NSW rural leaders call for new migrants to live in the bush

The key to making the state’s regional areas thrive again lies in the more than 650,000 migrants expected to arrive in NSW, leaders say. See their proposal here.

Rural leaders are calling for more measures to be used to drive the forecast influx of 650,000 migrants away from the cities and into the bush, like a mandatory five-year period in the regions for new Australians.

Parkes Mayor Ken Keith said he’d support a five-year term in the regions for new migrants, especially for key workers.

“I think it would (help) – they’ve also got to make sure the support services are there for those people,” he said.

“We don’t want to totally build just in western Sydney – we want to build in the regions and support migrants where they’ll be welcomed into a caring community.”

John Metcalfe, the mayor of Lachlan Shire Council also backed longer term stints in the bush for migrants.

Rural leaders have called for new measures which will send migrants straight to the bush instead of crowding into Sydney. Picture: Brad Newman

He said current incentives to get health workers into rural areas on short-term contracts on high pay wasn’t an incentive to get people to stay long-term.

“What’s happening with doctors and the amount of money they’re getting to do short shifts – there’s no (actual) incentives to get out and live here,” he said.

Towns like Trundle in central west NSW are struggling to survive with population in decline. Picture: Toby Zerna

Tamworth Mayor Russell Webb said the regions needed workers but housing remained an issue.

“We desperately need these people to come here and fill these positions but we also desperately need accommodation for them ….it’s a double edged sword in a way,” he said.

“If they’re going to push immigration to the level they’re talking about, they need some sort of mechanism where a decent percentage of people come to the bush and not just straight to Sydney and Melbourne.”

A report by the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) released this week found Sydney would face a shortage of 10,000 homes within five years, with NSW Farmers’ workplace relations spokesman Chris Stillard saying housing remained the biggest issue facing regions desperate for new residents.

“Where are we going to house them? It’s something we’ve been talking about for a while – bring the people out, but then we have to house them somewhere,” he said.

Alan Brown, a sheep and cattle farmer near Wagga Wagga, said farmers were struggling with a lack of workers.

“I know it’s difficult to force them to stay in a specific spot, but there must be a mechanism they can use,” he said.

Wagga farmer,Alan Brown with wife Deborah and grandkids Jake and Raf. Picture: Brad Newman

“You have to find mechanisms where we don’t just add to the already huge infrastructure problems in Sydney and Melbourne.”

Country Women’s Association NSW President Joy Beames said “we need policies that stimulate rural, regional and remote job creation, and decentralisation, and significant infrastructure and road projects”.

“Migrants have long played a crucial role in the growth and development of country NSW and we know a range of industries are in need of urgent injections of labour,” she said.