When Ewen Jones moved to Townsville in 1994 he was warned of its “hard” and “unwelcoming” nature, a reputation that has endured despite the city’s growth into a regional economic hub.
But there are signs that reputation is changing, as the far-north Queensland city experienced a 500% increase in new residents in 2022, the largest increase of any regional centre, according to the latest data from the Regional Australia Institute. Two-thirds of the newcomers had moved from other regional areas.
Jones, a former LNP member for Herbert, the federal electorate which covers Townsville, is not surprised.
“We are an urban society,” he said. “On the water. We are remote and we’re expensive but have great jobs, education and hospitals.
“Exactly what Australia is to the world, Townsville is to Australia.”
Jones said the increased population has been met with an increase in services, something which became apparent to him after he was diagnosed with cancer.
“I’ve been able to go have all my treatment in Townsville,” he said. “Back in the day a lot of people who got cancer up here would choose to just stay home and die. Getting to Brisbane was just too far, too hard. You’d have to find somewhere to stay and stay afloat while at it. It was just a hassle.”
The Townsville deputy mayor, Mark Molachino, said strong growth in the defence and mining industries made the local job market one of the best in the country.
“I talk to a lot of people that come into town from different places,” he said. “What they told me was: they want a lifestyle change, they want life to slow down a little bit. But they also want to work in high-paying jobs.”
However, Molachino said the increase in population had put pressure on the local housing market. He said the council was working with the state and federal governments to try and get as much supply into the market as rapidly as they could.
“The big thing we can do quickly is two and three-bedroom units,” Molachino said. “But we need to attract that private investment and obviously the private investment is saying to us, we can make more money in the cities. So what we need to make it attractive for them to come and build.”
The chief executive of the Regional Australia Institute, Liz Ritchie, said the regional centre was attractive to Australians who were struggling to afford housing in a capital city.
“Cost-of-living pressures are also boosting greater movement within the regions themselves, as regional movers also search out places with more available and affordable housing,” Ritchie said.
According to economic development body Townsville Enterprise, the region’s labour force grew by about 4,000 people from March 2022 to March 2023. It is a trend they believe will continue.
“With our potential for green hydrogen, renewable energy, defence capability and our enviable lifestyle, we are a natural choice,” its chief executive, Claudia Brumme-Smith, said.
Brumme-Smith said Towsville needed state government funding to support projects that would help accomodate new residents, such as a 1,000 unit “build to rent” scheme in the CBD.
Townsville’s population was 198,577 as of June 2022, a 1.5% increase on the previous year, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
