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Get migrants into regional areas or we’ll become New York: Planning MP

PLANNING Minister Anthony Roberts warns we must encourage more migrants to regional areas to avoid turning Sydney into New York City.

Government to send migrants to regions for five years

MORE migrants must be ­encouraged to move to regional areas or Sydney will end up as crowded as New York.

That’s the message from NSW Planning Minister Anth­ony Roberts, who said the federal government needs to fork out more money to help deal with the city’s unprecedented population surge.

NSW Planning Minister Anthony Roberts warns we need to move migrants to regional areas to avoid overcrowding. Picture: AAP Image/Troy Snook
NSW Planning Minister Anthony Roberts warns we need to move migrants to regional areas to avoid overcrowding. Picture: AAP Image/Troy Snook

Mr Roberts, who decides what homes go where in this state, said he was happy with the current level of immigration — but not its location.

“I think we can accommodate it but we do not have to accommodate it in Sydney,” he said of immigration levels in NSW, which hit 172,000 arrivals last year.

Between 2016 and 2017 Sydney’s population grew by 100,000 people — the biggest annual increase ever. Sydney now is home to more than five million people.

About eight in 10 migrants settle in major cities, putting strain on the Sydney’s already stretched infrastructure.

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“You can make living outside of Sydney more attractive. There are various tools that the federal government has around subsidies and taxation.

“It is a federal issue but we are the ones that have to deal with it.

“And that is where there needs to be that conversation with the federal government to say: ‘Where are those people going to live?’ People would say New York, which has a much higher density than Sydney, is a very liveable city.

Mr Roberts said Sydney could turn into New York. Picture: istock
Mr Roberts said Sydney could turn into New York. Picture: istock

“Do we want Sydney to be New York? No, we are different. We have our own character.”

The federal government is considering a plan that will ­require new migrants to live outside of Sydney and Melbourne for up to five years.

“It’s very difficult to tell anyone where they have to live,” Mr Roberts said.

A Department of Home ­Affairs spokeswoman said: “Visa requirements play an important role in encouraging migrants to settle regionally to undertake work.”

“There are a range of visa programs and settings which are designed to encourage migrants to live and work in regional Australia.”

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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/get-migrants-into-regional-areas-or-well-become-new-york-planning-mp/news-story/2ce3eb500294603890eb86588133ae45