Population

Imagine building half of Perth in three years because that's what's needed to accommodate the nearly one million people that are expected to arrive between 2022 and 2025 ... No doubt, some will trek inland to the smaller country towns but don't expect them to stay long as the Federal government has recently moved to introduce new visa rights making it easier for migrants who have taken one of the regional work visas to bail from the bush and retreat to the big cities, leaving the businesses that sponsored them in the lurch.

Serena Kirby. Private homes rented as holiday accommodation are not the cause of Denmark’s housing shortage. The finding was revealed in Denmark Futures’ research over the past 18 months and presented at a community forum last month.

This report projects an outlook for the economy and the Australian Government’s budget over the next 40  years. It examines the long-term sustainability of current policies and how demographic, technological and other structural trends may affect the economy and the budget.

A surge of millennials leaving Australia’s capital cities for country communities is helping drive a regional renaissance, new research from the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) has found ... The report shows Local Government Areas (LGAs) such as Dungog (NSW), Loddon (VIC), Blackall Tambo (QLD), Tumby Bay (SA) and Chapman Valley (WA) all saw significant net migration rates for the millennial cohort.

National online removalist booking platform Muval, which has the most up-to-date internal migration figures showing where Australians are moving right now, has crunched the May numbers to show the impact a year on from the start of interest rate rises.

Last week, Harmony celebrations all over Australia reminded us that everyone is different, everyone belongs and we all bring something unique to our communities.

The recently released Toowoomba Region Growth Plan shows Westbrook is anticipated to grow by more than 4,800 people by 2051, taking the total population to just over 9,200 ... The Toowoomba Region Growth Plan, presented to Toowoomba Regional Council last week, is intended to act as the long-term population and employment growth strategy for the Region to 2051.

Even with the current economic uncertainty, if you think the skilled worker shortage problem was all COVID-19 driven and will self-correct over time, then think again ... According to a recent study, 87 per cent of global employers admit that they are currently struggling with skills gaps issues, which is probably why your machinery dealer is telling you that the wait on new equipment is anything up to two years.

David Landini, Riverina State Group. The Victorian election, with the re-election of the Daniel Andrews’ Labor government, and the election of seven Greens Members of Parliament, ensures that the suppression of natural resource-based industries such as irrigated agriculture and timber harvesting will not only continue, but actually accelerate and expand. That these Members of Parliament are all urban-based, while the industries being suppressed are all in the country, demonstrates the cultural and economic division existing between the urban and country populations.

Samuel Davis. A growing regional centre can double in population, easing Cape York’s housing burden while creating new business opportunities, Cook Shire mayor Peter Scott says ... Among the suggestions raised at the event, Cr Scott proposed changes to zoning laws that would allow for more medium density developments to be built in places like Cooktown.

The 2022 Muval Index has revealed that the desire to live in a better home or location is the main reason Australians relocate, that rising cost of living has overtaken Covid as a motivating factor to move, that the search for affordable housing is prompting new waves of internal migration from capital cities into the regions and interstate, and that west is a popular direction to go post-pandemic.

The Estimated Resident Population (ERP) of Australia grew by 0.5  per  cent in the March  2022 quarter, to be 0.9  per  cent higher than a year earlier ... Queensland had the fastest growing population over the year to March  2022, followed by Western Australia and South Australia. Annual population growth in New South Wales and Victoria increased from the previous quarter, while growth in the Northern Territory was slow but positive.

This story is about the impossible challenge of feeding a growing world population while staying true to net zero emissions targets ... Something strange happened in June this year when two of the world's most bullish emissions reduction advocates, Germany and Britain, panicked at the huge spike in grain prices and called for temporary waivers on biofuels mandates to combat soaring food prices.

cluBarham has finalised a 5-year strategic overview ... The 5-year strategic vision aim is to directly contribute to local population and tourism growth that will enhance the economic benefit to the community. ... “The main vision of it is really to focus on population growth and community support" : cluBarham CEO, Jason Wallace.

The population projections for the 2022‑23 Budget include population growth and components at the national level out to 2032‑33 and 2025‑26 for states and territories.

Geoff Helisma. An initiative to incorporate population growth as a primary factor when deciding the annual rate peg for NSW councils has been rejected before its implementation. In early 2021, the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) began a review that would include population growth in its calculation of the rate peg, and, upon its adoption, set the rate peg at 0.7 per cent for 2022-23 financial year ... attendees at the Local Government NSW Special Conference disagreed with the IPART, the OLG and the former minister.