The Australia LetterThis is our Australia bureau’s weekly newsletter Sign upYou can also email it. This week’s issue is written by Manan LuthraAn intern at the Australia bureau.
If during the last two years you thought of leaving your locked-down Australian city for the freedom of a country town, you weren’t alone. The Regional Australia Institute released a report last week that found net migration from state capitals into regional areas to be more than twice as high in 2020 and 2021 than in 2018 and 2019.
Queensland’s beaches were the top choice for tourists, with the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast being the most popular. Sydney and Melbourne lost the greatest number of residents. In Australia, the Covid-19 pandemic as well as the flexible working arrangements were the main reasons. (The report was based on bank customer data and described changes in migration trends in percentage terms. However, it did not reveal the underlying numbers.
After living in Sydney for two years and being subject to restrictions such as not being allowed to live more than three miles away from my house, I realized the appeal of moving to a smaller town with fewer people, a lower transmission risk, and more personal space. That appeal was evident to my Melbourne acquaintances, who were subjected to six lockdowns within two years.
But now, “Fortress Australia” is open. Travelers from other nations began arriving on Monday. The rules surrounding mask-wearing social distancing, vaccine passports and social distancing were relaxed. Workers are also being encouraged to return to their workplaces by the most populous Australian states. Where, then, does that leave Australia’s new regional migrants? What will it take to get those who have left major cities back?
Geoffrey Zach, a chartered accounting professional, said it would be difficult. In April 2021, he, his wife and their 1-year-old son moved to Milawa, a town three hours’ drive from Melbourne.
They’d been seeking a home that was both spacious and affordable — his wife was expecting their second child — and a good job offer in the area made it an easy decision. Between government-imposed lockdowns (even in Milawa) and life with a newborn, Mr. Zach still doesn’t feel settled there, but the family enjoys the country lifestyle and they don’t plan to leave any time soon.
“Some things you miss are the availability of services and things like shopping, which is limited as compared to Melbourne, but we enjoy the easier commute, the fresh air and the great food,” he said. “It’s things like that, as well as Melbourne’s infrastructure issues and high housing costs, that makes me say we will be staying here.”
Sally Judson also shares such sentiments. She moved from Sydney where she went to university to Bogan gate, the New South Wales village she grew. She’s stayed in Sydney since November because of an internship, but she hopes to spend more time in Bogan Gate in the future, when she is further along in her legal career. She said “the beauty of regional Australia, the passion of its communities and the opportunity to be back on the family farm” drew her back home.
Whether such Australians’ affection for small-town living will outlast the Covid crisis, during which domestic tourism was strongly encouraged and work-from-home requirements strictly enforced, is uncertain. Liz Allen, a demographer and lecturer at the Australian National University, said that “for some emigrants, life is better beyond the city limits, and they will likely not return.
“But cities in Australia will soon begin to see Covid emigration reverse,” she continued. “Cities will again be a desirable place to live, not necessarily because of what they offer, but because of what regional areas do not: higher education, health care, employment opportunities, quality of life.”
So what should we think about Australia’s Covid migration? Is this a long-lasting trend, or?
To Dr. Allen, no.
“As time moves on, cities will again have major pull,” she said. “Over the next three years, the trend in migration away from cities will become a blip, relegated to Australia’s demographic history.”
Let’s now get to the stories of this week.
Source: NY Times
