Chapter 277: Chapter 249: Bustling Sydney Streets

Time moved forward to January 10, 1908, when the National Day celebrations of Australasia officially kicked off.

Since the establishment of the kingdom, the National Day festivities in Australasia had become more grand.

Although military parades were not held every year, the necessary celebrations were abundant, and a large number of common people would gather to commemorate the birth of the country at this time.

Thanks to Arthur’s multiple propaganda efforts, the patriotism among the people of Australasia was strong, and they valued National Day and the festivities. Many people from across Australasia could often be seen at these celebrations.

In a sense, this also promoted Australasia’s GDP, as people’s income gradually increased, leading to an explosive growth in living standards.

Although it was not as wealthy as the United States in the eyes of Europeans, Australasia was no longer a poor place, and people’s disposable income continued to rise.

As a result, travel expenses increased, and every aspect of traveling, such as food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, contributed to the economic development.

Even when there was no military parade, National Day in Sydney would attract hundreds of thousands of tourists from outside the city, and this influx of visitors, coupled with Sydney’s locals, made the city appear even more prosperous during this time.

Previously, Australian cities were led by Melbourne, followed by Sydney, then the capitals of all states, and major cities such as Auckland and Wellington.

After eight years of development, all the cities in Australasia, whether from an economic, demographic, or importance standpoint, Sydney was definitely the most important city in Australasia, even far surpassing the once largest city, Melbourne.

Up to now, Sydney had a population of more than 976,700 people, making it the city with the highest population and the most developed economy in Australasia.

Present-day Sydney not only took on the role of the political center of Australasia but also the economic, cultural, and industrial center.

Arthur’s plan to establish an integrated industrial base in the West Australia area was actually aimed at creating another industrial center to reduce Sydney’s urban functions.

With Sydney’s current population of less than a million, it was completely unqualified to be such a multi-centered, diversified, comprehensive, and omnipotent city.

The best approach was to relocate the industrial center and the economic and cultural centers, and by at least moving two of them, Sydney would have better development prospects.

In Arthur’s plan, apart from building an industrial center in West Australia, he also aimed to cultivate Melbourne as the secondary economic center of Australasia to relieve Sydney’s burden.

As the most prosperous city in Australasia, Sydney’s per capita income had already exceeded 47.1 Australian dollars, higher than Melbourne’s 46.3 Australian dollars, making it the city with the highest per capita annual income and disposable income in Australasia.

Of course, the per capita annual income did not take into account the royal family’s property, otherwise, Sydney’s per capita annual income would be even higher.

Note that the Australasian royal family now consisted of only four people, but their annual income was over 10 million pounds, or more than 30 million Australian dollars.

If this income were included, Sydney’s per capita annual income would directly exceed 75 Australian dollars, on par with major power levels.

It was precisely because of Sydney’s economic growth that the city showed a prosperous side, at least as Arthur saw when he walked the streets of Sydney.

After the National Day festivities, Arthur, accompanied by the royal guards and Butler Kent, toured the surrounding areas of Sydney, also getting a firsthand experience of the developments in Sydney.

At least from Arthur’s point of view, the urban scale of Sydney had expanded more than twice since he first arrived, and the central streets of Sydney had grown even more bustling.

Many shops and establishments had emerged along the main road leading from Sydney city center to the Administrative Court, and then to the Sydney Palace.

After all, this road was the main connection between the national government’s core and the city center of Sydney. Even during regular times, it was busy with people and vehicles, let alone on a major national holiday like National Day.

Fortunately, there was a wide pedestrian walkway and an auxiliary road on both sides of this road, so there was no need to worry that the crowds and dense stalls would affect the traffic on the main road.

The changes that Arthur could feel firsthand could actually be experienced on King’s Street, the busiest street in Sydney.

King’s Street, as the name suggests, was a bustling street named after Arthur’s title. Its predecessor was an ordinary street near New South Wales Parliament (Colonial Government Building), which gained its name because Arthur entered the Government Building through this street when he first arrived in Australia.

Over seven years of continuous development, this street had become one of the busiest streets in Sydney, with hundreds of businesses entering it and daily visitor traffic exceeding 100,000 people.

Since this street offered a clear view of the former Australian Government Building, in addition to those who came to shop and play, many people wanted to see the former Australian Government Building and express their gratitude to Arthur in person.

As Arthur walked, he came to this street. Although it had been less than eight years, the street had become unrecognizable to him.

If it weren’t for his butler Kent explaining the origin of the street’s name and its current development, Arthur wouldn’t know it was the street he often visited.

But this was normal. As the core institutions of the country had moved to the suburbs of Sydney, Arthur’s visits to the city center had become increasingly infrequent, sometimes only once every one or two years.

His mother, Princess Louise, and Queen Mary often visited more often, but their purpose was usually shopping and sightseeing, so they naturally wouldn’t care about the name and history of a street.

This time, Arthur brought not only Queen Mary but also Princess Louise and his younger sister Patricia.

Seeing their hopeful eyes, Arthur naturally wouldn’t refuse, and he smiled, allowing them to take a look.

Although the life of the Australasian royal family was extremely extravagant, any royal family member’s simple meal could cost as much as an Australasian family’s annual income.

But this lifestyle also brought many troubles, such as not being able to travel freely like ordinary people and having to maintain a dignified demeanor.

Although Arthur was not so strict in his demands of Queen Mary and his sisters, his well-educated mother, Princess Louise, had very high expectations for her two younger daughters.

Essentially, Margaret and Patricia had not had many opportunities to go out before, which explained why they were always so happy when they did.

With the protection of royal guards and the watchful eye of their mother, Princess Louise, Arthur naturally didn’t need to worry about their safety.

Even if they were just traveling low-key today, thousands of security personnel were deployed when the entire royal family went out. In addition to the royal guards who protect the royal family members at close range, there were also disguised police and royal security bureau agents at a slightly greater distance.

They would carefully observe the every move of anyone approaching the royal family members, and act immediately if there was any abnormality.

At least for now in Australasia, there were no opponents or revolutionaries.

Arthur had achieved great successes in his various projects in Australasia, even in New Zealand, which had recently joined Australasia, had made considerable progress in the past two years.

This made the Australasians extremely satisfied with Arthur. As long as everyone could eat their fill and dress warmly and even have enough reserves, no one would want to give up their current prosperous life to oppose the country.

Not to mention the pros and cons of doing so, just having such a thought would bring the disdainful eyes of family and friends.

After all, most people knew who had brought about such great changes in Australasia. Arthur had brought huge benefits to the workers and people of Australasia, and people in all walks of life are enjoying the benefits of the policies Arthur enacted.

If anything happened to Arthur, wouldn’t it mean that Australasia’s welfare policies would also disappear?

Not to mention the official citizens of Australasia, even newly arrived immigrants who have not yet obtained citizenship status would not allow anyone to do so.

After all, one of the main reasons they could come to Australasia was the welfare policies. If the policies were repealed, they would not only have come in vain but also couldn’t afford the money to return.

Those who could afford to immigrate in this era were mostly people who couldn’t survive in their original country.

These people could barely scrape together the money for their migration, and their hope was for a good life in their new homeland.

Walking on the street named after himself, Arthur was quickly recognized by a large number of Australasians.

Although the guards and police kept the crowd at bay, people were still fanatically and excitedly shouting, “Your Majesty!”, “Long live Your Majesty!”, “Thank you, Your Majesty!” and so on.

Arthur smiled and waved, but he also knew that his status meant he couldn’t stay in the street for long, so he signaled butler Kent to leave first.

Kent immediately understood and walked to the end of the street with Arthur, where they both got into a car and left.

In the car, Arthur lightly shook his head with a smile, saying to Kent, “Sometimes being too popular is not a good thing; at least there’s no personal space for shopping.”

Kent also smiled, comforting him, “Your Majesty, it may not be a good thing for ordinary people, but for you, it’s the best thing. After all, a ruler who is widely supported is always better than one who is not cared about, isn’t it? Your high support in Australasia is beneficial for both your own rule and the status of the royal family.”