The Australian Bureau of Statistics latest figures on population growth are robust and will need to lead to more new housing, says the Urban Taskforce.
“The ABS data shows that Australia’s population grew by 1.6 per cent during 2018 with record births.” says Urban Taskforce CEO Chris Johnson. “There were 314,900 births in Australia during 2018 which is an all-time high and after deducting deaths the natural increase was 156,300. Net overseas migration was 248,400 people, giving a total population growth of 404,800 people.”
“New South Wales lagged behind Victoria and Queensland on growth percentages. Victoria grew at 2.2 per cent in 2018 with a growth of 139,400 people, Queensland was second with 1.8 per cent which equalled 89,900 people and NSW was third at 1.6 per cent equalling 123,800 people.”
“It would appear that the less supportive attitude to growth particularly in Greater Sydney is encouraging people to go to the neighbouring states of Queensland and Victoria. The planning system in NSW is also seen as being slower and more complex that in other states, and that impacts on housing supply and the cost of housing. There have been record housing completions in NSW over the last year but this seems to be dropping quickly as evidenced by the decline in housing approvals.”
“The Urban Taskforce is supportive of robust population growth as long as the planning system supports this. The role out of infrastructure in Sydney, particularly for metro rail, is going well – but local infrastructure will need contributions from large development projects that are planning proposals. Indications from the NSW Minister for Planning, Rob Stokes, that planning proposals for spot re-zonings may be stopped, would remove a much needed method of providing local infrastructure.
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