Regional Towns Need More Immigrants in Australia
For years, leaders of regional towns in Australia have expressed a need for more migration to these areas. As the nation’s larger cities surge in their population growth, smaller towns are left with thousands of job vacancies. The problem, however, is that most immigrants in Australia are arriving and staying in cities outside of these regional areas.
“Regional towns will die if we don’t get immigration right,” Port Hedland Mayor Peter Carter said.
Port Hedland’s population is around 15,000, but according to Carter, it needs to be “100,000-plus.”
Obstacles in the Way
Carter says the issue with getting people to move out to the regional towns is a matter of lifestyle. People who are comfortable with their current lifestyle aren’t going to change it, he says.
“You can offer $5000, free cars — people who live in the city would never go live in Bendigo or Ballarat, it’s not going to happen. Why would they? They like the lifestyle, you’ll never change that,” says Carter.
Additionally, the immigrants in Australia to these areas wouldn’t taking away jobs from other Australians because Aussies don’t want to live there anyway.
Life Outside the Capitals
In February of this year, there were 65,000 job vacancies outside of the major capital cities, according to the Regional Australia Institute. However, this figure did not account for skilled labour. Furthermore, it did not account for unskilled labour or seasonal jobs.
Proposals for Change
Regional Capitals Australia (RCA) was formed in 2012 to represent 51 regional hubs in the country. The RCA is immigration reforms that would better direct immigrants in Australia to these areas. Additionally, the RCA would supply funding for infrastructure to accommodate the increase in population.
The group noted that the regional capital cities generate $225 billion per year. This figure represents more than 16 per cent of the nation’s economic activity.
“If no action is taken to ensure a more balanced approach to population growth, the painful and costly impacts of congestion will once again be felt,” RCA said in a pre-election budget submission.
Sources:
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