable.

Starting from 1850, the Australian region has undertaken more than half of the wool imports of the British Empire, and it currently accounts for over 80% of Britain’s total wool imports.

As a country known as sitting on the sheep’s back, the number of cattle and sheep raised in Australasia has exceeded 200 million. Even with the large-scale annual export of beef and mutton, they still cannot withstand the subsequent rapid growth in numbers.