Tamworth attracts migrants

Interesting piece in the Northern Daily Leader (1 May 2018) by Jamieson Murphy and Grace Ryan Tamworth growth trends revealed by Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The overall growth in population for the Tamworth Local Government Area in 2017 was positive  at just under one per cent, although this is too low to allow the City to easily achieve its 100,000 growth target.  However, what was positive and quite important was that of the net increase of  556 people, 379 (68%) came from overseas migration.

The propensity of Australia's new settlers to flock especially to Sydney and Melbourne has been one of the drivers of Australia's growing population imbalance. While the movement of migrants to Tamworth is still small in absolute numbers, the positive ratio means that international migration is now making a positive contribution.  .

Outside Tamworth, Armidale LGA grew 0.8 per cent to 30,552, while Gunnedah Shire grew by 0.6 per cent. Walcha Shire increased by 0.4 and the Liverpool Plains grew by just 0.2 per cent. Inverell showed no growth, with Moree down 1.3% over 2017, Narrabri and Uralla down 0.7%, Tenterfield down 0.6% and Gwydir Shire and Glen Innes Severn down 0.2%.

One of the things that we need to be thinking about in inland New England is how we get a better population balance across areas. This requires the bigger centres to support the smaller centres. It also requires us to put aside the parochial competition that so bedevils cooperative action.