‘Growth is good’: The towns avoiding the rural death spiral
Regional Australian towns are facing a demographic crisis as aging populations and a lack of services drive economic decline. Farmers and residents argue that increased migration is essential to sustain local infrastructure and prevent the total collapse of these communities.
Why it matters
This highlights the growing divide between urban and rural Australia and the challenges of maintaining regional viability in a modern economy.
Australia needs migrants to sustain an ageing population. Matthew Absalom-Wong Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.
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Share A A A Towns are born, and towns die. Behind the Great Dividing Range, towns are on life support. In once-prosperous farming towns, six hours between Melbourne and Sydney, the pubs are shut and weatherboard homes are boarded up.
The rain has come, turning pastures into fields of green. But resentment runs deep: over illegal-clearing prosecutions, net zero, fuel prices, stagnating local economies, and a city-country divide that is stoking distrust about decisions being made in the capitals.
Fewer jobs mean fewer people. Now there aren’t enough of them to staff critical services in regional areas across NSW and Victoria.
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