Funding Crisis

The week Arthur had set aside was not only meant to give these newly elected Cabinet Members some time to familiarize themselves with their positions, but also to let them come into contact with and gain an in-depth understanding of all kinds of data and information concerning the country.

Among the eleven Cabinet Members, apart from the six original state governors, although the others had also come from official backgrounds, they had never had access to data and information covering the whole of Australia. Naturally, they did not understand it very clearly.

Under such circumstances, if they were immediately thrown into Cabinet work, they would only be running around like headless flies.

Therefore, it was better to give them some time to learn and adapt. That way, the Cabinet Government could work more effectively as well.

In the blink of an eye, a week passed. Soon, the day of the Cabinet meeting Arthur had mentioned arrived.

The Cabinet Members were quite obedient, and before today, they had already resigned from the positions they held.

However, because the state assembly elections had produced different results in each state, the original state governor positions still had to be held concurrently for the time being.

The familiar Government Building and the familiar conference room remained, but the people attending the meeting had been reduced from 199 to 12.

Sitting in the very center, Arthur looked at the expectant faces around him and said with a smile, "Everyone, I imagine that after spending a week learning about it, you now have some understanding of Australia's basic situation. Now, we can officially begin discussing Australia's development plans and set this country on the road to its rise."

"Let's start by talking about the situation in each of your departments and your ideas. Speak freely. As long as an idea benefits the country's development, everyone can bring it up for us to discuss together," Arthur said with a smile.

Although Arthur possessed the soul of a transmigrator and would basically never make a mistake when it came to grasping the broad direction of national development,

as the saying went, many hands make light work. Those who could be elected as Cabinet Members all possessed some real ability, and some of the suggestions they raised might even be things Arthur had never thought of.

"Let's start with the Treasury Department. What is our country's current financial situation? How much usable funding does the country have left?" Arthur asked Treasury Minister Roger Joseph Ebert.

As the saying went, before the soldiers move, provisions must move first. National development worked the same way. Before formulating various development plans, it was absolutely necessary to ensure that the country had sufficient development funds.

Without sufficient funds, developing the country would ultimately remain nothing more than empty talk.

"Your Highness, it isn't very good. Although after the six original colonies were consolidated into one country, our economy and various industries will also see a certain degree of growth, at present, the government is short of funds and can barely maintain its operations." Roger Joseph Ebert shook his head and said regretfully.

Ultimately, Australia had only been unified for too short a time. Although the various sectors of the economy had already begun showing signs of development, obtaining greater fiscal revenue from them would be impossible without several years.

What was more, Arthur had previously reduced a large amount of taxes for the Australians, which had directly caused the Australian Government's income to fall.

"How much money is currently on the books?" Arthur asked with a frown.

After the colonial reforms, the system had changed from the states collecting taxes and developing independently to the states collecting taxes, handing most of them over to the government, and retaining only a small portion for their own use.

However, up to now, taxes had only been collected once. Because Arthur had substantially reduced the tax burden, the government's tax revenue amounted to only a little over one million pounds.

Including other forms of income, the Australian Government's total current revenue was still less than three million pounds. After deducting all kinds of expenditures, the government had less than two million pounds in usable funds.

"Your Highness, after deducting all expenditures, the government has only a little over 1.9 million pounds in usable funds left," Minister Roger Joseph Ebert said.

The reason so much money remained was that the former Provisional Government of Australia had barely taken any action, so its expenditures had consisted almost entirely of paying government employees' salaries.

But less than two million pounds was unquestionably a drop in the bucket for Australia's overall development. It was even like a stone sinking into the sea, unable to stir up the slightest wave.

When everyone heard Minister Roger Joseph Ebert say this, they erupted in an uproar.

As everyone had been enthusiastically imagining plans for their own departments, Minister Roger Joseph Ebert's words were undoubtedly like a basin of cold water poured over them, directly extinguishing the plans that had not yet even fully formed in their minds.

"Minister Roger, is this really true? If the government has only this much development funding, it isn't even enough to purchase equipment!" Prime Minister Evan was the most shocked of them all. During his time as premier of New South Wales, New South Wales's annual tax revenue had reached as much as two million pounds. How could the unified government have less than two million pounds?

"Of course it's true. Judging by our tax policies, if we want to obtain more revenue, we'll have to wait until October this year," Roger Joseph Ebert said with a nod.

Everyone turned their eyes toward Arthur. After all, one major reason for the Australian Government's lack of funds was that Arthur had drastically reduced taxes.

The meaning behind everyone's looks was simple: since the government had encountered trouble, then as the ruler, Arthur ought to find a solution.

"All right, let's do this. In the name of the royal family, I'll provide the government with an interest-free loan of one hundred million pounds. I'll also provide the government with fifty million pounds' worth of industrial equipment at market price. That way, the government won't need to buy industrial equipment at high prices from Europe, and it will have sufficient funds for development." Arthur made the final decision, ending the awkwardness in the meeting.

Seeing that the government now had funds and that their own plans had a chance of being realized, everyone regained their motivation and tried to secure a larger share of the funding.

"Industry is the top priority. Let's hear the Ministry of Industry's plan first." Arthur called on Pierre Silvio Berlusconi.

Minister Pierre Silvio Berlusconi did not show the slightest stage fright. He stood and said, "Your Highness, our country's industrial development is currently extremely backward. Whether in basic industry or advanced technological industries, our country is severely lacking. My suggestion is that we concentrate our efforts on developing basic industry for now. Relying on the mineral resources in the west of our country, we can build a large industrial base. Once our basic industries have developed, it will not be too late to find ways to research those advanced technological industries."

To put it plainly, Australia's foundation was simply too weak. It could not become fat from eating a single mouthful.

Only after fully completing Australia's basic infrastructure and industrial construction could we concentrate our strength on researching more advanced technologies and industries and catch up with the European countries.

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